Pasinler Kalesi (Hasankale)

Pasinler Castle stands on a steep rocky hill rising directly above the town of Pasinler, east of Erzurum. Locally the castle is also known as Hasankale, and the district carried this name for a long time. The tourism guide of the Erzurum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism places the castle 36 kilometres east of the city, in front of Mount Hasan Dede. The hill commands the whole Pasinler Plain and for centuries served as an important military base controlling the road that reached Erzurum from the east. English Wikipedia notes that the castle sits on a large rock hill at an elevation of about 1740 metres. The exact history of the castle is unknown, and the sources pass on different traditions. According to the provincial guide, Şemseddin Sami attributed the castle to the Genoese, while the historian Naima claimed it was built by the Akkoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan. According to İbrahim Hakkı Konyalı, who wrote a history of Erzurum, the castle was built between 1336 and 1339 by Hasan Bey, son of Emir Hacı Togay of Ilkhanid descent. For this reason it is also uncertain which Hasan gave the castle its name; the traditions are divided between Uzun Hasan and Hasan Bey. The settlement on the hill is much older, however. The castles.nl website, which presents castles, writes that the first fortification was built by the Urartians in the 9th century BC. English Wikipedia also notes inscriptions and stonework from the reign of the Urartian king Minua at the site. In the Middle Ages the castle lay in the middle of the region's frontier wars. The same site reports that in 1048, during a war between the Seljuks and Byzantium, the castle here was captured by the Seljuk commander İbrahim Yınal. Turkish Wikipedia writes that the old name of today's Pasinler, Köprüköy and Horasan area was Basiani, and that the Ottomans took the region in 1545. According to the provincial guide, the castle was repaired and strengthened under Suleiman the Magnificent after it passed to Ottoman rule. English Wikipedia states that the castle remained in use until after the war of 1828-1829. Today the castle is a ruin, but most of its walls still stand. According to English Wikipedia, there are three lines of walls, and the outer two end at the steep rock face without forming a complete circuit. Castles.nl describes the inner castle as having a polygonal, nearly triangular plan protected by two outer walls. According to this site, no building has survived inside the inner castle. The walls and the gate of the inner castle were built of cut stone and rubble. The provincial guide notes that the columns, arches and inscription of the inner gate, once made of decorated stones, are no longer in place. Besides the main gate, there is a small postern in the western wall. This postern is thought to have been connected to the stream below by a secret passage; English Wikipedia also mentions a water tunnel running through the rock down to the Pasinler Stream. Because the castle was built on very steep rocks, it is said that in the past one could not even ride up on a pack animal. According to the provincial guide, an earth road leading to the western gate of the inner castle was opened because the castle was later used as a quarry. Today visitors usually climb by this road. Castles.nl writes that the castle can be visited freely, but since access conditions may change, check the current situation with local institutions. The tops of the walls have no railings and are crumbling in places, so walk carefully along the wall edges. On windy days the hill gets quite cool, so it is a good idea to bring a light layer even in summer. From the top the whole Pasinler Plain opens up, and it becomes clear why the eastern road was guarded here. In morning light the stone texture of the walls shows more clearly, while in the late afternoon long shadows fall across the plain. According to Turkish Wikipedia, Pasinler lies 37 kilometres from the centre of Erzurum and on the historic Silk Road. The district is also known for its hot springs; the provincial guide writes that the Pasinler springs have been used since Roman times. On the road east from Erzurum, the castle can be visited on the same day as the Çobandede Bridge and the Narman Fairy Chimneys.