//
Photo: Chansey, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Roman citadel on a hillock guarding the trade route through the valley. The site was fortified at least as far back as the 7th century BC, but what you see now is mostly a rebuild in the 5th / 6th century AD under Emperors Anastasius I Diocus and Justinian I. It was abandoned after the Arab takeover of the region in the 7th century AD, though there was brief civilian re-settlement from time to time, the last from 1890 to the 1960s. Archaeological work only started in 2014 and continues. Ruins uncovered to date include several residences, a palace, cisterns, baths, an 800-m long water channel, grain stores and an arsenal. The star attraction, carved into the rock east end of the site, is the temple to Mithras. This major Roman religion was derived from Zoroastrianism, but was supplanted by Christianity during the 4th century. Wear stout shoes, there’s a good path but it’s a bit of a climb from the entrance and lots of uneven ground.
Zerzevan Castle, also known as Samachi Castle, is a ruined Eastern Roman castle, a former important military base, in Diyarbakır Province, southeastern Turkey. Archaeological excavations at the site revealed the existence of underground structures, among them a temple of Mithraism, a mystery religion. The castle was used as a civilian settlement between the 1890s and the 1960s. The site is partly open to tourism.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Ermeni Kilisesi
The largest Armenian church in the Middle East, founded in 1515, and built in its present form in 1883. It was derelict for decades but restored to re-open in 2011. It was badly damaged in civil strife in 2016, when the Turkish government seized this and many other churches, but it re-opened for services in 2022.