Harput Castle, also known as Milk Castle (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: ''Harput Kalesi'', ''Süt Kalesi''), is a castle located in the historical

Harput Harpoot ( tr, Harput) or Kharberd ( hy, Խարբերդ, translit=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 M ...

neighborhood within the borders of the current

Elazığ Province Elazığ Province ( tr, ; Zazaki: Suke Xarpêt; ku, Parêzgeha Xarpêtê) is a province of Turkey with its seat in the city of Elazığ. The province had a population of 568,753 in 2014. The population of the province was 569,616 in 2000 and 49 ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It was built by the

Urartians Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...

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 (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

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 across 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 ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

Eastern Roman The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

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

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

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

Artuqid The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; , pl. ; ; ) was a Turkoman dynasty originated from tribe that ruled in eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria and Northern Iraq in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. The Artuq ...

Bey Belek Gazi 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, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

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:Elazığ_15.jpg File:Elazığ 174430.jpg File:Elazığ 16.jpg File:Elazığ 91.jpg File:Elazığ 82.jpg File:Elazığ 94.jpg File:Elazığ 93.jpg File:Elazığ 92.jpg File:Elazığ174307.jpg File:Elazığ174436.jpg File:Elazığ170940.jpg

References

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