The catastrophic earthquake of magnitude 7.8 that hit Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, 2023 has brought about horrific lack of life and accidents in 10 cities in the affected area. It has additionally destroyed a lot of historic websites, probably the most outstanding of which is Gaziantep Castle.
The fortress, with origins relationship again almost 2000 years, collapsed in the course of the earthquake, and stone particles tumbled down the defensive slopes into the native space. The iron railings and retaining wall across the fortress additionally fell.
“Some of the bastions in the east, south and southeast components of the historic Gaziantep Castle in the central Şahinbey district have been destroyed by the earthquake, the particles was scattered on the street,” reported Turkish state-run information company Anadolu.
Gaziantep Castle is totally destroyed after at the moment’s earthquake in Turkey.
The fortress was constructed by the Hittite Empire and later constructed right into a important fortress by the Roman Empire in 2nd and third centuries AD. pic.twitter.com/6Amv0PfhNT
— Oskar Aanmoen (@OAanmoen) February 6, 2023
The dome and jap wall of the Şirvani Mosque, positioned subsequent to the fortress, additionally partially collapsed.
The earthquake has killed over 2000 folks and injured 1000’s, with over 1,700 buildings broken throughout 10 Turkish cities. There have been over 18 aftershocks measuring 4 or greater on the Richter scale for the reason that preliminary tremor.
The Fallen Gaziantep Castle
Gaziantep Castle, regionally often called Gaziantep Kalesi, is located in the middle of the city of Gaziantep, in southeastern Turkey.
The web site was initially used as a lookout level by Hittites way back to the 2nd millennium BC. It was later developed by the Roman Empire who constructed a fort there across the 2nd to third century AD writes, castles.nl.
Over time, this fort was expanded, taking its present type underneath Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in the sixth century AD. It grew to become a web site of navy significance throughout this time, and the fortress was renovated to restore harm, in addition to important improvement being undertaken.
The southern part was geared up with substructure buildings consisting of arched and vaulted galleries. Towers related with these galleries have been constructed, and the partitions have been prolonged to the west, south, and east, as much as the sting of the hill. This left the fortification with an irregular round form with a diameter of about 100 m (328 ft) and a circumference of 1200 m (4000 ft).
There was as soon as a defensive moat across the fortress, and entry was by way of a bridge.
Wall and towers of Gaziantep Castle, earlier than the latest devastation. (Acar54/ CC BY-SA 4.0 )
In 661 AD, the fortress fell to the Umayyads, and stayed underneath Muslim management till 962 when it was recaptured by the Byzantines.
Turkish Museums relates how successive Muslim powers misplaced and regained management of this strategic submit, and repaired and rebuilt it via the centuries. Then, in accordance with an inscription on the principle gate wall, the towers on the principle gate and bridge have been rebuilt by Suleiman the Magnificent in the course of the Ottoman Empire , round 1557.
The historic web site was most not too long ago used because the Gaziantep Defense and Heroism Panoramic Museum. It stays to be seen the complete extent of the harm, and the way a lot of the unique construction will probably be recoverable.
Top picture: The not too long ago destroyed partitions of Gaziantep Castle. Source: DHA/ Daily Sabah
By Gary Manners
