Harput Castle, also known as Milk Castle ( Turkish: ''Harput Kalesi'', ''Süt Kalesi''), is a castle located in the historical

Harput Harpoot () or Kharberd () is an ancient town located in the Elazığ Province of Turkey. It now forms a small district of the city of Elazığ. p. 1. In the late Ottoman period, it fell under the Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet (also known as the Harpu ...

neighborhood within the borders of the current

Elazığ Province Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia Region, Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. Founded in and around the former city of Harput, it is located in the uppermost Euph ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It was built by the

Urartians Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan. The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia.Kleiss, Wo ...

on a rectangular plan. The castle consists of two parts, internal and external. According to legend, a scarcity of water and abundance of milk during its construction meant that milk was added to the castle's mortar, leading to it being sometimes called "Milk Castle".

History

The castle was built by the Urartu Kingdom in the 8th century BC. It came under Persian domination in the 6th century BC. Between the 4th century BC and the 11th century AD, the castle was under

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

: Խարպերդի Վանք),

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Sassanid The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

, and again Byzantine Empire rule until the end of the 11th century. Çubukoğulları reigned in 1085, Artukoğulları in 1112 and

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

in 1234. The castle became the center of government of the

Artuqid The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; Old Anatolian Turkish: , , pl. ; ; ) was established in 1102 as a Turkish Anatolian Beylik (Principality) of the Seljuk Empire. It formed a Turkoman dynasty rooted in the Oghuz ...

Bey Belek Ghazi and Seljuk Bey Alaeddin Keykubad, and in 1366 it changed hands many times due to the struggle between Dulkadiroğulları and Akkoyunlu States. The castle was taken over by the Akkoyunlu ruler Hasan Bahadır Han in 1465 and put under the administration of Akkoyunlu. Harput Region and Fortress were taken over by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

during the rule of Yavuz Sultan Selim in 1515.

Restoration work

With the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, the latest restoration work started in 2005 under the consultancy of Veli Sevin and continued until 2009. At the same time, efforts to save the Ottoman Neighborhood within Harput Castle which was inhabited from the mid-17th to the early 20th century, was also carried out within the scope of Ottoman Archeology.

Gallery

File:Harput Kalesi in 2007 9633.jpg File:Harput 25.jpg File:Harput 4.jpg File:Harput 21.jpg File:Harput Ruin downhill from castle in 2006 1101.jpg File:Harput Kalesi 1058.jpg File:Elazığ 82.jpg File:Harput Kalesi 1094.jpg File:Harput Kalesi in 2006 1075.jpg

References

Castles in Turkey Tourist attractions in Elazığ Province {{Turkey-castle-stub