Van Fortress was built at the command of the governor of Urartu King Sardur First on Lake Van in the ninth century BC. Long ago, at the foot of the fortress was burgeoning ancient city of Van (Tushpa), which was flooded due to the elevated levels of water in the lake. Also come to the city to decline helped to conquer various times Armenians, Seljuks and Ottomans, so not very many monuments of antiquity and came to his contemporaries.

The best preserved among the extant ruins of the mosque can be called a thirteenth-century Jami Kyzyl, or Red Mosque, as well as Ulu Cami, or Great Mosque. Five kilometers away is Toprakkale that during the time of King Rasutina was the capital of Urartu.

Antiquities discovered by archaeologists during excavations indicate a high level of civilization in the city of Van. The most valuable works are in the Archaeological Museum of Ankara, and the rest - in the local archaeological museum.

On the west side of the entrance to the fortress located tower Sarduri. It contains cuneiform epitaph, written in Assyrian Sarduri. Climbing the northwest corner of the fortress, you can look at the tombstone of King Argishti I of Urartu cuneiform and wall. In the southern part of the fortress is a room-tombs of the kings of Urartu.

On top of the fortress is the surface of the rock, a wasteland with a few fragments of crumbled walls and towers. Also visible from above the tomb of Abdurrahman Gazi - saint worship the ashes which the pilgrims come specifically to Van. To the right of the fortress is a small mosque.

On the south wall of the cliff is a large number of stairs, which are cut off midway. These stairs can be seen in the images of Van rock of the early nineteenth century. Rather, they have joined the fortress with the city directly, because otherwise, to get the rock out of the city, we had to walk around and take advantage of a more gentle slope.

At the bottom of the fortress offers a magnificent panorama of the city of the dead. Urartu King and his entourage lived in the castle, and the city was at the bottom. But what has survived to the present day, it is not Tushpa and the shattered remnants of the Armenian town located in the same place where Tushpa. Large dead wasteland, where time stands still, makes a strong impression on tourists.

Right at the bottom of the fortress dazzling white ribbon curls newly built fortress wall. Straight ahead the road goes to the city center.