Kozan Attractions

Kozan (70km/43mi northwest of Adana) occupies the site of ancient Sisium and in the 19th century was still known as Sis. The fort, on a hill-top southwest of the town, dates from the Byzantine period. The Armenian victory over Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180) led in 1199 to the establishment of the kingdom of Lesser Armenia, of which Sis became the capital. By 1375 however, shortly after the coronation of the last king, Leon V, it fell to the Mamelukes. Despite the schism in the Church (1441), Sis remained the center of the Armenian Church until shortly after the First World War, the Catholicos of Sis being determined to preserve the status of his seat. Eventually, in 1921, increasing Islamic repression forced the head of the Armenian Church to flee the town, the patriarchate being transferred to Beirut. In the 19th century. Sis also became the capital of the Kozanogullari, leaders of a large nomadic tribe forcibly resettled there from Cevdet Pasa.