Alara Castle

The Alara Castle (Turkish: Alara Kalesi), is a historic fortification located at Alanya district of Antalya Province in southern Turkey. The castle was built under the Byzantine Empire, and in the 11th century became the western outpost of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (1080-1375). It had the function to safeguard the caravans from holdup robberies that were stopping over at the last caravanserai Alarahan on the Silk Road to the sea, situated 300–400 m (980–1,310 ft) in the south. The castle incorporates a citadel inside the outer walls. The castle's inside is reached by some 180-step stairway, which is tunneled in the rock. Around the middle of the stairway, a deepening opens to a cistern. In the citadel, a palace, accommodation facilities for the garrison, a mosque and a bath are among the ruins.