Tower of Gömeç

Tower of Gömeç
Tower of Gömeç
Mersin Province in Turkey
	Tower from the south
	Tower of Gömeç
Coordinates	36°29′25″N 34°8′8″E / 36.49028°N 34.13556°E

The Tower of Gömeç (Gömeç Kalesi) is a Roman

watch tower in Cilicia, present-day Mersin Province in southern Turkey

.

Location

The watchtower is located in the

Cambazlı, terminating at Uzuncaburç (ancient Olba). There are a number of other towers in the area: the older tower of Gücük is about 200 metres away, the Tower of Sarayın [de] is two kilometres to the southeast, and the Tower of Akkum [de

] is three kilometres to the southwest.

Description

The tower, which is almost completely intact, is 11.32 metres high. At ground level it has a floor area of 4.7 x 4.7 metres, which decreases to 4.2 x 4.2 metres at the top. It is built from stone blocks without mortar, using the pseudo-isodomum technique, in which the stones of each layer are the same size, but the size of the stones in different layers may differ. The height of the blocks varies between 80 and 30 centimetres. The door is located on the south side and measures 1.9 x 0.96 metres. Above it, on the exterior wall, there is a series of 13 beam holes, which were added some time after construction in order to support a porch.

There are four floors. On the south side of the first floor there is a window, which has been bricked up; above it, on the second floor there is a slit-window and on the third there is a square window, measuring about 85 centremetres on each side. There were also windows in the east and west walls of the third floor, which were later sealed up with small blocks. There is still a slit window in the west wall of the first floor. There are no openings in the north wall on any floor.

The door opened inwards and to the right. The holes for the

crenellations

. These are almost completely intact, with the saddle-shaped tops of the merlons still preserved in some cases.

Around the tower are the ruined walls of various buildings, including an olive oil press.

Towers in Cilicia

In Cilicia, particularly in the area between the river Kalykadnos (modern

Seleucid to Roman control of the area in the second century BC. Five free-standing towers in the isodomic style (Akkum, Boyan, Gömeç, Sarayın und Yalama) cluster around Korykos and Elaiussa Sebaste, which were both the main city of the area at different times. At the same time, they appear to have served as homes and storehouses. The lower stories were dark and therefore could be used to store foodstuffs such as cereals, while also serving as a place of refuge for the inhabitants of the surrounding area. The crenellations of the upper platform offered protection from archers. On account of the similar style of the different towers and the fact that they are located within three to five kilometres of one another, it can be concluded that they were built as a group, perhaps intended to communicate with one another using signals. They were probably built between the end of Seleukid rule in 133 BC, the defeat of the pirates by Pompey

in 65 BC, and (at the latest) the conversion of the area into a Roman province in AD 74.

Door with holes for beams
West wall interior with beam holes
Door from inside
Edge of door

Bibliography

Josef Keil, Adolf Wilhelm: Denkmäler aus dem rauhen Kilikien, (= MAMA 3), Manchester 1931, pp. 119–120 Tab. 45 Fig. 146
ISBN 3-7749-2840-1
pp. 66–74