Hurman Castle

Hurman Castle is a Byzantine‑Seljuk fortress in southern Central Turkey. It was at times the dominant castle of the Byzantine theme of Lykandos.

Location

The castle stands in the district of Afşin of the Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş, about 25 kilometres north of Afşin and 100 kilometres north of the provincial capital Kahramanmaraş, above the valley of the Hurman Çayı. This river was already in ancient times, together with the road following its course, an important traffic route that connected Cappadocia in the west over the mountain ranges of the Dibek and the Binboğa Dağları with southeastern Anatolia and Syria. It flows south of the castle through the plain of Elbistan, where it empties into the Ceyhan, giving the fortress a strategic key position over the plain.

History

The construction date of the castle is unknown; its origin is assumed to be Byzantine, and coin finds even date back to the Roman period. In the 10th century it lay in the contested border area between the Byzantine Empire and the Arabs (al‑ʿAwāsim). After a reconquest by the Armenian Melias for Byzantium, the castle was refortified in 911 and became the main castle of the theme of Lykandos founded in 916. When the Seljuks dominated the region from the 12th century onward, the castle was fundamentally rebuilt, so that the parts visible today mostly date from this period. Under Ottoman rule, further modifications to the fortress were carried out in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Byzantine times the fortress was called Romaina, and the Arabic name was Hisn ar‑Rummān.

Structure

The castle is situated on a rock sloping southwest toward the river and has an approximately rectangular plan of about 80 × 50 metres. The extensive walls of large, multicoloured ashlar blocks survive with heights of sometimes over ten metres. The walls contain eight bastions. The main entrance was on the west, where the settlement of Sobagena, belonging to the castle, was probably located. Behind the entrance, a second wall with another gate was erected in Seljuk times. The east side also had an entrance. Of the buildings inside the castle only foundation remains are still recognizable, whose functions can no longer be interpreted.