Here on a high rock is the Toprakh-kale fortress. It is located four kilometres four kilometres west of the road that crosses the city of Van. Under this rock there is a wasteland with the remains of minarets and walls.
On the hill, on the north-eastern outskirts of the city of Van in the 8th-6th centuries BC. Rusahinili fortress, which was the residence of the Urartian kings, was located on a hillock on the north-eastern outskirts of Van. Archaeological excavations have been carried out here since 1879, with various interruptions by various expeditions (German, Russian, English). The remains of temples the remains of temples and a palace, and numerous objects have been discovered which characterise the culture of the Urartu state. These are mainly figurines of griffins and deities made of ivory and bronze. Finds from the excavations of the group led by N. Y. Marr and I. A. Orbeli in 1916 are stored in the Hermitage (Saint Petersburg).
