Turkey · 4th century
Zerzevan Castle (Kurdish: Qesra Zêrzevan, Zîrzevan Turkish: Zerzevan Kalesi Armenian: Զերզեվանի ամրոց), also known as Samachi Castle, is a ruined Eastern Roman castle, a former important military base, in Diyarbakır Province, southeastern Turkey. Archaeological excavations at the site revealed the existence of underground structures, among them a temple of Mithraism, a mystery religion. The castle was used as a civilian settlement between the 1890s and the 1960s. The site is partly open to tourism.
Text adapted from “Zerzevan Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zerzevan Castle ranks #1,349 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #31 of the 129 mapped in Turkey. Founded c. 400, it is older than 97% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 14 atlas entries founded in the 4th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,793 times in the last 60 days, more than 82% of the atlas. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.
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