Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape

UNESCO sites and what they mean

The basalt walls of Diyarbakır run for kilometres above the Tigris, and the Hevsel Gardens below have fed the city for centuries. Together they show a fortress and its kitchen, not just a monument and a view.

Diyarbakır’s black basalt walls form one of the longest surviving city fortifications in the world. Inside, the old town’s mosques, churches and courtyards are linked by narrow streets; below the walls, the Hevsel Gardens follow the Tigris. The contrast between the dark stone and the green river plain is the heart of the landscape.

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