Medieval mountain gate installed

DİYARBAKIR

A medieval mountain gate known as Dağkapı was placed on the 8,000-year-old Walls of Diyarbakır in Turkey with the same name after renovation and exhibited in a few days.

Dağkapı, which has a history of more than a thousand years has seen many years of the Diyarbakır Walls and has been meticulously repaired by specialists.

Head of Diyarbakır Directorate of Surveying and Monuments Cemil Koç said that restoration of the unique gate started in November 2020.

“The original iron gate wings of 1,111-year-old Dağkapı were registered in the museum inventory in 1942 and were taken under protection. Dağkapı will be transported to its place to be mounted after 79 years of our work,” he said.

Koç added, “79 years after it was removed in 1942, the historical Dağkapı is being mounted in its old place on castles and bastions.”

He announced that the historical gate, which weighs 2,000 kilograms, would be exhibited in its place in Diyarbakır in a few days.

The Citadel and the Walls of Diyarbakır, guarding the city for thousands of years as if it was guarding a holy relic by surrounding the city magnificently, and 8,000 years old Hevsel Gardens are nominated as a candidate for United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage List.

With its length of 6 kilometers, the Walls of Diyarbakır is the second-largest city wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. It is situated 100 meters above the valley of River Tigris.

Diyarbakır still carries a medieval atmosphere with its walls encircling the city with its almost intact and impressive, 10-12 meters high and 3-5 meters thick, high walls.