DALANDA
DALANDA (
Δάλανδα,
Ptol. 5.7.2). Ritter (
Erdkunde, vol. x. p. 844) has conjectured that the site of this place in the Lesser Armenia may be identified with the remarkable castle of
Derendah, situated at the
Tokhmah Sú upon a rock of nummulitic limestone, forming cliffs which rise 300 feet above the river's bed.
This rock has extensive ruins on the platform, with hewn cisterns for preserving the rain water.
These ruins, however, do not date beyond the epoch of the Turks, nor are any to be perceived which belong to a more ancient period, though it has been assumed, from its remarkable position, that it must have been one of the many Roman or rather Byzantine fortresses which existed in Armenia Minor. (St. Martin,
Mém. sur l'Armenie, vol. i. p. 189;
Journ. Geog. Soc. vol. x. p. 318.)
[
E.B.J]
