Once on the boat last evening, we sailed a bit further east to gain some time for today. There is an old Phoenician settlement we want to visit and a Seljuk Fortress. It also means getting up early today
Waking up in Yakacik Bay where we stayed overnight - the bay is a giant banana plantation
Time to sail to Anamur, an old Phoenician settlement which lager became an important Roman Trading Hub - the town is straight ahead of us
We went ashore where once a Roman harbour pier protruded into the sea - we have seen such structures already several times - the Romans were good in building artificial ports
There are no signs of the Phoenician Settlement left but many Roman ruins are still intact - just severely weathered. Again, the site is not really looked after and you have to explore it by yourself. As all other Roman towns on the Anatolian coast, the town was deserted in the 7th century and not excavated until 1811-12 by Captain Beaufort from the Royal Navy
There is still much left of the pretty impressive and large aqueduct.
The Roman baths as well as a few other public buildings are still partially preserved - but there is nothing left of residential buildings or the old street network
We stayed about a good hour in Anemurium and then continued sailing to Memure Castle. There was originally a Byzantine and then Crusader Castle here but when the Seljuk Turks captured it in the 11th century, they rebuilt it entirely in their style. Was had quite a hair-raising landing since we found only a tiny sand beach here - but eventually we got off the dingy albeit with wet feet
Our narrow landing site
Getting inside was also an adventure - luckily we had some local help. The castle was closed for restoration - we had to climb up these walls to a secondary entrance
The entrance was tight indeed!
Of course we had to climb onto the walls in order to get a good view of the Seljuk castle
There was no work going on inside but the little Mosque definitely had a make-over
The western part of the fort is in far less good shape - most of the walls are in tatters
Miles and miles of beautiful beaches to the west - hope they are not all plastered with hotels
Time to head back after a long day (albeit this is a departure photo!)
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