AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Perched on a commanding hilltop on Mount Arkut, five kilometres north of Gerede in Turkey's Bolu Province, Keçi Kalesi — the Goat Castle — is a fortress with roughly 2,300 years of history and one of Anatolia's most entertaining legends attached to its name.↗↗
Built by the Bithynians in the 3rd century BC and later held under Byzantine rule, the castle's impressive stone walls, moat, and fortified towers were restored in the early 1990s and now reward visitors with sweeping views over the surrounding highland landscape and a tale of goat-powered military genius that locals still love to retell.↗↗
A Legend Worth the Climb
The name Keçi Kalesi translates literally as "Goat Castle," and it comes from a story so charming it feels invented. According to local tradition, the people of Gerede once barricaded themselves inside this fortress during a siege. Days of attacks left the defenders low on food and hope. One night, they tied lit candles to the horns of every goat in the castle and drove them out into the darkness. The besieging army, seeing a glittering charge of lights bearing down on them in the blackness, assumed an enormous reinforcement force was attacking and fled in panic. The townspeople were saved — by goats.