A warning before setting out: the Ministry states plainly that Mavga castle is not in a condition to be visited. It stands in the Mut district of Mersin and was built in 1230 by Alaeddin Keykubad, made by cutting into the natural rock. On the tower at its northeastern end is a rectangular niche holding an Arabic inscription, and the curtain walls are destroyed.
Natural caves here were shaped for habitation, and among them, alongside the dwellings, are rock tombs with small square or nearly rectangular entrances. The castle is at the sixteenth kilometre of the road to the Kozlar yayla, near Bagcagiz.
Getting there
- Access
- The castle stands at the sixteenth kilometre of the road up to the Kozlar plateau and is reached by car.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Mersin as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 10.4 °C in January to 28.5 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in April, May, October and November; rainfall is heaviest in December (137 mm) and lightest in August (7 mm). Long-term means for 1929-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
