ESKİ VAN ŞEHRİ KAZISI
Authors: BAŞ Gülsen 
Published: November 2023

Old Van is located approximately 5 km west of the current city settlement, east of Lake Van. The city, which was the capital of the Urartian civilization, was used uninterruptedly until the beginning of the 20th century, and then became abandoned and ruined. Most of the architectural structures known today in the city, where many cultures left their mark, belong to the Middle Ages and Ottoman periods. The city has an intertwined and congested architectural texture shaped around the main roads running east-west and north-south and the narrow streets connecting to these roads. When city photographs taken at the beginning of the 20th century are examined, it is seen that the urban texture of Van consists of adjacent mud brick buildings, except for a few monumental buildings with stone architecture. Past research on Old Van has largely focused on the city’s archaeological phases before Christ. The first systematic excavation work in Old Van was carried out in the Ulu Mosque by Oktay Aslanapa between 1970 and 1972. The project, which was launched in 2022 regarding Old Van, aims to transform the city into a holistic cultural value. Within the scope of the project, which includes excavation, conservation, restoration, reconstruction, re-functioning and landscaping works, to make correct scientific interventions to the architectural structures that have survived to the present day within the urban fabric; It is aimed to obtain findings about the cultural history of the region through archaeological excavations and to revitalize the society’s perception of Old Van. In the excavations carried out in 2022 with the official permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the southern inner wall and the original road network of the city were studied. The inner wall displays a stronger architecture than the outer wall, with its adobe-filled and stone-covered structure. The outer wall has not survived to the present day. It has been understood that the walls have been subjected to a lot of intervention due to their role in defending the city throughout history. While the location of the circular and quadrangular bastions on the walls, which had to be constantly renewed, were clearly determined through excavations, some new data was also obtained about the entrance gates through which the city was entered. The need for new building types in the 19th century caused the architectural texture to extend beyond the city walls. The tight texture within the city resulted in the construction of small spaces even at the base of the city walls. It has been determined that the spaces created with adobe architecture were functional for civilian life and military purposes. While some findings indicating a blacksmith workshop were associated with civilian commercial life, traces of attack, fire and burnt documents found in a place unearthed near the Aziziye Barracks at the western end of the city revealed new thoughts that this place could be a document recording and storage unit. During the studies, groups of finds were encountered, most of which date back to the Ottoman period. Most of these are glazed and unglazed ceramic pieces that represent examples of daily use items of the civilian population. Additionally, Ottoman bronze coins, tobacco pipes, metal items, cannonballs and shrapnel, and burnt pieces of paper are among the artifacts recovered. For more detailed information, please refer to the Extended Abstract at the end of the text