Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Saving lives is more important than archaeological and historical sites. However, regretfully, we must inform you that the ancient Gaziantep Castle has been badly damaged after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey in the early hours of February 6.

“Some of the bastions in the east, south and southeast parts of the historical Gaziantep Castle in the central Şahinbey district were destroyed by the earthquake, the debris was scattered on the road,” Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

Gaziantep Castle in Turkey. Credit: Adobe Stock  – sayilan

“The iron railings around the castle were scattered on the surrounding sidewalks. The retaining wall next to the castle also collapsed. In some bastions, large cracks were observed,” the report said.

The dome and eastern wall of the historical Şirvani Mosque, which is located next to the castle and is said to have been built in the 17th century, also partially collapsed, it added.

Known locally as Gaziantep Kalesi, the historic stone castle was first constructed as an observation point by the Hitтιтe Empire during the second millennium B.C.

It was later built into a main castle by the Roman Empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. Between AD 527 and 565, Emperor Justinian II, one of the Byzantine Empire’s most significant rulers, expanded and renovated the stronghold.

In 661 AD, the castle pᴀssed out of Christian hands, with the Umayyad dynasty, which had originated in Mecca, becoming its new owners. It stayed in Muslim hands until 962 when the Byzantines recaptured it.

“In 1067, the Seljuk Empire took it from the Byzantines before Christian Crusaders captured the castle in 1098. From there, it pᴀssed to the Ayyubid dynasty, founded by the great Kurdish conqueror Saladin, the first sultan of Syria and Egypt.

Centuries of conquest and reconquest followed, until Gaziantep Castle was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1516.

Inscriptions on the castle state that it was largely rebuilt in 1557, during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, which ran from 1520 to 1566. Safeguarded by the Ottomans, the site lost much of its military importance.

The castle, which the Romans and Byzantines used, has been heavily damaged by the earthquake. Credit: Daily Sabah/DHA

During the siege of Antab, fought between Turkish national forces and the French Army of the Levant occupying the city of Aintab during the Turkish War of Independence, Gaziantep received an honorific prefix meaning “warrior”, after its inhabitants defended the city against the French.

In more recent times, the castle site was the location of the Gaziantep Defence and Heroism Panoramic Museum, and attracted a large numbers of visitors. “¹

The historical Gaziantep Castle has withstood bloody battles and invasions, but the forces of Mother Nature are stronger and today, it had no chance against the horrifying earthquakes that hit Turkey.

Archaeologists fear many more historical sites have been destroyed in this quake.

Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

Expand for references