Hastek Castle
It is within the borders of Yenipayam village and consists of shelter-style, closed-to-the-outside carved caves carved layer by layer from the bottom on the rocks descending steeply to today's Keban Dam Lake. The castle was built with great effort and was in a position to meet all kinds of needs during the ages it served, with large usage areas resembling a hall, connecting rooms, warehouses and similar shelters with corridors, hidden stairs carved into the rock, used as ventilation and light, or as a place of defense against the enemy. It can be seen from the loopholes and windows. When we look at all of these cave-shaped shelters, it is understood that they look like a castle and that they are built on steep cliffs and are entirely for defensive purposes. It is thought that the castle was built in 1018 against Turkmen raids. It is claimed that Hastek Castle, like the underground cities in Cappadocia, was built by the Romans or Byzantines during the spread of Christianity. Today, it is only possible to visit this castle by boat on the lake.
