Kızkalesi

Kızkalesi - maiden's castle - sits on a small island a couple of hundred metres offshore, its walls and towers rising straight out of the water so that from the beach it appears to float. It was fortified at the start of the twelfth century by the Byzantine admiral Eustathios Kymineianos on the orders of Alexios I Komnenos, and soon passed to the Armenian rulers of Cilicia, who held both castles until the mid-fourteenth century; it stands off ancient Korykos, and paired with a second castle on the shore directly opposite; a causeway once linked the two, and its line can still be traced underwater. The legend, told of half the castles in Turkey, involves a king shutting his daughter on the island to escape a prophecy about a snake, and it ends as those stories do. Boats run out from the beach in season and strong swimmers make the crossing, though the boat is the sensible choice. Inside the island castle are ruined chambers, a chapel and walls to walk. The mainland castle is larger and freely walked, and around it lie the tombs and churches of Korykos.

Highlights

• The island castle - walls rising directly from the sea.
• The mainland castle - the larger fortress on the shore.
• The submerged causeway - the line between the two underwater.
• The Korykos remains - tombs and churches around the shore castle.

When to go

May to June and September to October. Boats run in season; out of season crossings depend on finding a boatman. Summer on this coast is very hot.

Good to know

The island castle is a ruin with unfenced walls and loose stone - care is needed. Swimming across is farther than it looks and boats pass. The resort strip behind the beach is unremarkable.

Nearby

Kanlıdivane and the Corycian caves are inland; Uzuncaburç is up in the Taurus behind Silifke.

Key facts