Kahta Yenikale Archaeological Site

Kahta Yenikale (New Castle) stands about 60 kilometres from Adıyaman and 20 kilometres north of Kahta, near Kocahisar village, the old Kahta. It faces the older castle on the hill of Arsameia, and sits on the same route as the Karakuş Tumulus, the Cendere Bridge and Mount Nemrut. Perched on the summit of a steep, high mountain, it is an imposing sight.

Nobody knows for sure who built it or when, but the first construction is thought to go back to the Commagene Kingdom. Roman, Artuqid, Seljuk, Mamluk and Ottoman additions followed. The fortress has an inner and an outer palace, with the remains of a bazaar, mosque, dungeon, cisterns, water channels and a dovecote, and inscriptions naming the Mamluk sultans and rulers who built here.

The most charming feature is the dovecote on the south slope, reached by hidden stairs. Pigeons were bred there as the state's post service, in 32 nesting places. Further down, secret passages allowed defenders to cross to the other side of the Kahta Stream and escape in danger. The castle was partly restored in the 1970s.