Guide
Altıntepe lies fifteen kilometres from Erzincan, a hundred metres north of the Erzincan-Erzurum road, and is one of the best preserved Urartian cities to have come down to us. Scientific excavation in 1959 uncovered a temple protected by two concentric castle walls, a palace complex, graves, houses and a large number of archaeological objects.
The remains consist of the temple-palace complex, a columned audience hall, an open-air temple, three graves and a storehouse. Figures and motifs of gods, people and animals take an important place in the finds, and among the eighth-century BC material from the mound are ivory and metal objects, helmets and shields, pottery and wall paintings. The finest of these, belonging to the brilliant period of Urartian art, are displayed at the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations in Ankara rather than on the site.
