Kızkalesi

Sunlight fractures across the strait between two medieval castles, one rooted on the shore, the other rising from the sea itself. Swimmers cross the turquoise channel toward walls that seem to float, while the Cilician coast stretches east in a haze of limestone and pine.

Kızkalesi is named for its sea castle, Maiden's Castle, raised under the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in the 12th century to guard this coast, floating just offshore and reached by boat or by strong swimmers. The land fortress of Korykos stands directly opposite, curtain walls largely intact, and together the pair controlled one of the busiest stretches of the medieval Mediterranean. Local legend says the sea castle was built to protect a princess fated to die of a snakebite; the snake arrived anyway, hidden in a fruit basket. The surrounding coast holds dozens of lesser-known sites, from the rock-cut reliefs of Adamkayalar to the Heaven and Hell sinkholes just inland.