Toprakkale (Toprakkale)
Toprakkale is a town and district of Osmaniye Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is located at 10 km to the west of Osmaniye. Its name comes from an Abbasid castle near the city.
The town is on a road and rail crossing, a natural intersection of routes between Adana, Hatay and Gaziantep.
The great fortress known as Toprakkale (Arabic: Tall Hamdūn; Frankish: Thil Hamd(o)un; Armenian: T'il Hamdun) was founded in the 8th century by the Abbasids. During the 12th century it was frequently captured by the Byzantines, Crusaders, and Armenians. In 1266 the Mamluks briefly seized the castle from its Armenian lord and in 1337 permanently removed it from the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. It was seized by the Ottomans in the 1490s when they captured all of Cilicia.
On the summit of a basalt outcrop is the almost rectangular complex which measures 150 meters on its long north-to-south axis, and 105 meters in width. The walls are protected by numerous round towers and a lethal array of embrasured loopholes (shooting ports). At the south and east is a second highly fortified wall. To the west and north is a massive talus with its own system of tunnels. Roughly 100 meters from the base of the outcrop at the west and north is a curving fortified circuit wall which creates a separate ward far larger than the interior of the summit fortress. Toprakkale appears to be the result of many periods of construction, with the Mamluks as the last of the significant contributors.
The town is on a road and rail crossing, a natural intersection of routes between Adana, Hatay and Gaziantep.
The great fortress known as Toprakkale (Arabic: Tall Hamdūn; Frankish: Thil Hamd(o)un; Armenian: T'il Hamdun) was founded in the 8th century by the Abbasids. During the 12th century it was frequently captured by the Byzantines, Crusaders, and Armenians. In 1266 the Mamluks briefly seized the castle from its Armenian lord and in 1337 permanently removed it from the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. It was seized by the Ottomans in the 1490s when they captured all of Cilicia.
On the summit of a basalt outcrop is the almost rectangular complex which measures 150 meters on its long north-to-south axis, and 105 meters in width. The walls are protected by numerous round towers and a lethal array of embrasured loopholes (shooting ports). At the south and east is a second highly fortified wall. To the west and north is a massive talus with its own system of tunnels. Roughly 100 meters from the base of the outcrop at the west and north is a curving fortified circuit wall which creates a separate ward far larger than the interior of the summit fortress. Toprakkale appears to be the result of many periods of construction, with the Mamluks as the last of the significant contributors.
Map - Toprakkale (Toprakkale)
Map
Country - Turkey
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| Flag of Turkey | |
One of the world's earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe, and was inhabited by ancient civilisations including the Hattians, Hittites, Anatolian peoples, Mycenaean Greeks, Persians and others. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great which started the Hellenistic period, most of the ancient regions in modern Turkey were culturally Hellenised, which continued during the Byzantine era. The Seljuk Turks began migrating in the 11th century, and the Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into small Turkish principalities. Beginning in the late 13th century, the Ottomans united the principalities and conquered the Balkans, and the Turkification of Anatolia increased during the Ottoman period. After Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, Ottoman expansion continued under Selim I. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became a global power. From the late 18th century onwards, the empire's power declined with a gradual loss of territories. Mahmud II started a period of modernisation in the early 19th century. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 restricted the authority of the Sultan and restored the Ottoman Parliament after a 30-year suspension, ushering the empire into a multi-party period. The 1913 coup d'état put the country under the control of the Three Pashas, who facilitated the Empire's entry into World War I as part of the Central Powers in 1914. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Greek and Assyrian subjects. After its defeat in the war, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRY | Turkish lira | ₺ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| AV | Avar language |
| AZ | Azerbaijani language |
| KU | Kurdish language |
| TR | Turkish language |