Haruniye Castle

Haruniye Castle, locally known as Harun Resit Kalesi or Haruniye Kalesi, lies in the hills above the village of Düziçi in the province of Osmaniye in Turkey.

Haruniye Castle was built around 785 AD by Harun al-Rashid, an Abbasid Caliph, to secure part of a strategic road that linked the city of Kahramanmaras to the Cilician plain. It does not guard the immediate approaches to the Amanus pass, but does have intervisibility with Çardak Castle.

The Byzantines, under Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, captured the 1500 Muslim residents of Haruniye Castle and its adjoining walled town, during their campaign against the Arabs of Syria in 959. They probably inflicted considerable damage on the castle since Sayf ad-Dawlah, the governor of Aleppo, financed its reconstruction along with the neighboring town in 967.

Around 1198 (and probably much earlier) Haruniye Castle is in Armenian possession, since its baron, Levon, assisted in the coronation of the Armenian king Leo I. Godfrey followed Levon as the Lord of Haruniye.

On 22 January 1236 Hethum I, King of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, bestowed the village and castle of Haruniye on the Teutonic Knights as recompense for services rendered to the Armenian kingdom.

By the end of the 13th century, Haruniye Castle had fallen into the hands of the Mamluks. In the mid-14th century, the Egyptians made Haruniye the administrative headquarters of east Cilicia.

At present, Haruniye Castle can be visited. It is freely accessible. However, when I visited some ugly restoration works were taking place and also some outbuildings were being built, that looked as if they were going to have a touristic purpose. Maybe even a ticket booth.

Haruniye Castle is a nice ruin, although it is being robbed of its historic character by the ugly restorations.

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