Gaziantep Castle before the earthquake, Turkey ©Mxcil via Wikipedia
After an earthquake hit central and southern Turkey and northwestern Syria early Monday morning, a number of historic buildings were damaged. A second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 happened in south-eastern Turkey less than 12 hours after the first one, which had a magnitude of 7.8. Official reports say that over 1,200 people have died in Turkey and Syria and that thousands more have been hurt. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey, says that more than 2,300 buildings have been destroyed. The number of known deaths and damage is expected to rise. The Gaziantep Castle in southeastern Turkey is the most important building that was destroyed. The Hittite Empire built the stone castle as a watchtower in the second millennium BCE. It is now a historical site and a tourist attraction.
Gaziantep Castle after the February 6, 2023 earthquake, Turkey via Wikipedia
In the second and third centuries, the Romans added to the castle. In the fifth century, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian added to it again. There were 12 towers and a moat around the castle. It was turned into the Gaziantep Defense and Heroism Panoramic Museum last year. The walls of the building showed art and artifacts from the Turkish War of Independence. The earthquake destroyed some of the bastions on the east, south, and southeast sides of the historic Gaziantep Castle in the central ahinbey district. The broken pieces of the bastions were spread out on the road. "The iron railings that went around the castle were all over the sidewalks around it. The wall holding up the land next to the castle also fell down. "Large cracks were seen in some bastions," the report said.
The Irvani Mosque, which was built in the 1600s and is next to the castle, has lost parts of its dome and eastern wall. Local news reports say that almost all of the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the city of Iskenderun in southern Turkey has fallen down. The Catholic church was first built between 1858 and 1871, and after a fire in 1901, it was put back together again
Selena Mattei