Niksar Castle

Niksar Castle, locally known as Niksar Kalesi, lies in the city of the same name, in the province of Tokat in Turkey.

The town of Niksar may have been founded by the Hittites. In the Greek/Pontic era it was known as Cabira. Niksar Castle possibly started out as the acropolis of that ancient city. After the city was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC, it was called by different names, but finally became known as Neoceasarea. It became part of the Byzantine Empire in 395 AD, when the Roman Empire was divided in an Eastern and Western Roman Empire.

The present structure was probably turned into a castle by the Byzantines. In the second part of the 11th century, the town and castle were repeatedly conquered and reconquered by the Seljuks and Byzantines. Between 1073 and 1075 it was even held by the Norman mercenary Roussel de Bailleul, who had rebelled against the Byzantine Empire. It was then taken by Danishmend Gazi. Later it fell to the Seljuks. In the late 14th century Niksar was taken by the Ottomans.

The castle is situated on a spur, which runs from east to west between 2 streams. What remains of the castle today is mainly what was the inner castle. In the west bailey are the ruins of a bath house, a structure which thought to have been a Danishmend hall (later turned church) and a medieval madrasa (a religious school). There are also some teahouses. The east bailey is empty, only its outer wall is still standing.

Niksar Castle is freely accessible. My pictures are only of the inner castle, I sadly missed the outer wall of the east bailey.

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