I had not been to Van for quite a while, and the city had less than a year before I returned been hit by two devastating earthquakes. This was highly visible - amongst other places - in some of the remains of Old Van in the plain below what is a major sight, the citadel at the edge of town. From the Wikipedia: "The early settlement was centered on the steep-sided bluff now known as Van Castle (Van Kalesi), close to the edge of Lake Van and a few kilometers west of the modern city. Here have been found Urartian cuneiform inscriptions dating to the 8th and 7th centuries BC. In the trilingual Behistun inscription, carved in the order of Darius the Great of Persia, the country referred to as Urartu in Babylonian is called Armenia in Old Persian.

The name 'Van' comes from the Urartian Biaina." In 2022 I found a really excellent digital reconstruction of the old Van as it existed until destryed after WW I. A detailed movie takes you through its streets, its major building, shows some bird eye views, a treat. It helped me identify some of the spots of which I had gps, but no further record.