Yenicekale

Below temple 30, some 150 m northeast of the Lion Gate you see the complex of Yenicekale atop a rock platform. The summit of the natural rocky outcropping here was leveled and the lateral precipices built up to form an artificial platform for the building complex. The well preserved circuit wall, still standing to a good seven meters, elicits a healthy respect for the art of the Hittite engineers; most of the large limestone blocks in the wall weigh at least two or three tons!
On top of the artificial plateau measuring ca. 25x28 m are a small cistern and the remnants of foundations for walls, giving little clue as to the original purpose of the complex here. Although the complex of Yenicekale is much smaller than that of Sarikale, it brings the same question to mind. Could this have been one of the "rock-crest houses" mentioned in the Hittite texts?