Kahramanmaraş Castle

In the city centre, the castle is erected on a hill. This hill has a steep slope on the south side and a gentle slope on its north side. Excavation works in in the castle revealed many historical artifacts from the Late Hittite Period. Among these is the Maraş Lion, which stood at the gate entrance of the castle in the 17th century, according to the writer Evliya Çelebi. The castle itself was built in the Late Hittite Period, with various repairs and additions under the succeeding dominions of the Assyrians, Medes, Persians and the Kingdom of Cappadocia, the Romans, Eastern Romans, Seljuks of Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic. The castle survives to the present day. The outer walls of the square bastion are large-cut stones, 1.7 metres deep, and the inner walls are rubble stone. The castle is built in a rectangular design.