Meydan Kalesi
Cliff-edge megalithic complex along Turkey's southern coast in Mersin Province, near Silifke. The site stretches approximately one kilometer with cyclopean polygonal walls, megalithic doorways, and single mega-stones spanning corners (50-60+ tons by visual estimate). The doorway construction is directly comparable to the Sun Gate at Tiwanaku, Bolivia, and the polygonal joinery mirrors sites at Norba and Saturnia in Italy. Rock-cut tombs and chamber caves are carved into the surrounding bedrock. Conventional reading : Hellenistic, built under the Seleucid Empire approximately 2,300 years ago. Independent reading : Hugh Newman proposes an earlier construction phase, potentially Neolithic, with Hellenistic occupation built on top, arguing the masonry style matches sites claimed to be older elsewhere - the Hellenicon Pyramid in Greece and the Orbetello walls in Italy. Both of those datings are contested: the Hellenicon result is thermoluminescence, not sonoluminescence, and is disputed within Greek archaeology, and the Orbetello water-erosion figure is not an accepted method. The site's own name is unrecorded - neither its Hellenistic nor its Roman name survives, and Meydankale is a modern Turkish descriptor meaning roughly 'square castle'. It sits on a spur north of Imamli village, guarding the road up from the coast to Uzuncaburc (ancient Olba/Diocaesarea).
Walkthrough videos (2)
Meydan Kalesi | Giant Polygonal and Cyclopean Walls in Turkey | Megalithomania · Hugh Newman / Megalithomania
Off the Records. The Nameless City | on-site walkthrough, Russian · Proto Civilization
Nearby sites
- Manazan Caves & Taşkale Granaries89 km
- Syedra152 km
- Çatalhöyük155 km