A team of archaeologists has unearthed a castle dating back to the Urartian era in the province of Van in present-day Turkey, Hurriyet reports.

The remains of the castle dating back 2,800 years were discovered during an excavation project sponsored by Van Yüzüncü Yıl University on a mountain at an altitude of 2,500 meters in the Gürpinar district of eastern Van province.

A large cistern with a depth of 6.5 meters, a length of 6.5 meters, and a diameter of 2.5 meters, walls, and ceramic remains were found in the castle.

"Although it is believed to be dated back to the Urartian era like the Van Castle, we see that it was mostly used in the Middle Ages," Rafet Çavuşoğlu, the head of the excavation team and an archeology professor at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, told Anadolu Agency.

"We understand that this place was built about 2,800 years ago from ceramic pieces, the cistern, and the city walls," Çavuşoğlu said.

Meanwhile, he added that they "found that limestone rock and sandstone were used in the construction of walls in the region. This castle is a very important discovery for us."

The province of is part of what used to Western Armenia and was part of ancient province of Vaspurakan. The region is considered to be the cradle of Armenian civilization. As recently as 1914, 35.7% of the population of the province was Armenian.