Tourists visiting eastern Turkey will now be able to stroll through the 2,900-year-old ruins of Altintepe Fortress, officials announced on Thursday, Nov 19.
Located in Erzincan province on the historical Silk Road, the fortress is one of the most important Urartu settlements and an important center of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire.
Anadolu Agency Video News (AAVN) videoed the historical fortress that will serve as an archaeological park after excavation works were completed.
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The castle was built during the period of the Urartu Kingdom and is home to hundreds of historical artifacts and ruins of structures erected in 850-590 BC.
The dig, carried out by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Ataturk University, started in 2003 and was completed in 2019.
Mehmet Karaosmanoglu, head of the Archeology Department at Ataturk University, told Anadolu Agency that adobe buildings from the Urartu period were destroyed due to earthquakes in the region.
"The reception hall in the castle, belonging to the Urartu period, is the largest and only example of those found in Anatolia so far," Karaosmanoglu said.
Three tombs were found in the southern part of the site, he said, adding that the sarcophagi they contained were the sole and most beautiful specimens from the Urartu Kingdom.
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