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Van: The Urartian Capital

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HobWahid
HobWahid
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Van: The Urartian Capital

  • August 8, 2005
  • Rated 3 of 5 by HobWahid from Damascus, Syria
Van: The Urartian Capital

Van, the ancient Urartian capital of Tushpa, the heart of the ancestral Armenian homeland, and home to the spectacular Van cats (Van kedileri) is a city, nestled in a lush and fertile plain between snow-capped mountains and the majestic Lake Van, is a city that has long attracted the admiration of visitors, and unfortunately, conquerors. Sadly, the most recent of these conquerors, the Russians completely leveled the city in World War I leaving nothing but piles of rocks that used to be churches, mosques and houses.

Today the city of Van is a banal modern city, rebuilt after the war on a simple grid plan just to the northwest of the old city. The city itself is uninspiring, but that doesn’t mean that it’s still not worth a visit, and do to its location conveniently at the eastern end of Lake Van, you will likely end up spending the night, and I recommend that you do, because there are still plenty of sights in the vicinity of Van to keep you occupied for a solid day or two.

In addition to the nearby sights of Akdamar and Hosap (see separate entries), the remains of the old city and the Urartian citadel on the shores of Lake Van are well worth a stop. The Urartians, an ancient kingdom dating to the 9th century BC once ruled over most of Southeastern Turkey, and are were the predecessors of the Armenians who moved into the region around the 7th century BC. Van was their capital and they built a large citadel atop the lone hill in the city of Van whose remains you can see today. What remains of the citadel are the walls and a few impressive gates. The area is a historic park that you have to pay to enter and is a popular spot for picnics among Van residents. Without a doubt the best time to go is just before sunset when you can sit atop the ruins, with a bunch of amorous couples and watch the sun sink behind the mountains and Lake Van to the west. It would be a perfectly romantic experience if it weren’t for the groups of adolescent Turkish lads eager to chat up foreigners.

From the citadel you can look down at what are now the overgrown remains of the odl city of Van. This was once a bustling city full of Kurds and Armenians, but thatnks to Russian invasions, all that remains today are two minarets, a crumbling church, and an outline of the walls. It’s rather depressing to look down at the large green plot of land that used to be a city and think about how many great monuments were lost, but the sight does have an eerie beauty.

The other thing Van is famous for is its cats, an extremely rare breed that lives only in Van and are recognizeable for their white coats and one green eye and one blue eye. They fetch thousands of dollars today, so seeing one is unfortunately unlikely.

From journal Driving Eastern Turkey Part 1: Ankara - Van

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