Fortifications of Diyarbakır
The Fortifications of Diyarbakır are a set of fortifications enclosing the historical district of Sur in Diyarbakır, Turkey. They consist of an inner fortress, the citadel, and an outer ring of city walls.
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
| Location | Diyarbakır, Diyarbakır Province, Şanlıurfa Subregion, Southeast Anatolia Region, Turkey |
| Part of | Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape |
| Criteria | Cultural: (iv) |
| Reference | 1488 |
| Inscription | 2015 (39th Session) |
| Coordinates | 37°54′39.1″N 40°13′38.2″E |
Location of Fortifications of Diyarbakır in Turkey | |
The main gates of the city are: Dağ (Mountain) Gate, Urfa Gate, Mardin Gate, and Yeni (New) Gate. The walls come from the old Roman city of Amida and were constructed in their present form in the mid-fourth century AD by the emperor Constantius II. According to Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi, the fortifications and powerful walls of Amid-Diyarbakir were built in the middle of 6th century BC under Armenian King Tigranes of and during the Yervanduni (Orontid dynasty). They are the widest and longest complete defensive walls in the world after only the Great Wall of China (the Theodosian Walls for example are longer in length, but are not continuous).
UNESCO added the building to their tentative list on 2000, and listed it along with Hevsel Gardens as a World Heritage Site in 2015, under the designation Diyarbakır Fortress.