Garpu Castle
Our province, Salıpazarı district, Konakören Village, Garpu Area, Plot 202, Parcel 1, within the forested area, is home to Garpu Castle, known among the locals as Amazon Castle. It generally features an open-air temple and Phrygian rock altars. Phrygian rock altars are typically found on high plateaus, at city and castle entrances, along water edges, and on rocky outcrops overlooking the fertile plains irrigated by rivers. Located at a commanding point in the Çarşamba Plain, irrigated by the Green River (Iris) and fed by many small and large streams, the rock altar at Garpu Castle protects the goddess Cybele, the farmers, and the fertile plains, allowing worship to continue uninterrupted at this cultural center visible from every point in the plain.
The Garpu Castle open-air temple/rock altar is reached via a path that branches off the stabilized road connecting the villages of Konakören and Esat Farm into the forest and continues eastward. Ardıç Spring is located 500 m from Garpu Castle on this smooth and not very narrow path, and it is known that the existing road has long been a caravan route. After walking for about 2 km, you reach the entrance via a path where the main rocks have been carved and flattened in places. The gate, carved in an arch shape on the main rock mass protruding narrowly to the north, is 1.45 cm wide and 2.4 cm high.
