Syangela - Alazeytin Castle.

At the weekend the rain clouds retreated and the sun came out again.  After a week of urban walking it was a chance to get back to the countryside and resume Jake the dog's archaeological education. 

We headed out towards Çiftlik with the aim of visiting Syangela.  As usual we got lost, argued about whose fault it was that we'd got lost, back-tracked to the Town Council building in Yalı where a very helpful Osman showed me the route on Google earth, printed out a map and smilingly sent me on my way.  

Syangela is one of eight Lelegian towns around Bodrum. Not much is known about the history of these sites, but they pre-date the Carian cities and were probably at their most populous from the 7th to 4th centuries BC.  We know from Strabo that Mausolus, the Carian ruler, forced the citizens of all the Lelegian towns except Myndos and Syangela to move to Halikarnasus (Bodrum) in the 4th century BC.  It is also on record that Syangela  had a governor called Pigres, paid a tribute of a talent as a member of the Delian League and minted silver coins with griffin heads in 500BC.   All the Lelegian sites are found on hills with panoramic views and sturdy defensive walls with frequent look-out towers surrounding their houses. This didn't however prevent the city being sacked by the Persians.  The wall that Jake is standing beside below is  a typical Lelegian wall:  built using roughly dressed smallish stones. 

This is a good site to compare the Lelegian and Carian building styles. In the centre of Syangela there is a single tower (below) obviously Carian in style with its much larger well dressed stones.

Having said all this, there is also the possibility that this isn't the site of Syangela at all. In recent years, a new discovery has cast doubt on the identification of the remains. Either way it's a pleasant walk to a Lelegian fortress.

Update - 20/2/15  - I've just been to wonderful lecture on  The Lelegians by Dr. Adnan Diler and was able to ask my question about Syangela directly.  It seems that Syangela was originally founded on Kaplan Dağ, close to but not at Alazeytin and was moved by Mausolus to the site now called Theangela.   

The route:  From Bodrum follow the signs to Yalı-Çiftlik.  After Kızılağac village look out for a left turning sign-posted to Alazeytin. Follow this road up through the trees and the first houses of Alazeytin and you come to a junction - the road divides into three. You can't miss it as there is a stone quarry and a flag pole in front of you.  Take the right hand road. It's quite rough so you may want to leave your car just after this turning. Follow this  track passing a house on the left, then a white building on the right and you will come to a track leading to a few houses on the right. You can park here if your car has made it this far.  Walk towards these houses and at the large covered well on the right, turn left and follow the garden wall. By the time you get to the end of the wall and turn right you will see a tractor track leading up the hill to the site.