Mardin Castle

Mardin Castle is a 3,000 year old defensive fortification in the city of Mardin, Turkey. It is known as the Eagle's Nest. The castle has been used as a military base as part of a NATO agreement and hosts a radar station due to its position 1,000 meters above the Mesopotamian plain.

One legend states that the castle was constructed in the 4th century BC by a Babylonian Zoroastrian called Shad Buhari, who "recovered from a serious illness while staying up on the hill, and so he decided to erect a palace there".

The castle was constructed during the 10th century rule of the Hamdanid dynasty to the Artuqid dynasty from the 11th to 13th century. The castle was partly restored during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Selim III, but by the end of the Ottoman Empire had again fallen into disrepair.

Text adapted from “Mardin Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mardin Castle ranks #2,639 of 5,479 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #45 of the 107 mapped in Turkey. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗