Mamure Castle

Mamure Castle
Anamur, Mersin Province, Turkey
Mamure Castle
Coordinates	36°04′51″N 32°53′40″E / 36.08083°N 32.89444°E / 36.08083; 32.89444
Type	Fortress
Site information
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Mostly standing.
Site history
Built by	Roman Empire Byzantine Empire Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Seljuk Empire

Mamure Castle (Turkish: Mamure Kalesi) is a medieval castle in the Bozdoğan village, Anamur ilçe (district) of Mersin Province, Turkey.

The castle is on the Mediterranean coast about 36°04′51″N 32°53′40″E / 36.08083°N 32.89444°E / 36.08083; 32.89444, on the D400 highway, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Anamur and 216 kilometres (134 mi) west of Mersin.

Designed to protect against pirates, it was repaired during the Byzantine era and during the Crusades. When Alaattin Keykubat I of Seljuk Turks captured the ruins of the castle in 1221, he built a larger castle using elements of the earlier fortifications. Later, it was controlled by the Karamanid dynasty (which was a Turkmen principality in Anatolia). Although the exact date is uncertain, according to an inscription by İbrahim II of Karaman in 1450, the castle was captured during Mahmut's reign (1300–1311). The castle was renamed as Mamure (prosperous) after repairs by Mahmut.^[1] In 1469, the castle was annexed by the Ottoman Empire.^[2] It was subsequently repaired in the 15th, 16th and 18th centuries and a part of the castle was used as a caravansarai.

The 23,500-square-metre (253,000 sq ft) castle is surrounded by moat. Its 39 towers and bastions are connected by wide ramparts.^[3] The castle has three main courtyards; to the west, the east and the south. The western courtyard contains a small complex of a single minaret mosque and a ruined Turkish bath. The southern courtyard has the remains of a lighthouse.

This castle appears to be the Kalendria on the coast of Cilicia depicted by William Henry Bartlett in 1836. See external links below for the image and an associated poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon.^[4] (However, the name Kalendria refers to Kalenderis, what is now Aydıncık, another town about 60 km east of Mamure)

• 
  1838-38 Kalendria on the Coast of Cilicia
• 
  Anamur Castle Main tower view
• 
  Anamur Castle Main tower view
• 
  Anamur Castle Main tower view
• 
  Anamur Castle Outer castle Panorama
• 
  Anamur Castle North side
• 
  Anamur Castle Sea side
• 
  Anamur Castle Inner courtyard Panorama

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mamure Castle.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20011021064228/http://www.anamur.gen.tr/eng/indx.htm
• extensive photo series about the castle
• Many Mamure Castle photos from after the renovation works
• Kalendria.. An engraving of Bartlett's painting with a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon for Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838.