Along the Ceyhan River, from Misis to Kurtkulağı

Begin the day at Misis, about 27 kilometres east of Adana, at the head of the stone bridge that crosses the Ceyhan River on nine arches. Because the bridge is still open to traffic today, it is wisest to look at it first from the bank, from a little distance; only from there can you see the whole row of arches in one frame. The widest arch in the middle spans about eleven metres, and on each side four arches grow gradually smaller. This symmetry makes the length of the bridge, more than 130 metres, easy to read when you look at it from the bank. Notice that the arches are pointed, because although the bridge was founded in the Roman period, its present appearance carries the marks of repairs that went on for centuries. Sources attribute its construction to different emperors; the Culture Portal ties the bridge to Constantius II in the 4th century AD, while some researchers suggest an earlier date. The Byzantine emperor Justinian is known to have repaired the bridge in the 6th century. In the Ottoman period, when the central arch collapsed in 1736, the bridge became unusable, and it was repaired again in 1766. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam also records that the bridge was damaged once more in 1832. The structure you see today is the one that went through the restoration carried out in 1998.

Then go up onto the bridge and walk from one end to the other, but keep to the edge and move carefully because there is car traffic. From the middle of the bridge, looking in both directions, you see how the Ceyhan cuts the plain in two. The river rises near Elbistan and, after flowing for some 509 kilometres, forms a wide delta in Çukurova and reaches the sea. According to the TDV encyclopedia, before the river mouth silted up with alluvium, ships could sail up as far as Misis. The Cilician Armenian ruler Leo II also granted Venetian and Genoese merchants permission to trade here. So the crossing you are standing on was for centuries a junction of both the land road and river trade. The bridge also has a story told by local people: it is said that the paper on which Lokman Hekim had written the formula of his elixir of immortality flew out of his hand here and fell into the river.

After the bridge, look toward the hill behind the settlement, the mound of ancient Mopsuestia. The founding of the city is attributed to the legendary seer Mopsos, and its name means "the home of Mopsos". The Adana Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism writes that the history of the settlement begins with this mound, which probably goes back to the Neolithic period. The remains of the walls on the acropolis and the Havraniye Caravanserai built in 1542 are counted among the structures still standing in Misis. When Evliya Çelebi passed through in 1671, he described how the inn on the far side of the bridge had been repaired and how the caravans were guarded by soldiers. Do not look for the famous mosaics of Misis here; the mosaic museum is closed and the finds are now displayed in the Adana Museum. The settlement, which belongs to the district of Yüreğir, officially took the name Yakapınar after 1960, but the bridge and the ancient city are still known as Misis. For photographs, the soft morning light brings out the stone texture of the arches better. From here follow the old Misis to Ceyhan road east to Sirkeli; the river stays close to you all along the way.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Misis; TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Misis.

At Sirkeli the Ceyhan River presses against the foot of the Misis Mountains, that is Nur Dağı, and flows through a narrow pass, and the mound rises exactly on the western bank of this pass. When you get out of the car, first take in the size of the mound: the hill measures about 400 by 300 metres and is 30 metres high. Together with the lower town, the settlement is said to have spread over an area of some 80 hectares and to be one of the largest mounds of Cilicia. The river winding round two of its sides and the ridge of the mountain protect the hill naturally, while from the top the whole plain east, west and north of the river bend can be watched.

Your real goal is the rocky outcrop on the northeastern edge of the mound, because the relief of the Hittite king Muwatalli II is carved there on a rock face looking at the river. Since the relief stands about five metres above the water and faces the river, it is best seen from the bank. The king is shown in a long robe, holding a ceremonial staff with a curled tip. The inscription to its right introduces him as Muwatalli, Great King, the hero, son of Mursili, Great King. Muwatalli II is thought to have reigned in the first half of the 13th century BC, and this relief is regarded as the oldest securely dated relief of a Hittite king. He is the same ruler who faced the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II at the famous Battle of Kadesh in Syria. According to researchers, Sirkeli was one of the most important crossing points of the Ceyhan on the road to Syria.

A few metres to the right of the Muwatalli relief there are traces of a second relief, but you can make it out with the naked eye only at the hours when the sun strikes it at a favourable angle. This second figure is thought to have been deliberately chiselled away in antiquity. A three dimensional scan carried out in 2017 showed that the erased inscription most probably named Mursili III, son of Muwatalli. It has been suggested that the erasure was done in the time of Hattusili III, who took the throne from him, or of his successors. Between the two reliefs a flattened surface that may belong to a third figure was also detected, but it is not clear whether it was ever completed. The shallow pits cut into the rock platform above the reliefs are associated with libation ceremonies. Together with a building to the west of the reliefs, these pits are interpreted as part of a cult installation belonging to the Hittite king.

The first excavation on the mound was made by John Garstang in 1936, and in the 1990s teams from the universities of Munich and Innsbruck worked here. After 2006 the universities of Tübingen and Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart, and from 2011 the University of Bern, continued the excavations. This work brought to light a massive bastion from the Hittite imperial period and Late Bronze Age buildings on stone foundations. The finds show that the settlement was inhabited without interruption from about 5000 BC until the Roman period. Researchers think that Sirkeli may be Lawazantiya, the cult city where the Hittite queen Puduhepa was born and grew up. The Baghdad railway and the modern motorway pass along the southern foot of the mound; seeing the road of thousands of years still flowing through the same pass today is the real lesson of this stop. Respect the limits of the excavation area and do not touch the relief. The walls you notice on the hill across the river belong to the next stop, Yılankale; you cross the river and reach the foot of the castle after a short drive.

Source: Hittite Monuments, Sirkeli; LMU Münih, Sirkeli projesi.

Yılankale is built on top of a limestone hill rising alone from the plain on the eastern bank of the Ceyhan River. The castle looks down on Sirkeli Höyük; you are now entering the walls you saw from the opposite bank at the previous stop. Start the climb at the main gate on the south side of the castle, from where stone steps lead up to the terraces. The path is steep and uneven in places, so non slip shoes, water and a hat are essential at this stop. As you approach the gate, look above the doorway; there is a relief of a seated king with rampant lions on either side. For a long time this relief was attributed to King Leo I, who is thought to have built the castle, but later research has suggested that it shows Hethum I or Hethum II.

Sources differ on when the castle was built. The English and Turkish Wikipedia articles date it to the late 12th or early 13th century, to the period of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and King Leo I. The Culture Portal, however, writes that the castle was built by the Byzantines during the Crusader period in Çukurova. Traces of Byzantine, Crusader and Armenian repairs can be seen on the structure, and the Armenian repairs show most clearly in the windows, frames and the vaults over the doors. Look closely at the walls: carefully cut stones with roughly dressed faces were laid to follow the curve of the limestone rock. The castle consists of three baileys, and each bailey has a single entrance gate. The two lower baileys were designed to protect the southeastern flank, while the largest and best defended part is the upper section where the garrison lived. Having to pass through three gates to reach the castle courtyard, and the portable ladders that linked the gates, made this a very difficult place to capture. Notice the horseshoe shaped towers lined up along the walls and the loopholes between them. Most of the cisterns are in the highest and northernmost section, because collecting water on the hill was the condition for withstanding a long siege.

When you reach the summit, turn toward the plain. The castles of Anavarza, Tumlu and Kozan are also counted within this castle's field of view. Below, the bend of the Ceyhan, Sirkeli Höyük and the Misis Mountains can be read at a single glance, and this view explains by itself why the castle was built here. The old name of the castle is Kovara or Govara, while its present name comes from the local legend of Şahmeran. In the 17th century Evliya Çelebi mentioned the place as the home of Şahmeran and spoke of herds of snakes inside the castle. Local people also tell that the snakes fed on milk will one day be left without milk and come down from the castle to Misis. The castle was abandoned in the middle of the 14th century, during the period of the Ramadanids. In the late 19th century, Nogai immigrants who had come after the Crimean War are known to have lived around the castle.

The English Wikipedia notes that the castle was renovated in the summer of 2014 and is open to visitors; check the current visiting conditions with the Adana Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism before you go. For photographs, afternoon light gives a warm tone to the south facing stone surfaces, while at midday the hill has no shade, so avoid climbing then. Come down by the same path without hurrying, because the edges of the walls are high and steep. From here you pass by Ceyhan and drive southeast to Kurtkulağı, the last stop of the route.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Yılan Kale; Wikipedia, Yılankale.

The last stop of the route, Kurtkulağı Caravanserai, stands southeast of Ceyhan in the Kurtkulağı neighbourhood, on the old caravan road from Adana to Aleppo. As you approach the building, first notice how thick the outer walls are; the caravanserai has stone walls built as solidly as those of a castle. On three sides, strong buttresses rising to the level of the eaves support the walls and give the building an almost military look. The caravanserai has a large rectangular plan of about 46 by 24 metres, and its entrance is on the east side. With projections that depart from the classical caravanserai layout, the east facade differs from the other sides, so start your photographs there. Because the east facade catches the morning sun, the photograph of the gate turns out better before noon.

Look at the inscription panel above the entrance, because the question of the building's date is tied up right there. According to the Turkish Wikipedia, an inscription in the Adana Museum attributes the building to Hüseyin Pasha in 1659 and its architect to Mehmed Ağa. An article by Hayriye Akıl published in 2006, however, writes that there is a place for an inscription on the gate but that the building has no inscription. For this reason Akıl dates the building to 1704, relying on a decree of Ahmed III dated 1704 and on the endowment deed of the Karamort Complex. The English Wikipedia notes that the inscription was removed between 1919 and 1922, that some sources give the date 1693, and stresses that the building cannot be later than 1704.

Once inside, you understand at once what the courtyardless caravanserai type means, because the whole building consists of a single large covered hall. Two rows of piers running across the hall are joined by pointed arches, and barrel vaults running lengthwise form the entire roof. Stand in the middle of the hall and look along the length of the vaults; the rhythm of the piers shows the whole logic of this plan. In the Ottoman period the caravanserai was a menzil han, that is a station where horses and officials were kept, travellers stayed overnight and news was carried. According to a statement by the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the building also served as a kind of postal establishment. Sources report that the building was repaired in 1712 and that a guard unit of 50 men was stationed here. The Turkish Wikipedia writes that the building was restored in 2006, and TRT Haber reports that the restoration was carried out by the Regional Directorate of Foundations. After the restoration, landscaping work began so that it could be opened to tourism with its pool, fountain, guest rooms and large hall. Do not miss the stretches of wall still partly standing in the garden either. About a hundred metres south of the caravanserai stands Kurtkulağı Mosque, built in 1601 according to its inscription.

This building is the logical end of a day that began at Misis. The road that crossed the river at Misis, flowed through the mountain pass at Sirkeli and was guarded from above by Yılankale continued from here toward Aleppo. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism counts this caravanserai among the stops of the historic Silk Road route stretching from the Marco Polo Pier in Yumurtalık to Tufanbeyli. Because visiting conditions may change with the landscaping work, ask the provincial directorate about the current situation before you go. On the way back you can reach Adana by joining the motorway via Ceyhan.

Source: DergiPark, Akıl 2006; TRT Haber, Kurtkulağı Kervansarayı.