Turkey- Tushpa/Van Fortress, the Mound and the Old City of Van

The property, Tushpa/Van Fortress, the Mound and the Old City of Van, is located within the borders of İpekyolu District of the Province of Van and covers an area of 97 hectares. Van Fortress or Tushpa (Assyrian: Turušpa, Urartian: Tušpa, Turkish: Tuşpa) was the capital city of the Urartians, the founders of the Urartian Kingdom centred at the Lake Van Basin between the ninth and the sixth centuries BC. The Fortress, founded on a 1345 m long, 200 wide and 100 m high conglomerate rock, is located on the southern shore of Lake Van. To its north, in the same direction, lies the Mound of Van Fortress and its south the Old City of Van, the former revealing five thousand years old settlement culture, and the latter eight hundred years old urban fabric. The area, where the Van Fortress and its lower settlement were founded, is the most fertile territory in the region, which was the primary reason for its occupation from the Early Bronze Age till the early twentieth century AD.