The site lies on the skirts of the southern of two hills north of Gökçeseki village, in the Ermenek district of Karaman. On the southern, eastern and western slopes you can make out the foundations of many buildings, worked architectural fragments and a great deal of pottery; at the very top there is a stepped sacred area.
The graves are the part worth the climb. Rock-cut tombs are cut into the northern slopes of this hill and the southern face of the hill opposite, and more building remains and burials lie in the small valley between the two. Some tombs have several chambers, some only one, and inside them the stone couches and the lion-shaped lids are still in place. Some are flat-roofed, others cut with a barrel vault.
Getting there
- Access
- The site is on the southern of two hills north of Gökçeseki village in Ermenek, and on that hill's south, east and west slopes. Reach it from Ermenek by private car or on the vehicles running to Gökçeseki.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Karaman as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 0.7 °C in January to 23.5 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in December (47 mm) and lightest in August (6 mm). Long-term means for 1951-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
