Ermenek

Ermenek clings to the mountains of the central Taurus above the valley of the Ermenek River. Steep slopes and rocky heights surround the town, while the river descends toward the Göksu and the Mediterranean. The area was an early centre of the Karamanid principality, and its mosques, schools and tombs preserve the work of its rulers and patrons.

The great mosque was built in 1302–03, in the early years of Karamanid power. In 1339 Emir Musa Bey founded the Tol Medrese, whose stone portal gave the town another notable building. He was later buried beside the school, while other members of the ruling family found burial places in the surrounding district. These foundations show Ermenek's importance to the dynasty even as its authority spread across a wider area of Anatolia. The mountain town retained the architectural marks of that patronage after the Karamanid state itself had disappeared.