Softa Castle

Softa Castle, locally known as Softa Kalesi, lies on a hill in the village of Kaledibi, in the province of Mersin in Turkey.

Softa Castle dates back to the late-Roman period and stood above the ancient Greek city of Arsinoe. In Byzantine times the castle was called Sycae/Syke/Sechin. The remains of the present castle are thought to have been built by Armenian masons on older remains. During the reign of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (1198-1375), Softa was one of the fortresses protecting the western border of their domain against the threat of the Seljuks.

The Seljuks took the castle around 1225 from the Armenian king Leo I. Later it came into the hands of the Karamanids, who lost it to the Ottomans in the 1470s. After that, it lost its importance and disappears from historical records.

The castle has an irregular ground plan with an inner and an outer bailey. It sits on a hill which slopes down to the west. Inside its walls are remains of a palace, a bathhouse, several cisterns and a mosque. Legend has it that there is a tunnel going from Softa to Mamure Castle, 10 km to the west.

Softa Castle is freely accessible but even though the hill is surrounded by a kind of residential area, it is very hard to access. There is no direct or even distinguishable path leading to the castle, so you will have to find your own way through the trees and prickly shrubs on the rather steep and rocky hillside. It took me almost an hour to find a way up the hill and into the castle. But once inside, the hike is definitely worth it, even though the interior is sometimes also difficult to traverse because of the abundant growth.

Gallery