Çamlıyayla

History

The early history of the area is unknown but these hills must have been occupied from the earliest times. By the late 11th century, the area was briefly controlled by the Byzantine empire, but was briefly conquered by the Seljuk Turks in 1081. Near the edge of the town is the sprawling Hetʽumid castle of Lampron, an Armenian construction of the 11th and 12th centuries, which has a few structural remains from the earlier late antique and Byzantine periods. The residential chambers at the northwest are especially impressive with their well-cut ashlar masonry. This site guarded a strategic route from Cappadocia to the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Subsequently, the castle was brought into the Ottoman Empire and was the scene of fighting between the Ottomans and the Mamluks.