Çamlıyayla

Çamlıyayla is a town and district of Mersin Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The district has a population of 10.558 out of which 3335 lives in the town of Çamlıyayla.[1]

Çamlıyayla is a small district high in the Taurus Mountains. In summer the lakes, streams and pine forests of Çamlıyayla attract many visitors, people from Adana, Mersin and Tarsus escaping from the extreme heat on the coast to summer homes up in the hills. (see yayla)

Çamlıyayla is a quiet rural area without the wild nightlife to entertain young people and is therefore popular with families and the retired, typically children stay in the hills with their grandparents while their parents are at work in the city; in the school holiday period the population of the district rises to over 100,000. The cuisine includes a slushed ice called karsambaç, which antecessor of icecream, very refreshing in summer.

There is a mountain goat breeding centre in Çamlıyayla and people come here for hunting wild boar, rabbits and sandgrouse. At higher altitudes the district is bare mountainside, above the tree line.

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 Lampron was controlled in the name of the Byzantine emperor by general Oshin of Lampron, but was captured by the Seljuk Turks in 1081. The castle was built later by the Crusaders. Subsequently the castle was brought into the Ottoman Empire and was the scene of fighting between the Ottomans and the Mamluks.

External links

• District's official website (Turkish)
• Municipality's official website (Turkish)