Karatepe Aslantaş Open Air Museum
Karatepe, located within the borders of Kadirli district of Osmaniye province, built by the Hittite King Asivatas in the Late Hittite Age in the 8th century BC as a border fortress against attacks from the north, the surroundings of the Asitivada Castle are today an Open Air Museum. Karatepe is approximately 135 km east of Adana and 25 km east of Osmaniye, on the edge of Aslantaş Dam Lake. It is on a natural hill. It is at the foot of the Taurus Mountains. Karatepe used to dominate a caravan route. While Karatepe was an unknown place until 1946, it was found by chance and reported to Naci Kum, the Director of Adana Museum at that time, by the teacher Ekrem Kuşçu. In 1946, the German archaeologist Prof.Dr. Excavations were started under the direction of H.Th.Bossert. It was included in the World Heritage Tentative List by UNESCO in 2020.
