- Type
- Castle
- Coordinates
- 37.0664°, 37.3833°
History
The mound at the heart of old Antep has been inhabited for thousands of years, and the first watchtower here was probably built by the Romans. Tradition holds that Emperor Justinian enlarged it into a fortress in the 6th century. The castle owes its present shape, with an oval ring of walls and many towers, mainly to rebuilding under the Ayyubids and Mamluks between the 12th and 14th centuries. In 1920–1921 the city held out for months against French forces and earned the title Gazi, "the Heroic". In February 2023 a powerful earthquake brought down parts of the walls and towers, and reconstruction began.
What to see
You enter the castle across a bridge over the moat and through a gate in the massive walls. The interior holds the Gaziantep Defence and Heroism Panoramic Museum, which uses dioramas and recordings to tell the story of the fighting in 1920–1921. The walls overlook the city centre, and at the foot of the hill lie the old coppersmiths' bazaars and famous baklava shops.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q6026101
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