Ahlat Kalesi

The Ahlat Kalesi, a one-time fortress situated directly on Lake Van has two sets of fortifications, inner and outer - the former (iç kale) smaller and fort-like, the latter, still partly inhabited, larger and more like a walled town. According to an inscription on the east gate of the ramparts, which were made even stronger by their round and square towers, construction began in 1554 under Süleiman and was completed under Selim II in 1568. Below the inner fort, which has its own ring wall, in the still inhabited part of the Old Town, are the remains of a bath house and two mosques.

The more southerly of the two, the Iskender Pasa Çamii, a domed mosque built between 1564 and 1570, is named after its founder, the then governor of the town. The Kadi Mahmut Çamii, also domed, standing a little to the north, was built in 1597.