Güvercinada Castle
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| Güvercinada Castle | |
|---|---|
Güvercinada Kalesi | |
| Part of Güvercinada | |
| Kuşadası, Aydın Province in the Republic of Türkiye | |
 Güvercinada viewed from the causeway | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Castle |
| Website | kusadasi |
| Location | |
  Güvercinada Castle Güvercinada Kalesi in Turkey | |
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| Coordinates | 37°51′49″N 27°14′51″E / 37.8636°N 27.2476°E |
| Height | 200 metres (660 ft) |
| Length | 350 metres (1,150 ft) |
| Site history | |
| Built | Late 13th or early 14th century |
| Built by | Traders from the Republic of Genoa |
| Garrison information | |
| Designations | Tentative World Heritage Site |
Güvercinada Castle (Turkish: Güvercinada Kalesi; lit. 'Pigeon Island Castle'), also known as Scalanova Castle, is a castle and fortress in western Turkey on Güvercinada (lit. 'Pigeon Island'), which is connected to mainland Kuşadası via a man-made causeway. It is part of Kuşadası's Hacıfeyzullah neighborhood,[1][2] and is surrounded by the Gulf of Kuşadası.[3] It is also a tourist attraction.[4] It consists of a square inner castle on Güvercinada's highest point and an outer wall surrounding the island that acts as fortification.[5]
History
[edit]Traders from the Republic of Genoa first settled in modern-day Kuşadası in the late 13th or early 14th century. The city of Scalanova (lit. 'New Pier')—now called Kuşadası—and the Güvercinada Castle were established by them.[6] It is named after pigeons because the castle is frequently populated with them.[4]
In the 1530s, Hayreddin Barbarossa, the admiral of the Ottoman Empire's navy, constructed a fortress on the island to protect the castle from naval attacks.[7] The governor of the Sanjak of Suğla, İlyas Ağa, built walls around the island in the 1820s.[7] The castle was originally on a separate island, until a 50 meter causeway was built in the 1950s connecting the two.[7]
It was submitted to UNESCO by the Permanent Delegate of Türkiye to UNESCO on 14 April 2020[8][4] and again on 22 June 2026, and is currently on the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.[6] A 2024 study by Dumlupınar University geoscientist Enes Zengin found that three metres of sea level rise would endanger the castle.[9]
The inner castle is square shaped, measuring 17.35 by 15.70 metres.[7] The outer fortifications are reinforced and match the island's topography. It has an arched entrance with two towers on each side, and two other towers on the north and southeast of the walls.[6] The entrance also has a gap in it, implying that there may have been an inscription there. It was constructed out of stone from Yılancı Burnu.[1][3] Turkey's Ministry of National Education consider the castle a symbol of Kuşadası.[3]
Gallery
[edit]
Güvercinada Castle viewed from above
Entrance to Güvercinada Castle
View of Güvercinada Castle from afar
The Güvercinada Castle causeway
Grave of İbrahim Halveti
Top of Güvercinada Castle
Statue of Hayreddin Barbarossa
.JPG)
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Güvercinada Kalesi" [Pigeon Castle]. Aydın Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism (in Turkish). Aydın Province. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "Anasayfa > Güvercinada Kalesi" [Home page > Pigeon Castle] (in Turkish). Kuşadası Belediyesi. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Güvercinada Kalesi" [Pigeon Castle] (in Turkish). Ministry of National Education. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Atik, Hakan (6 January 2024). "Güverci̇nada: Kuşadasi'nin Tari̇hi̇ Adasi Ve Sirlari" [Güverci̇nada: The history of the island and surrounding Kuşadasi] (in Turkish). Aydın Adnan Menderes University. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ TOK, Emine (October 2014). "Kuşadası, Güvercinada Kalesi" (PDF). Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "The Genoese Maritime Network: Trading Posts and Fortifications from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea". UNESCO. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Ayduğan, Nil (2020). "Güvercinada Kalesi" [Pigeon Castle] (in Turkish). Aydın Province: Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
- ↑ "Trading Posts and Fortifications on Genoese Trade Routes from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ↑ Ann Hughes, Rebecca (26 August 2024). "Over a third of Türkiye and Greece's heritage sites threatened by rising sea levels, study finds". Euronews. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
Further reading
[edit]- Çetin, Berkan (24 July 2025). "Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa'nın mirası: Güvercinada Kalesi" [The legacy of Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha: Güvercinada Castle] (in Turkish). Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Güvercinada Castle at Wikimedia Commons
The Genoese Maritime Network: Trading Posts and Fortifications from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea | ||
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