1. The History
The large medieval castle of Hosap can be found in the village of the same name, located in Gürpınar District, Van Province, Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Most of the surviving structure was built by the local Ottoman-Kurdish governor Sarı Süleyman Bey in 1643. Hoşap means "beautiful water" in Kurdish. The bulky entrance tower is on the north-east and the door looks north along the wall. Above the door there are two lions either side of a teardrop. The castle is of strategic importance as it was the last caravan stop in the Ottoman Empire before going into the wilderness of the Silk Road.
2. The Explore
Just a short archive report from the Eastern part of Turkey. Hosap lies 50 km due south of Van and although it looks like a tourist attraction, it was not on the tourist route when we visited. We had to have a driver to get to it and on arrival had to proceed carefully due to the proximity of a Turkish military base.
We were quite lucky to get into the castle as it was unlocked. Once in though, it was hard to visit some bits due to the slope the castle is on and the snow on the ground. It is an enchanting place and there is a nice ruined caravanserai nearby for good measure. It was also a childhood dream realised as when a child I had a castle book with a picture of this place in and it captured my young imagination. Hence, I had always wanted to go to this place and our trip to Eastern Turkey was partially driven by this.
Since our trip back in 2008 the castle has now been recently renovated and can now be visited if you can attract the attention of the custodian who can open its gates.
3. The Pictures
The approach is pretty special from the west:
Impregnable from the south:
And the nearby ruined caravanserai:
The large medieval castle of Hosap can be found in the village of the same name, located in Gürpınar District, Van Province, Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Most of the surviving structure was built by the local Ottoman-Kurdish governor Sarı Süleyman Bey in 1643. Hoşap means "beautiful water" in Kurdish. The bulky entrance tower is on the north-east and the door looks north along the wall. Above the door there are two lions either side of a teardrop. The castle is of strategic importance as it was the last caravan stop in the Ottoman Empire before going into the wilderness of the Silk Road.
2. The Explore
Just a short archive report from the Eastern part of Turkey. Hosap lies 50 km due south of Van and although it looks like a tourist attraction, it was not on the tourist route when we visited. We had to have a driver to get to it and on arrival had to proceed carefully due to the proximity of a Turkish military base.
We were quite lucky to get into the castle as it was unlocked. Once in though, it was hard to visit some bits due to the slope the castle is on and the snow on the ground. It is an enchanting place and there is a nice ruined caravanserai nearby for good measure. It was also a childhood dream realised as when a child I had a castle book with a picture of this place in and it captured my young imagination. Hence, I had always wanted to go to this place and our trip to Eastern Turkey was partially driven by this.
Since our trip back in 2008 the castle has now been recently renovated and can now be visited if you can attract the attention of the custodian who can open its gates.
3. The Pictures
The approach is pretty special from the west:
Impregnable from the south:
And the nearby ruined caravanserai:
