Cukurova, TurkeyThe Church of Saint Peter in Antakya is arranged inside a cave at the foot of Mount Habib-i Neccar, on the edge of ancient Antioch. Christian tradition connects the site with the Apostle Peter and with the city's earliest Christian communities, in the place where, according to the Acts of the Apostles, the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians”. The prayer space uses the natural cavity of the rock and contains an altar, a statue of Saint Peter and traces of alterations made at different dates. The stone façade is much more recent than the cave itself and took its present form during the nineteenth century. A narrow passage at the rear is traditionally interpreted as a possible escape route. The church is known mainly for its connection with the early history of Christianity and with Antioch, one of the principal Christian centres of the ancient world.
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Cukurova, TurkeyKızkalesi, commonly known as Maiden's Castle, is located on a small Mediterranean island about 300 metres from the shore of the modern settlement of Kızkalesi in Mersin Province. The surviving fortress was developed and altered during the Middle Ages, when ancient Korykos was an important point on the Cilician coast. Its defensive walls follow the outline of the island and are reinforced by towers of different shapes, while the interior contains the remains of rooms, a chapel and other structures used by the garrison. The island castle is closely connected with Korykos Castle on the mainland, since the two fortifications controlled the same coastal area and the approaches to the harbour. Kızkalesi is also associated with a local legend about a princess who was taken to the island in an attempt to protect her from death, a story that later gave the fortress its modern name.
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Cukurova, TurkeyMamure Castle is located on the Mediterranean coast, in the Anamur district of Mersin Province, a few kilometres from the centre of the modern town. The present fortress contains elements built and rebuilt during several periods, from earlier structures associated with the Roman and Byzantine eras to alterations made by the Seljuks, the Karamanid rulers and the Ottomans. The walls enclose three principal sections, while the defensive system includes more than 30 towers, gates, bastions and an outer moat that could be filled with water. Inside are the remains of buildings used by the garrison, cisterns and a mosque built during the Karamanid period and later altered. Its location beside the sea makes the connection between the fortress and maritime routes along the southern Anatolian coast easy to understand. Mamure is among the best-preserved medieval castles in this part of Turkey, and much of its defensive layout can still be identified today.
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Cukurova, TurkeyYılankale, also known as Snake Castle, is located in Adana Province near the town of Ceyhan, on a rocky hill rising from the Çukurova plain. Most of the surviving fortress dates from the Middle Ages and is associated with the period when the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia controlled numerous castles and routes across southern Anatolia. The walls were adapted to the shape of the terrain, while towers, gates and enclosed sections were arranged at different levels so that access to the upper part could be controlled from several points. Inside are cisterns, foundations and traces of rooms once used by the garrison. Its elevated position provides a broad view across the Ceyhan plain and explains why this particular hill was selected for a fortress. The modern name is connected with local traditions involving snakes and legendary figures rather than with a securely documented historical event.
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Cukurova, TurkeyAnemurium is an ancient city on the southern coast of Turkey, near modern Anamur, close to the southernmost point of Anatolia. Its ruins spread between the sea and the nearby hills, while most of the surviving buildings date from the Roman period and Late Antiquity. They include a theatre, an odeon, public baths, aqueducts, basilicas and numerous tombs. The necropolis is one of the largest areas of the site and contains hundreds of funerary structures, some of which still preserve fragments of paintings and mosaics. The city benefited from its position on the maritime routes of the eastern Mediterranean, although it also experienced attacks and periods of instability. Many buildings can still be followed through their standing walls, making it possible to identify streets and the principal public areas of ancient Anemurium and to understand the scale of a coastal city that remained inhabited for centuries.
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