Simani, also called Bingöl Kalesi, sits on a hill of 30 to 35 metres about a kilometre northeast of the centre of Bingöl, on what is thought to be a registered ancient Urartian road. It measures roughly 30 by 35 metres and held close to a dozen rooms, enough that it served as a stopping place as well as a stronghold. A rectangular building of about 30 by 40 metres lies to its east, and eight rooms stand side by side along its northern edge; terraces run down the slopes with further structures built on them.
The dating comes from the pottery. On a terrace on the southern skirt many fragments of Urartian storage jars have been found, and the characteristic Urartian wares here — decorated with rectangular and triangular hollows — place the site in the Iron Age. Apart from the large storage vessels the pottery is wheel-made, with fine sand and mica in the clay, moderately fired, and slipped in brown and pinkish tones. The hill is now under heavy cultivation.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Bingöl as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from -2.1 °C in January to 26.7 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June and September; rainfall is heaviest in January (137 mm) and lightest in August (4 mm). Long-term means for 1961-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
