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Village in Turkey
Photo: Klaus-Peter Simon, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Babakale is a village in the Northern Aegean Region of Turkey, with a population of 497 in 2020. It's existed since antiquity but the present village grew up to serve its castle, built from 1725. It's on Cape Baba, the westernmost point of mainland Asia, at 26° 03' 50" East on about the same longitude as Helsinki and Bucharest.
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Hırzü’l-Bahr
This was built in the 1720s in the reign of Ahmed III to defend the harbour, an Ottoman navy base against pirates and other foes. It's a rectangle of about 38 m x 76 m near the cliff edge, and once contained a mosque, baths and some two dozen houses. Water was piped in from 5 km away. It's said that convict labourers used in the construction were released upon completion and settled locally. The walls and watchtowers have been well restored. Enter via the east gate.
Ἀπόλλων Σμινθεύς
This is a Hellenistic temple from around 150 BC. It stood in the much older settlement of Hamaxitus, which means "wagon way" – a track led down to a harbour. The name of the temple is a puzzle: Smintheon is the deity beseeched at the opening of Iliad, something to do with mice or diseases that they spread. But the word isn't Greek, so it's unclear just where it got started between here and Cape Dezhnyov.
This small motel and fish restaurant remains closed in 2022.
Ezine is on the main highway and bus route between Çanakkale, Edremit and Izmir. Change here for the local bus or dolmuş, which winds through the back lanes and olive groves to Babakale. It runs every couple of hours.
Read in the guideBabakale itself is tiny and takes less than ten minutes to walk across. You need wheels for the temple at Gülpinar.
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Mytilene · Regional · MJT
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