Turkey’s Gaziantep Castle Damaged by Earthquakes

GAZIANTEP, TURKEY—CNN reports that Gaziantep Castle, which is located on a hilltop in the center of southern Turkey’s city of Gaziantep, was heavily damaged by the powerful earthquakes that have struck southern Turkey and Syria. Large cracks have been seen in some of the bastions, the retaining wall next to the castle has collapsed, and rubble has tumbled down into city streets. The current structure at the site began as a watchtower built in the second and third centuries A.D. by the Romans. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, who reigned from A.D. 527 to 565, expanded the fortifications. Additional changes were made during the reign of the Ayyubids in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and during the Ottoman Empire. To read about excavations of an ancient city near Gaziantep, go to "Zeugma After the Flood."