Tzamandos

It was constructed in 908 by the Byzantine-Armenian general Melias and was a Byzantine kleisoura and continued as a minor settlement until the early Ottoman period.

[1] Tzamandos then became a kleisoura, which included the whole river valley of the Zamantı down to the neighbourhood of Hanköy and the Uzun Yayla, and most likely belonged to the theme of Lykandos which had been created in 914.

[1] In 1022, the kleisoura of Tzamandos was given as property to Davit while his father Senacherim, the former King of Vaspurakan, was invested with Sebasteia, Larissa and Abara.

[6] In 1168, the Seljuk Kilij Arslan II drove out Dhu'l-Nun of his possessions and Tzamandos thus fell under the Sultanate of Rum as an appanage of Kayseri.

[10] The fortress became then known as Melik Gazi and the main settlement was dispersed probably in the early Ottoman period so that just a small village remained.