About 40 minutes away by bus west of Mersin is the Kizkalesi, not to be confused with the Kizkulesi in Istanbul. Meaning 'Maiden's Castle' in Turkish, this little seaside town is slowly catching on to the tourism boom that has spreaded like wild fire all the way between Marmaris and Alanya on Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coast since the early 21st century. Although signs of building boom have already started to appear in this part of the Turkish Riviera, things are not as ridiculous as in parts of Antalya and Alanya. At least one can still see the sea on the way instead of endless of rows of expensive-looking high-rise apartment blocks for the rich and the famous.
To get to Kizkalesi, catch a bus either from Mersin or from Silifke. As the bus approaches the town, you will see the beautiful castle standing out on the sea like some kind of a giant fortress or aircraft carriers. The modern township of Kizkalesi itself is fairly modest compared to other beach resorts on Turkey's Med coast, with one disco at the edge of the town overlooking the sea and the castle, a seaside walkway with some hotels and cafes with seaview terraces, plus a few streets behind the beach, lined with shops, more small hotels and restaurants, most of which operate in the summer months only. The town is largely dependent on tourism and agriculture as its main sources of income, but as far as I have realised, most of the people that spend their weekends here are Turkish tourists. It has yet to establish itself in the world of international tourism.
If you are coming from the direction of Mersin, the ruins of the ancient city of Corycus will greet you at the left-hand side of the road. Arches, tombs, monuments and the partial ruins of the fortress-castle can still be seen till this day. In the Antiquity, Corycus was an important port and a big commercial city of the Seleucid Empire. The present castle of Kizkalesi was once linked to the fortress castle of Corycus on the shore of the Mediterranean by a now ruined pier.
It seems Kizkalesi has not yet attracted the attention of many foreign visitors to this part of Turkey, although it has plenty of ancient ruins in its nearby vicinity. I saw some pictures of Kizkalesi a while ago in one of the Turkish lifestyle magazines, and thought it would be nice to have a look at this place given the chance. The beach at Kizkalesi was wide and sandy, not the white sandy beaches of Alanya, but is actually quite a nice place to get a bit of a swim in the Mediterranean in the summer. Too bad parts of it were scattered with debris left behind by the weekend tourists. As it was already well into the low season when I visited the place, the town was excessively quiet. Most of the shops were closed and only a few cafes and eateries were open for business.
Turks are very much into fishing. No matter where you go, if there is sea, you are bound to run into people who spend the whole day with their fishing rods. It is so in Istanbul, on the Galata Bridge, along the Bosphorus, in Bostanci or Kadikoy, it is so along the famous Kordon of Izmir, and it is so here in Kizkalesi. Not sure where this nationwide passion for fishing comes from, perhaps it is a kind of national hobby for the Turks. Women, men, girls, boys. Everybody seems to really enjoy spending hours on end on the pier waiting for the elusive fish to chew up their baits. With the sight of a beautiful castle and impressive pre-Roman ruins in the background, I guess there are few places for fishing as scenic as this little seaside village.
Copyrights@2011. All text and photos by YC Cheng. All Rights Reserved.
I would be surprised if this area will become a tourist attraction any soon. What are they going to tell the tourists: about the Crusades or about the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia or Lesser Armenia? All these castles were built by or reconstructed by king Leo the Magnificent of Armenia of the Roupenids and his sons who lived in XII century. His grandson was the famous historian who wrote "The Flower of the History of the Orient" also known as "The history of the Tartars", the famous Hethum the Historian known to the world as Hayton of Corycus. The truth shall set you free, but not if you are a tourist in a country which hides its true history from the visitors.
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