Tourists can now visit the almost three millennia-old Urartu water cistern in Türkiye's eastern Anatolia region as the work on its restoration has been completed, officials say.
The 2,800-year-old water cistern from the Urartu period was discovered in Harput Castle in eastern Anatolia.
Located in Elazig province, Harput Castle, which has hosted numerous civilisations over the centuries, continues to be the focus of archaeological excavation and restoration efforts that began in 2004.
The castle has been home to various settlements, the first one dating back to 3000 B.C. It was later fortified by the Urartu Kingdom.
The castle is located in the historical Harput city, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.
The 30-meter deep cistern, with 52 steps, is the second one to be restored after another 112-step cistern was restored and opened for tourists in 2021.
What's notable about the cistern is that the structure has been carved into the rocks.
The cistern will be opened to visitors once the access road to the site is arranged, says Ismail Aytac, who leads the Harput Castle excavation.
Aytac said that Harput Castle contains many smaller cisterns but only two large stepped cisterns. In the first cistern, which is known as the dungeon, a Crusader king was imprisoned during the Seljuk period.
"The significance of this site (cistern) is that it is one of the most important and largest cisterns carved into natural rock in Türkiye. When the water ran out, it was used for food storage.”
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