Centuries-old cheese found in Van castle

Excavation and restoration works at the Ho?ap Castle in the eastern province of Van's Gürp?nar district, have revealed 250-year-old cheese. 

Works have been carried out in the castle, which was built in the 16th century on the foundation of an Urartian castle and served as a palace for many years, by a team of people from Van Yüzüncü Y?l University's department of Art History. 

The recent work in the castle has unearthed cheese in four different cubes. The cheese was sent to the university's chemistry lab for examination. 

The head of the excavations, assistant professor Mehmet Top, said that one of the four cubes used in the kitchen of the castle was found broken. 

"One of the methods to keep Van's famous herbed cheese is to bury it underground in these cubes. This tradition still continues. We have proved it archaeologically during the Ho?ap Castle excavations. The cheese was calcified and deposited in the cubes. We can say that it is from 200-250 years ago," he said. 

He said that the cubes were also covered with earth, adding that they had found the remaining organic substances in the cheese, which would be examined by both chemistry and food engineers.