RUMKALE - "No Longer Alone"

The walls in the eastern, western and northern sides of the castle ruined today and 120-230 m in size are surrounded with high rocks. The size it covers is approximately 3500 square meters. In the castle, some of the buildings that can be seen today are St. Nerses Church, Barsavma Monastery, ruins of the buildings, water backs, a well and a dike.

1. Exterior walls
Exterior walls of Rumkale are 230 meters long and 1.20 meters wide in length. Many parts of the walls have collapsed due to wars and natural disasters. Remaining walls, as a result of the local people' harsh attitudes and their building houses using stones have been largely destroyed. The ceiling of the castle had been formed using flat stones in geometrical shapes. The entrances are of most exciting carving craftsmanship. 5 entrances in all, in south north direction, four of them can be found in the west and one in the east. On the north and east walls are seven towers and on the north are many loopholes. The strongest towers are on the north end.

Starting from the north, the first entrance is of rectangle planning. On the north and south walls is one small gap. The second entrance is square. Having two polygon towers in the east, the entrance is planned to have a semi-circle schemata which bulges out. The coating fallen, the gates are tied to the wall and coated with ground tackle in the form of a cross. The floor mostly dug, there is another gate 40 cm above the ground on the south wall. From here towards the west, it is likely to see the remnants of a building. According to Nideke, the epigraphs are found in Arabian and Armenian; and are carvings of Tigers in Seljuk style. However, in 1969, nothing can be found of this epigraph today. In front of the entrance is a rock ramp to enable entrance to the rocky place and an opening between the gates. The third entrance does no longer exist. According to Hellenkemper, looking at the traces left, it can be said that the entrance was a polygon. On the plan, two units of ground tackle crosses could be seen. The ramp leads to the ditch on the south, tending to turn north towards the forth entrance as it reaches to the rocky area. The rectangle entrance hall is laid diagonally. The last stone had been laid as a rosette. On the left is a narrow-circular window. On the north of walls is the Barsavma monastery, on the east is a well and on the south is the St. Nerses Church. Countless of others are scattered around as ruins today. Moldke talks of an undetermined mausoleum and a port side where there is the first entrance today. Under Memluklu El-Eşref Halil siege in 1292, the castle had been destroyed all over. Makrizi narrates the houses and this part of the castle. The part where the houses were built was probably named as the 'Down City' in Memluk period. Due to the same building techniques, dating other buildings is real problem. Many of the buildings erected in Memluk reign belong to 12-14th centuries. The oldest among those is the ditch. On building of the walls and towers rubbles and as the coating flat-cut stones were used. On the vaults, as seen on The Barsavma Monastery, were brick like cut stones.

2. St. Nerses Church
Within the city walls in the south of the castle is the church. Armenians used the castle from 1113 to 1292 as a holy office.

Should it be accepted that it had been built by St Aziz, who died in 1173, it can be assumed that the building dates back to the last quarter of the 12th century. After Turkish dominance, it was used as a mosque in the 17th century. Seeing the church in good condition in the 18th century, Pococke named this small, but fine art product as Gothic. It is very likely to be assumed that it was the monarch's church, as stated in the historical book of Samuel, from Ani. Most of the building is in ruins, but the part on the slopes of the mountain it rests. The east facade is erect up to the level where there were once the windows. Inside the frame cut from three sides in the middle of the facade are two ornamented plates.

The two ornamented plates on the east façade of the church reflect 'The Armenian Kacars' customary patterns and their styles. On the two plates encircled by two cylindrically profiled bands ornamented with vegetation is a similar ornamentation using the raising technique and on the top is some letters from a manuscript in Armenian. At the bottom of the plate on the left is a progressive frame in which two animals face each other, their faces turned back. On the top of the frame is the ornamentation using symmetrical Rumis. Above this is a cross around whose lower arm are the branches with leaves having three-leave clovers. On the right is also a similar cross. However, the ornamentation at the bottom is different. In this part, an eagle is portrayed, his wings open and his head turned right.

The church is positioned in the east-west direction, with a square plan and three apses. As the others, the apses facades are flat from outside. Semicircular from inside, the apses are open outside from the middle windows. The one pastophorium chamber in the north is relatively in better condition. Looking at the parts reaching our time, they can be said that they had square plan. Despite the fact that the pastophorium chambers force one to believe that the building had three nave, no supporting system had been discovered due to the rubbles and earth filled inside. In the west, narthex stands, most of which under the earth and only some parts seen. The ornamentation on the east façade and a finding among the heap of the ruin, most probably belonging to a profiled gate and one other piece, which could belong to a window system, prove that the building had a rich stone craftsmanship.

3. Barsavma Manastry
The monastery is inside the city walls, in the north. It is known that in the 13th century, Yakubis inhabited the castle and were largely engaged in building. The monastery the St. Azizi had the monastery built in his name was one of those.

Some parts of two buildings attached to each other are partly up today. Located in the northeast-southwest direction, the north facade of the monastery is made up of rock. The building on the east is in a better condition. Possibly a square one, the building is built up using cross tackles, pointed vaults on the walls and on three separate square columns. Five units of the building reached today in its original shape. However, the southern parts couldn't reach our age. Noldeke mentions a dome on the upper floor and a tower in his manuscripts; that it had been built in the 15th century and modified several times and that the current building belonged to the 17-18th centuries. The one building in the west is in a very bad condition today. It is entered into the building through the gate in the south facade. An unloading vault over the gate is noticeable. Filled with earth and rubbles, no partition can be seen. However, on the east wall is a pointed deep vault beam and on the north wall are entrances to places roughly carved in rocks.

It is likely to face three forms of cut-stones used in the building. On the walls are big blocks of cut stones, on the entrance of the west gate smooth-cut stones available in the area and on the vault and coating system cut-stones which resembled bricks. Both of the buildings are related to the daily chores of life. Having a rather subtle plan, the building in the east might have been used as a meeting room and the one in the north carved into the rocks as a storey and a stable. Amongst the ruins, a cap of a column and a door stone draw the attention. On the east of the building is a well, too.

4. The well
Eight meters wide and approximately 75 meters deep, the well goes down as long as the Euphrates river level using the ladder inside it. Built to supply water from the river, the well is reported to have been used as a hidden tunnel. Inside the cylindrical face of the well is a spiral shape ladder carved out of the rock. This ladder goes down as long as the bottom surface of the river Euphrates. St Johannes, one of the Saints of Jesus, during Roman period, in order to spread Christianity, is said to have lived around Rumkale, copied The Bible in this well and protected it here. Later on, these copies were taken away to Beirut. Christians who believe St. Johannes' tomb is in Rumkale sacred and visit it as a means of praying.

5. Dike
The rocky extension on the southern side of the castle transformed into a cliff that is 30 m in depth and 20 m in with. So, the direct contact with the land is cut for the aim of defense. It is assumed that in total 54,000 cubic meter excavation was made from that part that is 15 m in width, 120 m in length and 130 in height. Today the castle which is surrounded by a dam lake in three sides is in appearance of a peninsula