The Kız Kalesi at Edremit stands on a hill commanding the country around, and the provincial directorate puts its history at some three thousand years: because of that position it was used by the Urartian civilisation as a place of offering and sacrifice, and it is held to have been a sacred area where ceremonies including the crowning of Urartian kings took place.
Today it serves as a panoramic viewing terrace over Lake Van, which is what most visitors come for. Minibuses and public buses towards Edremit run from central Van.
Getting there
- Access
- The Edremit minibuses and public buses leaving central Van serve it.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Van as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from -3 °C in January to 22.4 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in April (55 mm) and lightest in August (6 mm). Long-term means for 1939-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
