Walls in the sea
Walk the southern rampart where the waves hit the stone directly; this is the view that justifies the long drive.
Beñat Irasuegi — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0
The waves break straight onto the walls. There is no strip of sand between sea and stone, so when you stand on the southern walkway of Mamure Castle the Mediterranean feels less like a moat and more like a siege. This is one of the most complete seaside fortresses left on the Turkish coast: thirty-nine towers, a landward ditch roughly ten metres wide, and three stepped courtyards behind a double wall whose galleries you climb by narrow stairs. It is big, about 240 metres along the shore, and it is rarely crowded. The history comes in layers. A Roman foundation built to watch merchant shipping and pirates, then Byzantines, then the medieval Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, until the Karamanid Turks took it early in the fourteenth century, built the single-domed mosque that still stands inside, and renamed it ‘Mamure’, the restored and flourishing one, which is where the name comes from. The Ottomans, who annexed it in 1469, rebuilt it more than once. It is said to have been Jules Verne's model for the castle in Kéraban the Inflexible, and it has sat on UNESCO's tentative list since 2012. A long Ministry of Culture restoration finished in recent years left walls and walkways looking, at times, newer than a ruin should, but it also made climbing safe, which matters if you are bringing children. The fact to weigh before you go: this is not a quick outing from Alanya. The castle lies about 135 km east along the D-400, a coast road that twists between mountain and sea, so budget two and a half to three hours each way by car and forget the bus unless you plan to sleep in Anamur. In most seasons no organised tours run from the Alanya resorts. Treat it as a full day and pair it with the Roman ruins of Anemurium about twenty minutes away by car, or stop here on the way east to Mersin; the drive itself, past banana plantations and waterfalls, is part of the experience. The visit takes an hour to ninety minutes. The ground inside is uneven and the tower stairs are narrow, so a pushchair works only in the main courtyard, while children over six will love the ramparts. There is almost no shade, and August here is brutal, so arrive at opening time or in the last hour before sunset. A beach and picnic area sit beside the castle where loggerhead turtles nest in summer; mind the signs. Foreigners pay in euros, and the castle closes on Mondays.
Walk the southern rampart where the waves hit the stone directly; this is the view that justifies the long drive.
A small single-domed mosque with a minaret has stood in the courtyard for some seven centuries, the oldest Turkish addition to the castle.
Climb the main tower with its twelve-sided base to read the moat and the three courtyards from above.
Bozdoğan Mahallesi, Anamur, Mersin
If you have one castle day, Alanya Castle is enough and minutes away. Mamure earns the trip only if you enjoy the coast road, plan to overnight in Anamur, or are heading east to Mersin anyway; then pair it with Anemurium and it becomes one of the best days on this coast.
The main courtyard is fairly flat and a pushchair copes there, but the towers and walkways are narrow stairs with few railings in places, so hold small hands and avoid midday in summer as there is almost no shade.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.