Zerzevan Castle home to secret history

Following the discovery of an underground temple, a closed secret passage and a subterranean sanctuary in the Zerzevan Castle in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır's Çınar district, four other ancient locations from the Roman era were unearthed this year in Çınar.

The Zerzevan Castle, located 13 kilometers from central Çınar in the Demirölçek neighborhood, was used as a military settlement in the Roman era. Built on an area of six hectares, the Zerzevan Castle illuminates the history of Turkey's southeast with its 15-meter-high and 1,200-meter-long wall, 21-metre-high watchtower and church, administration building, residences, stores of grain and arms, subterranean temple, sanctuaries, sepulchers, water channels and 54 cisterns.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Diyarbakır Museum, the Diyarbakır Governor's Office, the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, the District Governorate of Çınar, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies and Dicle University contribute to the progress of the excavation. Çınar District Governor İsmail Şanlı has been monitoring the excavation and stated that the excavation work has continued despite security issues in the region and clashes between the Turkish military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 

Şanlı said the Zerzevan Castle symbolizes the "intersection and coalescence of eastern and western cultures." Its various features, such as the subterranean temple - a remnant of the Mithras religion - have attracted over 20,000 tourists in just one week, he added. 

The District Governorate of Çınar, with the support of the United Nations and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is currently designing an "Archaeo-Park Project" to develop the historical and cultural awareness of...