Niğde Castle

Niğde Castle, locally known as Niğde Kalesi, lies on a hill in the center of the city of the same name, in the province of Niğde in Turkey.

Niğde Castle was built on a rocky mound, somewhat oblong shaped, running from north to south. This site was already in use since the time of the Hittites (8th century BC). In 708/709 AD, the nearby ancient city of Tyana fell to the Arabs and its inhabitants fled here. It is thought that the castle was first built by the Byzantines later during the 8th or 9th century but, most probably, on earlier foundations.

The castle gained its final form between 1155 and 1237 under Seljuk reign. It then consisted of an inner and an outer castle. The inner castle is the castle we see today, situated on the highest, northern point of the mound. The outer castle was shaped by a circuit wall with gates and towers surrounding the rest of the mound.

After having been ruled by the Mongol Il-Khanate and Turkish Karamanids the town and castle finally came into the hands of the Ottomans in 1390. The Ottoman general and Grand Vizier, Ishak Pasha, had the castle repaired in 1470. Probably later that century Niğde Castle lost its military importance.

Over time the outer castle slowly disappeared as houses were built inside and against its walls. At present I could only find some walls, remnants of a couple of bastions and a gate against the west side of the mound and the remnant of one bastion on the east side. The old castle neighborhood inside and against its walls, and sometimes even dug out of the rock of the mound itself, is currently being demolished. Too bad because I like those kinds of historical structures much more than the generic Turkish condos.

The slender clock tower was built atop a castle bastion around 1901/1902 and is now almost the symbol of Niğde.

Apparently Niğde Castle can be visited. However, when I came by it was closed and I could not find any information about opening times. Too bad, because I would have liked to see its interior.

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