Korykos – Mersin, 2005
Located in present-day Kızkalesi, in the Erdemli district of Mersin, Korykos was an important port city of ancient Cilicia. Its position on the Mediterranean coast connected inland Anatolia with maritime trade routes. The settlement remained significant through the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and medieval periods. Its surviving remains include the mainland and island castles, fortification walls, churches, cisterns and burial grounds.
Korykos developed under Roman rule and continued to serve as a port during the Byzantine period. Public buildings were repaired during the reign of Emperor Justinian I. As military and commercial activity along the Mediterranean coast intensified, the city's defenses became increasingly important. From the twelfth century onward, its two castles played a central role in protecting the harbor.
The most striking monuments are the Mainland Castle on the shore and Kızkalesi, or the Maiden's Castle, on a small island offshore. The island fortifications were strengthened in the early twelfth century under the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Later, the area came under the control of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, whose rulers repaired and altered the fortresses. Massive walls, towers, arched passages and stonework reflect successive phases of medieval military architecture.
The Maiden's Castle is also associated with a well-known local legend. According to the story, a king, warned that his daughter would die from a snakebite, confined her to the island castle for safety. A snake nevertheless reached her inside a basket of fruit. This is a folk tale rather than a documented historical event, but it remains part of the castle's cultural identity.
Korykos was more than a fortified harbor. The ancient city also contained churches, tombs and public buildings. It remained an important Christian center in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The ruins reveal a landscape repeatedly adapted by communities with different political and religious traditions.
When I photographed Korykos in 2005, I began with the walls of the Mainland Castle along the coast. The meeting of stone fortifications and the sea, with the island castle in the distance, offered a clear sense of the harbor's defensive setting. Inside the fortress, I photographed arched passages, damaged walls and architectural remains. One view through a weathered stone arch framed the Mediterranean beyond it.
As I moved through the castle, I paid closer attention to its construction: the carefully laid stone blocks, thick walls, doorways and interconnected spaces. Among the details I recorded was a heavily weathered human figure carved in stone. These photographs preserve the appearance of Korykos in 2005 and document the architectural traces left by the different civilizations that occupied this ancient Mediterranean port.