Guide
Ana Ardıç is a single juniper on the skirts of the Bolkar mountains, north of the Kadıncık valley, about 20 kilometres north of Çamlıyayla in Mersin province. It was declared a natural monument on 29 September 1994, and the protected ground around it is 0.79 hectares.
The Directorate General of Nature Conservation and National Parks gives the tree's age as 1,107 years, stated flatly rather than as an estimate and without saying from what year it was counted. It is 22 metres tall with a trunk 3.5 metres across; the directorate adds that ten people standing around it cannot close the circle. In its own telling, this is a tree that lived through the victory at Manzikert.
The other reason to make the walk is the view. From where the juniper stands, the Kadıncık valley opens up green and steep below.
The site is at Çayırekinliği in Çamlıyayla district, and the responsible forest office is at Tarsus. Opening hours are 08:00 to 20:00.
- Designated
- 29.09.1994
