Reconstructed 12th-century basalt castle, with watchtower and Celal Baba tomb.
It is called the Central Castle, Inner Castle or Stadel. M.S. It was built in 1153 by his Vizier Firuz Akay, by the order of Melik İzzeddi, the Saltuk Sultan of the Seljuks. The outer castle walls surrounding the city began to be built in the 12th century. The castle, which was destroyed by Timur in 1386, was rebuilt by Lala Mustafa Pasha, who came to Kars with the decree of the Ottoman Sultan Murat III in 1579. (The castle ruins are located in the castle ruins. A rectangular marble inscription was found and placed on the gate of the outer walls. According to this inscription, “It was built in 1152 by the order of Sultan Melik İzzetin, by his Vizier Firuz Akay. Timur destroyed the castle in 1386, and again in 1579, by the order of Murat III, Lala Mustafa Pasha.” It was repaired twice in 1616 and 1636, and some works were added to the city center. According to sources, the walls except the central castle are 27,000 meters long and consist of 220 bastions. The castle is 250 meters in the east-west direction. It is approximately 90 meters in the north-south direction. It was damaged during the 40-year Russian occupation after the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian war and lost its original feature and use.
The exterior walls of Kars Castle are made of cut basalt stone and are surrounded by load retaining walls. It has three large gates. These;
Sukapısı or Çeribaşı gate (to the west)
Kağızman gate (Ortakapı)
It is the Behram Gate or Bayrampaşa gate.
The main entrance of the castle in the north opens to the space in front of the castle. Among these structures, there is a stone-paved street towards the castle tower, which is the highest point of the castle, and the castle tower can be reached by stairs from the end of the street. Inside Kars Castle, there is the 12th century Celal Baba Tomb, Military Wards, Fields, Armory and a Masjid. Kars Castle, declared as a protected area, has an impressive appearance when viewed from the city.