Description of the attraction
The Van fortress was built at the behest of the ruler of Urartu, King Sardur the First, on the shores of Lake Van in the ninth century BC. A long time ago, at the foot of the fortress, there was a flourishing ancient city of Van (Tushpa), which was flooded due to the rising water level in the lake. Also, the Armenians, Seljuks and Ottomans who ruled here at different times helped the city to fall into decay, so not very many ancient monuments have come down to contemporaries.
The most preserved among the ruins that have survived to this day are the 13th century Kyzyl Jami, or Red Mosque, and Ulu Jami, or the Great Mosque. Five kilometers from here is Toprakkale, which was the capital of Urartu at the time of King Rasutin.
Antiquities discovered by archaeologists as a result of excavations indicate a high level of civilization in the city of Van. The most valuable works are in the Ankara Archaeological Museum, the rest are in the local archaeological museum.
On the western side of the entrance to the fortress, there is the Sarduri tower. It contains cuneiform epitaphs written by Sarduri in the Assyrian language. Climbing the north-western corner of the fortress, you can see the tombstone of King Urartu Argishti I and wall cuneiforms. In the southern part of the fortress there are tombs of the kings of Urartu.
From above, the fortress is a surface of a rock, a wasteland with rare fragments of crumbling fortress walls and towers. Also visible from above is the tomb of Abdurahman Gazi - a saint, to worship whose ashes pilgrims specially come to Van. There is a small mosque to the right of the fortress.
On the southern wall of the cliff, there are a large number of stairs that break off halfway. Such stairs can be seen on the images of the Van rock from the early nineteenth century. Most likely, they connected the fortress with the city directly, because otherwise, in order to get to the rock from the city, you had to go around and use a more gentle slope.
In the lower part of the fortress, a magnificent panorama of the dead city opens up. The king of Urartu and his entourage lived in the fortress, and the city itself was below. But what has survived to this day is no longer Tushpa, but the remains of the destroyed Armenian city, located in the same place as Tushpa. The large dead wasteland, where time has stood still, makes a strong impression on tourists.
At the bottom right of the fortress, the newly rebuilt fortress wall winds like a dazzling white ribbon. The road to the city center goes straight ahead.
