The walls cling to a rocky ridge above the old town, and from the top the wide plain of Elazığ stretches out below.

The Milk Castle

Harput Castle, also called the Milk Castle, Süt Kalesi, stands in the historic Harput neighbourhood of Elazığ Province. It was built by the Urartians in the 8th century BC on a rectangular plan, with an inner and an outer part. Legend says water was scarce and milk plentiful during building, so milk was mixed into the mortar.

Many rulers

Persians, Armenians, Romans, Sassanids, Byzantines and Abbasids held the castle in turn. The Çubukoğulları took it in 1085, the Artuqids in 1112 and the Seljuks in 1234; it became a seat of the Artuqid Belek Ghazi and of the Seljuk Alaeddin Keykubad. The Akkoyunlu ruler took it in 1465, and the Ottomans in 1515 under Yavuz Sultan Selim. Restoration ran from 2005 to 2009, alongside work to save the Ottoman neighbourhood inside the castle.

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  Inner and outer castle Two parts.
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  Ottoman neighbourhood Inside the walls.
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  Harput old town Mosques and tombs around the castle.