ASIANOVERLAND.NET LONDON TO SYDNEY  DAY 284: SIDE TO ANAMUR CASTLE, TURKIYE

The south coast of Turkiye and the East Mediterranean Sea are dominated by Crusader castles built for the Crusades, a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and directed by the Catholic or Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known military expeditions are to the Holy Land  between 1095 and 1291 to conquer or attempt to conquer Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule.

In 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade by encouraging military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos against the Seljuk Turks and calling for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across western Europe there was an enthusiastic response from participants who had a variety of motivations, including religious salvation, satisfying feudal obligations, and opportunities for economic or political advantage. Later expeditions were conducted by more organized armies. All crusades were granted papal indulgences.

Initial crusading successes established four Crusader states: the County of Edessa; the Principality of Antioch; the Kingdom of Jerusalem; and the County of Tripoli. If the religious crusaders were particularly impressed with the fighting spirit of the muslim defenders, they would skin the leader of the muslim defenders alive.

The Fortress of Corycus was controlled by the Byzantine Empire and on the orders of Alexios I Komnenos at the beginning of the 12th century, a supplementary castle on a small island was added. This castle was later called "maidens castle", because a king held his daughter here in captivity until she was killed by a venomous snake. It was prophesied that she would die by a snake bite, so she was taken to the sea castle to protect her, but a serpent was taken by basket to the castle, she was bitten and died. It’s strange how some prophesies come true.

A European presence remained in the crusader region in some form until the fall of Acre in Palestine in 1291. Crusading officially ceased after the fall of Acre and Palestine, although some locals claim the crusades have never stopped.

Mamur castle was built by the rulers of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia on the foundations of a fourth-century Roman castle. 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 castle in 1221, he built a larger castle using the earlier fortifications. According to an inscription by in 1450, the castle was captured during Mahmut's reign (1300–1311) and renamed as Mamure (prosperous) after repairs by Mahmut. 

In 1469, the Mamure/Anamur castle was annexed by the Ottoman Empire and subsequently repaired in the 15th, 16th and 18th centuries and used as a trading caravansarai.

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