Kütüklü Castle

Kütüklü Castle, locally known as Kütüklü Kalesi, lies on a hillock near the village of the same name, in the province of Mersin in Turkey.

Kütüklü Castle is situated in a region called Cilicia, which was the area of an Armenian kingdom between the end of the 11th century until the late 14th century. As with most of the fortifications in this area, neither its medieval name nor its history are known.

Deduced from the architectural remains, the castle dates back to the 13th century. Its layout; a small square with 4 round corner towers, suggests a Crusader design as this was unknown in Armenian military architecture. It shares this design with Karafrenk Castle and, more nearby, the castles of Tumil and Yaka.

Kütüklü was probably given as a fief by the Armenians to the Knights Hospitaller and served as a small garrison fort. What remains today are low and much overgrown bases of the round corner towers and the connecting curtain walls. Inside there is quite a depression in the ground level, maybe from a collapsed vault or cistern.

At present Kütüklü Castle can freely be visited, although it is surrounded by cultivated fields. As the remains are not very high and very overgrown, this is not a very interesting site.

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