Abstract

The castle of Feke, formerly known as Vahga, stands at a height of 1,250 m., less than 10 km. NE. of the modern town of the same name, and about 60 km. NNE. of Kozan. The site is a prominent rock outcrop overlooking the right-hand bank of a principal tributary of the River Seyhan, the Gök Su, whose valley here carries one of the lesser passes of the Anti-Taurus range southwards into Cilicia.The castle played an important part in the establishment of the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia. The fortress appears to have been among the first to fall into Armenian hands, Constantine, son of Roupen, capturing the castle from its Byzantine garrison by a stratagem during the last decade of the 11th century, at a time when the Armenian princes were consolidating their positions in the mountain passes of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus preparatory to their descent upon the Cilician plain.

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