Hosap, Turkey

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road from Van along the Cuh pass to northern Persia.

The complex of several storys contains three baths, two mosques, a medrese, a well, cisterns, prison and 360 rooms spread over several floors - all of which can be reached by passing through an impressive entrance hall with inscriptions and a lion relief and mounting some steep steps. The citadel which is itself surrounded by huge stone walls is reinforced by a town wall with equally thick walls and four towers. The wall surrounded the town of Hosap to the north, where today some of the houses are made from sun-dried bricks. A Kurdish-Ottoman bridge over the Hosap Suyu links the castle to the old military road, which at this point passes through a narrow gap in the rock. The Kurdish fortress Mahmudiye Kalesi takes its name from the local dynasty.