People observe sky from ancient castle

DİYARBAKIR

As part of the “Scientists of the Future” project supported by the Australian Embassy in the capital Ankara, a sky observation event has been organized at the 3,000-year-old Zerzevan Castle in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

During the event, experts informed visitors about the sky, while participants found the chance to observe stars, planets and celestial bodies through telescopes.

Consul Scott Holt expressed his happiness about organizing this event in Diyarbakır. “It is wonderful to be here. It is truly gratifying that this program is being held in Diyarbakır. Meeting the children here is a source of pride for the Australian government. We are very happy to spend time with the children here.”

Aytaç Coşkun, the head of the Zerzevan Castle excavation team, noted that Zerzevan is one of the best places in Türkiye to observe the sky.

“Currently, hundreds of people, especially children, from the Çınar district are at the historical Zerzevan Castle, observing the sky,” Coşkun said.

Semra Kızılkaya, one of the participants, stated that seeing Venus planet up close evoked different emotions within her.

“This is my first time attending the observation event at Zerzevan. We are quite lucky to come here. The experts helped us set up our telescopes. Here, we can obtain much clearer images of the sky. We were looking at the planet Venus. Being able to see such a distant object truly stirred up tremendous emotions within me,” Kızılkaya said.

Recently, massive structures under the Zerzevan Castle, the 3,000-year-old Roman garrison, have come to light during the ongoing excavation works at the site.

The history of this ancient castle, initially serving as a border garrison for Rome, traces its origins to the Assyrian era. Built as a military settlement in the third century A.D., it continued to serve this purpose until being overtaken by Islamic armies.