The Siege of Ayas occurred on 12 February 1187 when the army of Prince Bohemond III of Antioch laid siege to the Armenian city of Ayas (present-day Yumurtalik, Turkey) in Cilicia.
The Principality of Antioch and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, despite both being Christian nations, engaged in several violent border disputes along the present-day Syria-Turkey frontier during the 1180s. The Antiochenes occasionally launched raids into Cilicia and northern Syria to attack Armenian settlements, and Templar Grand Master Gerard de Ridefort burned several Armenian towns in present-day Idlib Governorate. In February 1187, Prince Bohemond III of Antioch prepared a major offensive into southern Cilicia, and he was joined by the kingdom's high nobility and lesser nobles (including the adventurer Geoffroy de Lyon). His army of 339 Antiochene soldiers rounded the Gulf of Iskenderun to besiege the Armenian fortress of Ayas, which was held by 164 defenders.
The Antiochenes rushed up a hill to assault the fortress walls, and they suffered considerable losses to Armenian trebuchet projectiles. They ultimately broke through the gates and fought their way out of the gatehouse, slaying the Armenian soldiers who attempted to prevent their entrance. The Antiochenes then proceeded to disperse throughout the courtyard to dispatch the outnumbered and overwhelmed Armenian defenders, and Geoffroy de Lyon charged up the steps of the central tower and slew the men manning the Armenians' trebuchet, finishing off the last two defenders of Ayas. Ayas was then occupied by the Antiochenes, but Bohemond and his army returned to Antioch shortly after, as he had suffered heavy losses during his victory. The small force which he had left behind at Ayas was overwhelmed by an Armenian relief force just days after his departure, and Ayas (and Yilan further to the north) returned to Armenian hands by 15 February.
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