Van Castle

Van Castle, ancient Tushpa, is the former capital of the Urartian Kingdom, which was centred on the Lake Van basin between the ninth and sixth centuries BC. The citadel stands on a long, high rock on the southern shore of the lake, and the region around it is the most fertile land in the area, which is why people settled here from the Early Bronze Age into the twentieth century. The fortress is thought to have been founded in the mid-ninth century BC by King Sarduri I, and its entrance is in the northwest.

The Sardur Tower near the entrance is the citadel's earliest building, and it carries cuneiform inscriptions in the Assyrian language announcing the foundation of the capital. Higher up there are the tomb monument of King Argishti I and cuneiform annals on the walls, and on the southern side are rock-cut burial chambers of the Urartian kings. Some of these are huge, showing how skilled the builders were at carving and laying out symmetrical chambers. Other features include Menua's Stable, a rock chamber for cattle, and the terrace called the Mother with Daughter sacred place, with two niches that once held stelae recording military campaigns.

South of the citadel lie the remains of Old Van, a walled town inhabited from the thirteenth century until 1915, with its Seljuk Great Mosque, Ottoman mosques such as Kaya Çelebi and Hüsrev Paşa and old churches. North of the rock, the Mound of Van Castle preserves about five thousand years of settlement.