The heart of ancient Hasankeyf is definitely the citadel, overlooking Hasankeyf and Tigris river from 100 meters high. And it has been a closed area for past 5 years, since a rock fell down and killed a local. I did 3 tries to sneak in here and managed to get caught at each try. Local people keep their eyes really open around and never let anyone enter the citadel without town mayor’s permission.

And I finally decided to go to mayor and get permission from him. The government buildings are located on the other side of the river and not really a walkable distance, especially with a large & heavy drone case that I had to carry everywhere with me. Once I made to the government building, getting the permission was easier than I expected. The drone case was the key of convincing them. There was one condition though; I have to follow a guide they’ll assign. Later, I realized that the reason behind assigning a guide was to protect the citadel against treasure hunters.

I met the guide in his office next to the bridge and we entered the citadel. The entrance is actually the other side of the valley, with hundreds of caves everywhere. Locals use some of these caves for putting their livestock animals, you can see some sheep and rooster on the below photos, that I took while we were walking to the citadel located on the top.

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