Tece Castle

Tece Castle (Tece Kalesi) is a ruined castle in Mersin Province, southern Turkey.

Location
The castle is in the Tece suburb of Mersin at 36.7°N, 34.45°W. Its distance to Mersin city center is about 20 km. Although it is close to the state highway, it is difficult to visit the castle by motor vehicle because it is situated in a citrus plantation.

History
There is no record about the origin of the castle. However, judging from the architecture, it was probably a late Roman or a Byzantine castle. It was a low elevation castle, and it was built to control the road running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast. It was also used by the Crusades and Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, during which the castle underwent renovation.

Architecture
The area within the now ruined ramparts is 1560 m2. Most of the buildings are ruined. The only partially standing building is a three-story donjon. The length of the eastern wall is 9.60 m and its height is 12 m. The northern wall is 11.5 m long and 13 m high. The width of the outer wall is 1.50 m. The masonry of the inner walls is of ashlar blocks and the outer walls is of bossage blocks.