About Tuşpa
Beside Lake Van, Tushpa was Urartu's capital, centred on the rock ridge of Van Castle. Palace terraces, tombs and inscriptions, including the Sarduri bastion, reveal the engineering and administration of a powerful first-millennium BCE mountain kingdom.
History
Sarduri I made Tushpa his capital in the mid-ninth century BCE. Natural defences were reinforced with palace terraces, temples and storerooms. Monumental royal tombs were cut into the rock, while cuneiform annals recorded campaigns. Urartian power weakened in the late seventh century BCE. The area remained in various forms of use through Persian, Armenian, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman times. Old Van, south of the fortress, preserves later historical layers.
Highlights and principal structures
- Van Castle
- Sarduri bastion and inscription
- Analı Kız sanctuary
- Urartian royal tombs
- Palace terraces
- Old Van
Historical period
Urartian–Medieval