Diyarbakir Fortress and CastlePlaces to Visit in Diyarbakir

The Diyarbakır Castle, located in the district of Sur, is a historic landmark featuring both an inner and outer fortress. It includes various structures, such as a citadel perched on a rocky hill, providing stunning panoramic views of the Tigris River.

This fortress boasts four entrances: the Dağ Gate (Mountain Gate), Urfa Gate, Mardin Gate, and the Yeni Gate (New Gate). The fortress walls were constructed in their present form during the mid-fourth century AD under the reign of Emperor Constantius II of the Roman Empire.

The Diyarbakır city walls are the second-largest fully intact defensive walls in the world, after the Great Wall of China. These walls have been constructed, used, and reconstructed throughout the centuries during periods of Roman and Ottoman domination in the Diyarbakır region. The walls surrounding the city reach a height of up to 53 meters and feature 63 inscriptions from a variety of historical eras, representing Hurrian, Mede, Armenian, Roman, Sassanian, Byzantine, Marwanid, Ayyubid, and Ottoman cultures.

The Diyarbakır Castle was originally constructed in 297 AD by the Romans. In 349 AD, Emperor Constantius II commanded the expansion of the walls to their current dimensions. Over its 1500-year history, the walls and towers have been reinforced with volcanic stone sourced from the surrounding area. The structure is embellished with 82 watchtowers, mainly built by the Romans and later restored by the Ottomans during the 15th and 16th centuries. After the Ottomans defeated the Safavids, they used cannons to breach their defenses, requiring the walls to be reconstructed. Today, the walls remain largely intact, standing at approximately 33 feet high and with a thickness of 10-16 feet. Despite a section being demolished in the 1930s, the walls still encircle a distance of 3 miles.

In 2015, both the Diyarbakır Castle and Hevsel Gardens were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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