A few kilometers from the road that passes through the city of Van, there is a stunning place - the Toprak-Kale rock with a fortress of the same name. It amazes with its beauty and uniqueness. After all, it was built at a height in the second century AD. For a long time, it was hidden under a layer of earth and only in 1938, archaeologists accidentally stumbled upon fortress walls more than 20 meters high. Their thickness exceeded one meter, so theories were put forward that this was the former residence of the king. The entire village was located on an area of about 17 hectares.
During the excavations it was possible to find out that the fortress was huge, it was surrounded by high walls, and people lived inside. There was a central street where people traded and small alleys. The entire territory was divided into sectors, in which the remains of residential buildings are still preserved. It is interesting that more than two thousand people lived here, but a huge part of them worked as palace guards or served the king.
Today, tourists can see a huge square that served as a bazaar, and in the north there is a beautiful royal castle with three towers. Large rooms that served as chambers of the nobility and state rooms have been preserved in it. Ruins of an ancient fire temple were also discovered near the castle. Once the palace was equipped with a hall of kings. Huge statues of former rulers were placed along the walls. Ideally, there were 23 of them and they were made of clay. Today, only fragments of statues remain. Unfortunately, not a single face could be found, it seems that the conquerors deliberately broke them.
In addition, there is a hall of dark-skinned warriors, deer and dancing masks. Their names are quite original, because in the hall of deer, walls with paintings in the form of huge deer grazing in the meadow were found. All the paintings were colorful, for example, the deer were brown, but the background was blue. Trees and vines were also depicted here. Smaller rooms were intended for personal use. Paintings in the form of women and men were also found here.
Many finds simply did not survive to this day, as they suffered from temperature changes and rain. All the exhibits were made of clay, as was the entire fortress. Local residents called it the Earthen City. No stone was used in its construction. There is only clay and small bricks. The grandeur of the fortress still makes scientists wonder why the locals abandoned its walls. Some believe that it was due to a lack of water, while others believe that political conflicts between rulers forced people to abandon their homes and settle in new territories.
