ANCIENT CITY OF KORYKOS (KIZ KALESI)
The ancient city of Korykos is one of the most important archaeological sites in the region and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. During the Roman period, Korykos remained the most important city of Cilicia for 500 years. Rebuilt in the 12th century, only the ruins of its fortress remain. Korykos Castle faces the Castle of Beauty (Kız Kalesi), which has become the symbol of Mersin. Originally, a dike connected them. Built in the rock, 200 m from the shore, it has eight towers. You can go there by boat or contemplate it by lazing on the sand from the beach. The warm translucent water attracts more and more tourists, and the concrete keeps invading the shore, mixing with the ruins of the ancient city.
The legend of Kız Kalesi resembles most of the others surrounding the construction of towers and castles in Turkey. One of the local kings had a daughter, beautiful and selfless. His father and his subjects adored him. One day, an oracle warned the king. The prophecy foretold that the girl would one day die from a snake bite. In order to save his daughter, the king had a castle built in the middle of the sea, since snakes cannot swim. So the princess lived there until a snake hidden in a fruit basket bit her and killed her. More prosaically, it is thought that the fortress was used as a shelter from the many pirates who were rampaging in the Mediterranean region ...