Fortifications of Diyarbakır

[1] The walls come from the old Roman city of Amida and were constructed in their present form in the mid-fourth century AD by the emperor Constantius II.

[8] Surviving inscriptions attest that the Harput and Mardin gates were rebuilt in 909 on the orders of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir, and it's likely that other parts of the walls demolished in 899 were repaired at this time.

[8] Starting around this period, craftsmen began to carve animal images onto new parts of the walls, in addition to Arabic inscriptions recording their work.

[8] Under the Inalid dynasty (12th century), work continued on the eastern walls, between the New Gate (Yeni Kapı) and the Citadel.

Up until this period, renovations had generally imitated Roman designs and masonry, using large blocks set in regular courses.

[8] The Artuqid work on the walls featured much finer craftsmanship and used much smaller cut stones than the traditional Roman or Roman-imitating masonry.

[8] These towers are distinguished by their carved stone decoration of calligraphic inscriptions and figurative images of animals and mythological creatures.

[8][4] In 2015, the war between the Turkish Army and Kurdish guerillas resulted in damage to the old town (Sur) and its monuments, disrupting government plans to conserve the historical city in hopes of attracting tourists to the Diyarbakir cultural area.

[10] About one-third of the old town was destroyed by the Turkish government after the clashes ended, irreversibly damaging the ancient city.

[14] As the war continued, the government of Turkey and UNESCO jointly began a reconstruction and preservation effort, intending to complete it within two years, starting with the demolition of part of the city.

The Turkish Prime Minister also spoke of plans to reconstruct the city walls as a great tourist attraction intended to resemble Paris; this provoked considerable controversy in Diyarbakır, with some locals arguing that they would lose their ancient culture heritage.

Diyarbakir fortress is among the best surviving examples of a castle or fort built with a natural feature like a cliffside or body of water on one side as a boundary.

Harput Gate (or Dağ Kapı ), the northern gate of the city. The gate preserves a Byzantine -era design but was reconstructed in 909 during the Abbasid period. [ 8 ]
The Ulu Beden Tower in the southern city walls. It was built in 1208 during the Artuqid period and features carved Arabic inscriptions, animal motifs, and muqarnas . [ 8 ]
16th century plan of Diyarbakır by Matrakçı Nasuh
Sur is surrounded by city walls. The eastern half of the walled city depicted here (Sur) was leveled in 2015–2016 during the Kurdish–Turkish conflict .