Turkey Page 2

The second day I went through Adana headed for the Castel In the Sea and Mersin. On my way I came by an old abandoned hotel that proved to be too much to pass up. Of course there were signs all around the hotel that no doubt said to KEEP OUT, but being an American who cant read Turkish I had no option but to ignore the weird signs and go exploring the hotel. after playing around in the hotel for an hour or two I moved on to Mersin, and then onto the Castle In The Sea (also called Kizkalesi or Maidens Castle). The Castel In The Sea is actually two parts, one part was out in the Mediterranean Sea (Kizkalesi Castle), and the other part (Korkyos Castle) was on land going right up to the sea with an archway opening on to the water where a road connecting the two used to be. A partial moat surrounds two of the sides of the land based castle and makes the castle seem even taller than it is when looking down form the walls. The part of the castle that is in the sea can only be gotten to by boat or a really long swim. I opted for taking a boat. To find a boat to take me out to the part of the castle that was out in the sea I walked along a sea wall until I found a man sitting by his boat, and I asked him if he could take me out to the castle. He didn't speak much English, or really any but he understood what I was asking and we haggled out a price, which amounted to not more than a few dollars. He took me out to the castle and dropped me off, I climbed out of the boat and onto the lower rocks that were at the base of the castle. after I had climbed the rocks and was up to a walk way I began to wonder if we had also come to the understanding that he was supposed to take me back. after I had climbed the walls and saw that he was still there I figured that I was good. I spent probably an hour and half wondering around and looking through all the creaks and crevices before heading back to the boat. I spent a little more time walking along the Mediterranean shore and then as it was getting later in the evening headed back to the base.

A small sea port in Mersin City. Several of the larger and nicer wooden boats were made into floating restaurants.

This Picture I just had to take to prove that I had been to the Mediterranean Sea, although I'm not very wet here I did go swimming a short while later.	A small outdoor amphitheater, while it may have seen better days in times past it still creates a very dramatic backdrop and gives romantic inspiration. It also makes for a very nice back yard for those houses just behind it. Can't you just imagine having that to play around as a kid?

This abandoned hotel was located along the Mediterranean coast. Being the overly curious person that I am I had to stop and check out every floor. The architecture of the building wasn't all that impressive but some of the rooms offered interesting views and there was a spiral brick staircase that led to the top floor of the hotel.


	This little room was built right into the hillside where once there had been tended gardens, now the gardens were growing wild, but still in full bloom.
There was a overgrown and cracked path that led from the back of the hotel down to these "steps" where children and adults were both enjoying what had once been the exclusive privilege of the hotel guest, now the hotel would accept as guests was anyone who would stop by, or the occasional nosy American.

Korkyos Castle. This is part of the moat that surrounded two sides of the castle, I have to imagine that during the castles heyday there was more water in it as it was all but dry when I was there.	Korkyos Castle. This archway opened to what was the road connecting Korkyos Castle to Kizkalesi Castle, now it leys open as a door to the sea.
A view of Kizkalesi Castle from Korkyos Castle, you can see where the road that connected the two once was.	Korkyos Castle. I don't know that this hole in the castle wall was ever anything but a hole but color, shading and the view beyond just made it a very interesting little part of the castle.
Korkyos Castle. What once must have been many interconnected rooms is now open and crumbling yet even though it is but a glimpse of what once was its still strangely intriguing and beautiful. Well that and as a kid (and still to this day, but don't tell anybody) I used to play with the Lego castle system, and castles intrigue me greatly, I can spent hours just poking and prodding around seeing how they used to do this or that, and why they did it that way.	Korkyos Castle. This castle was built with basically four sides, if this is the right side, the back is open to the sea and the left and most of the front are protected by a moat. with the Moat on two sides and the ocean to two sides with only part of the front and part of right exposed to land the castle is very strategically located.
Korkyos Castle	Korkyos Castle
Korkyos Castle	Korkyos Castle
Korkyos Castle. I you look to the boom right of the picture you can see a hole in part of the castle wall, that is the same hole pictured above, only now looking from the opposite direction.	Kizkalesi Castle. When I had finished looking around Korkyos Castle I walked along the sea wall for a ways until I came the the gentleman owning this boat. I didn't speak Turkish, and he didn't speak English but we managed to work out a deal, and so he took me out out to Kizkalesi Castle and waited for me until I was finished looking around and brought me back to shore.
Korkyos Castle. Here you can see where the moat allowed the sea to flow in and out of it to keep it keeping it filled with water. Today though most of the moat is filled with debris so that most of the moat is dry.	Kizkalesi Castle. This was the tallest part of Kizkalesi Castle, being I suppose the main watchtower. it was also the only square tower on the castle, the rest while not true towers because their primary purpose was to connect the walls were all round. There were a number of floors, I don't remember just how many but at least four, you can see at the top of the tower are people looking over the side. Leading through the tower to the top was a small stair case.
Kizkalesi Castle	Kizkalesi Castle
Kizkalesi Castle	Kizkalesi Castle
Kizkalesi Castle	Kizkalesi Castle. Just to give you a little scope on the size of these castle walls this is one of the many windows the walls. I had to jump and pull myself up just to get into it. I could easily have laid lengthwise across the breadth of the wall.
Kizkalesi Castle. Looking from the vantage point from the top of the tower you can see where several rooms used to be in the center of the castle. what you cant see is that for nearly every room above the ground level there was another room below the ground level. Most of the below ground level rooms as well as much of the castle was being worked on and repaired so was not accessible at the time.	Kizkalesi Castle
Kizkalesi Castle