Diyarbakır Fortress

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.

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.

History

Diyarbakir's walls were first built in 297 AD by the Romans, who had colonized the city in 230 AD. In 349 AD the walls were significantly expanded or reconstructed under the order of Emperor Constantius II. Over the next 1500+ years, these walls were expanded and reconstructed using volcanic rock from the surrounding region. The site includes remains from the Hurrians, Romans, Abbasids, Sejuks, Artuqids, Aq Qoyunlu, Ottomans. The city is considered to have a "multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-culture character".

The walls were expanded and restored during the Byzantine period, particularly under Justinian I (6th century). After the Muslim conquest of the region in the 7th century, they underwent further restorations and reconstructions by various Muslim dynasties. Most of the walls in their current form today date from these medieval Muslim constructions.

In 899, after a revolt of the city's governor, the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tadid ordered some parts of the walls to be demolished, including the Harput and Mardin gates (the north and south gates), and possibly the other main gates to the east and west. Surviving inscriptions attest that the Harput and Mardin gates were rebuilt in 909 on the orders of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir, and it's likely that other parts of the walls demolished in 899 were repaired at this time. Starting around this period, craftsmen began to carve animal images onto new parts of the walls, in addition to Arabic inscriptions recording their work.

Under the Marwanids, work was undertaken to fortify the southeastern section of the walls in particular. During the brief period of Great Seljuk control of the city after 1088, the walls and towers were completely rebuilt by Malik-Shah I, though work was focused on the west walls. Under the Inalid dynasty (12th century), work continued on the eastern walls, between the New Gate (Yeni Kapı) and the Citadel. Up until this period, renovations had generally imitated Roman designs and masonry, using large blocks set in regular courses.

The Inalids were expelled in the late 12th century by the Ayyubid ruler Saladin and were replaced by the Artuqids, who ruled the city until the 15th century. The Artuqid work on the walls featured much finer craftsmanship and used much smaller cut stones than the traditional Roman or Roman-imitating masonry. The Artuqids rebuilt the citadel in 1206–1207. In 1208–1209, they also built the two prominent towers along the southern wall, known as the Yedi Kardeş Tower and the Evli Beden or Ulu Beden Tower. These towers are distinguished by their carved stone decoration of calligraphic inscriptions and figurative images of animals and mythological creatures.

During the defeat of the Safavids and the Ottoman occupation of Diyarbakir in 1515, the Ottomans destroyed the walls with the use of cannons and they therefore had to be rebuilt. In the early Ottoman period of the city, the Citadel was expanded by moving the wall that separated it from the city further outward. The Ottoman repairs to the walls were strictly practical and less decorative than the work of preceding periods.

In 1930, a part of the wall was demolished. Two openings were made in walls to the west of the Harput Gate and east of the Mardin Gate in order to allow better traffic flow. Apart from these breaches, the city walls are mostly intact today, though some sections are in better condition than others.

In 2015, the war between the Turkish Army and Kurdish guerillas resulted in damage to the old town (Sur) and its monuments, disrupting government plans to conserve the historical city in hopes of attracting tourists to the Diyarbakir cultural area. About one-third of the old town was destroyed by the Turkish government after the clashes ended, irreversibly damaging the ancient city.

Conservation

From 2000 to 2007, begun during the Mayorship of Feridun Çelik, a major restoration of the walls was executed. Buildings that were built directly on the wall were removed, the walls were cleaned and a park was given place alongside the walls. Though the walls and fortress itself were once compared to the Great Wall of China, this started to change as fighting broke out during 2015; walls from the fortress collapsed, along with a mosque, two churches, and the homes of many civilians, forcing some sections to be abandoned.