The fortress of Hınıs is located three hours south of Erzurum. It is reached by a smooth and straight road starting from a bridge shaped like a golden ring. The walls around Hınıs form a quadrangle in shape. It is a rather fortified fortress, which is located on a high place - on a steep cliff. In its very centre stands a huge palace, and around it there are cliffs. The fortress is surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs.
A cold and very clear river flows in the eastern part of the city. At the base of the wall, in the lower part of the fortress, the master has provided an iron grating. This river, runs through it and outside the fortress distributes water to the vegetable gardens, irrigating them. However, no one and nothing else can pass through the iron grate except water. Not far from this source with running water are the gates of the fortress.
The fortress was founded by the paternal uncle of the ruler of Azerbaijan Uzun-Hasan - Shah Shapur. Subsequently Hynys was captured by Kurds, and later they gave the keys of the fortress to Suleyman Shah. At the moment the fortress is the residence of Sanjakbey in Erzurum Eyalet. Hass, granted to the bey by the padishah, brought an income of about 484,000 acce.
There are one thousand two hundred houses in the fortress of Hınıs, which are still inhabited today. There is a cathedral mosque and seven mihrabs. There is also a bathhouse and a caravanserai and a small market. All the houses are covered with clay. There are no tiled houses here. Domestic animals, especially goats and sheep, are innumerable.
