Ayanis Castle Located in Ağartı Village, 35 km north of Van in the Van Lake District, Ayanis Castle is one of the most significant castles of the Urartu Kingdom, dating back to the 9th to 6th century BC. Constructed by the son of Arghishti II, the last great king of the Urartian Kingdom, this castle is one of the five castles built during his reign. The castle's construction was completed between 677-673 BC, as indicated by an inscription and dendroanalytic analyses from Ayanis. Since 1989, Professor Altan Çilingiroğlu has conducted excavations at the fortresses, which are crucial for Urartian archaeology. Under the supervision of Dr. Mehmet Işıklı, excavations have continued since 2013, unearthing a unique collection of artifacts related to Urartian archaeology. Ayanis Castle boasts beautiful ornaments, adobe walls, and reliefs, and the excavations have revealed the castle's outer city, where ordinary people lived. Religious and royal storage structures have also been discovered, containing agricultural products for the temple's people to eat. Ayanis Castle is associated with the temple dedicated to Haldi, the chief god of the Urartian Kingdom.