Güvercinada Fortress, located in the Hacıfeyzullah District of Kuşadası City, was built on the mouth of the harbour to protect it. There is an inner fortress (built by Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha) and fortress walls (built by İlyas Aga) on the island. These walls were built to protect against the expected attacks from the Greek islanders and from the sea during the Mora Revolt period. The stones used in construction of the fortress were transported from Yılancı Cape. The architecture of the castle is pentagonal. There is an inscription at the entrance of the castle. The island was also known as the Pirate Castle because it served as a police station against pirates during the Ottoman period. The tower, located at the highest point of the island, was used by guards on watch.
Kuşadası icon Güvercinada is registered as a “monumental work” and is also one of the most important cultural and historical values of Kuşadası. The area within the castle is a 1st degree Archaeological Site.
Güvercinada Castle”, classed as the iconic structure of Kuşadası; ‘With its specifications of a history dating as far back as 3000 BC, being a complete natural island and in combination with being situated in Kuşadası, a city of important settlement area of the ancient times’ not only constitutes importance at a regional level but also at a “ World Culture Heritage” level due to its accumulated history, culture and nature environment and as such was placed in Unesco’s Tentative list in the second quarter of 2020 under the category of “Trading Posts and Fortifications on Genoese Trade Routes from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea” which can be seen in detail in https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6468/ official website of UNESCO.
Are you ready to walk on the soils of this magnificent structure to transport yourself back to its ancient history?
