: Bağras
: Turkey
: Cilicia, South-Central Turkey
: 36° 25’ N, 36° 13’ E
: Arab, Crusader, Armenian, Byzantine, Mamluk
:

Bağras [Arm: Bałras; Grk: Pagrai; Frank: Gastun, Bagaras, Gaston, Gastin, or Guaston] is a large and very impressive Crusader (Templar) castle built over earlier Omayyad and Byzantine foundations, with undeniable evidence of late 12th c. Armenian additions.  The Templar construction extended over many decades during the 13th c.  This site, which is built on three main levels, controlled the route south of the Belen Pass as well as the strategic highway from Antioch to the Cilicia Pedias, but did not have inter-visibility with the fortresses in Cilicia Pedias.

 

Ref: Bağras, pp. 415-455; Expedition, Ch. 11; Castles, pp. 48-49; Cilician, pp. 35-49; Châteaux, pp. 118-120; Mamluks, pp. 54, 59, 91-92.

 

(Site description written and references compiled by Robert W. Edwards)

: Baghras, Bałras, Պաղրաս, Pagrai, Gastun, Bagaras, Gaston, Gastin, Guaston, Bagras, Πάγραι


Site Album Images Description Author Year Cultures
Br
1
Site Plan(s)
Robert W. Edwards
1974 - 1979
Arab, Crusader, Armenian, Byzantine, Mamluk
18
Color Transparencies
Robert W. Edwards
1979
Arab, Crusader, Armenian, Byzantine, Mamluk
16
B&W Photographs
Robert W. Edwards
1979
Arab, Crusader, Armenian, Byzantine, Mamluk