Sinap Castle

This article is about a castle in Mersin Province. For castle in Sinop, see Sinop Castle.

Sinap Castle
Çamlıyayla, Mersin Province, Turkey
Sinap Castle
Coordinates
Type	Fortress
Site information
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Outer walls still standing.
Site history
Built by	Byzantine Empire
Demolished	Interior

Sinap Castle is a medieval castle in Çamlıyayla district of Mersin Province in southern Turkey.

Geography

The castle is in the Toros Mountains at . It is situated to the northeast of Çamlıyayla and to the north of Mersin. The distance to Çamlıyayla is 5 km (3.1 mi) and to Mersin is 93 km (58 mi). The 2 km (1.2 mi) stabilized road to the castle diverges from the Mersin-Çamlıyayla highway. Its altitude is 1,240 m (4,070 ft). But it is not particularly high with respect to immediate surrounding.

History

The castle which was probably built in the 10th century, had been used by various medieval states. The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia used the castle to secure caravan routes and its main function was to defend the road against bandits rather than to fight against an army. It is a small castle and it was actually a dependency of the more important Namrun Castle, which is situated 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) bird's flight to the west. The name of the castle Sinap means "corner" in old Turkish and probably the castle was situated at the intersection of two ancient roads.

Building

The castle is a small three-storey building with four bastions. The entrance is through a narrow gate at the western wall. Bossage is used in most of the walls. The outher walls are still standing. But the interior of the building is completely demolished.

In popular culture

The castle, along with its neighbouring Namrun Castle has been featured in the 2013 film "Fear Through Eternity".

External video
Fear Through Eternity