Engüzekkapı Kalesi


Small but unusually complete, the castle ruins of Engüzekkapı are dramatically set atop a cylindrical crag that juts abruptly above the main Artvin–Erzurum roadside, 4km south of Uzendere. The site is visible as you drive by, or you can walk steeply up from the car park in around 15 minutes to a spindly cross-chasm footbridge for some memorable views.

The footbridge leads onto the cragtop with a path leading around between the outer and inner walls, but to penetrate the latter requires squeezing through a whole less than 1m high.

The castle's history is mistily recorded. It possibly dating to Byzantine times, but it is known to have fallen to the Ottomans in September 1547.


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