Turkiye

Historic City of Harput

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Votes for Historic City of Harput

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  • Philipp Peterer
  • Thomas van der Walt
  • Yevhen Ivanovych

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  • Can SARICA
  • Rafał Kałczuga
Harput was an ancient Urartu fortress town. The castle lies on a ridge. It has subsequently been used by the Byzantines, Artukids, Seljuks and Ottoman state. The town has a number of historic mosques and a church. The discovery of the Harput relief, showing the conquest of the castle, put the origins of Harput back to 4,000 years ago.

Site Info

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Full Name
Historic City of Harput (ID: 6349)
Country
Turkiye
Status
On tentative list 2018 Site history
History of Historic City of Harput
2018: Added to Tentative List
Added to tentative list
Criteria
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UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
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UNESCO.org

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First published: 16/09/22.

Philipp Peterer

Historic City Of Harput

Historic City of Harput (On tentative list)

Historic City of Harput by Philipp Peterer

Harput is a few kilometres outside the city of Elazig. It’s about half way on the road between Divrigi and Diyarbakir. You will need to drive through Elazig to reach the town. I hadn’t taken into account, that Harput is a hilltop town with and altitude of around 1300m. When I arrived in March 2022 there were still patches of snow all over the town.

The relevant core is rather small. I parked my car at the end of Elazig Street and walked through the center to the castle, which is clearly the highlight of Harput. Entry to the castle was free. Probably also because it is rather a ruin. There are archaeological remains on top of the castle, mostly fenced off. Parts are roofed to protect the remains.

Apart from the castle, there is not much to see. There are a few Ottoman houses and but not in the dimension of old parts of Turkish towns not up for inscription. It seems however to receive a fair share of local tourists. There are many restaurants and a few shops to cater them.

Especially compared to the many excellent sites Turkey has on it’s T-list I don’t see Harput as a great candidate.

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