Van Fortress, also known as Van Citadel, is a massive stone fortification built by the ancient Armenian kingdom of Urartu during the 9th to 7th centuries BC. Successive empires such as the Medes, Achaemenids, Armenians, Parthians, Romans, Sassanid Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Seljuks, Safavids, Afsharids, Ottomans and Russians each controlled the fortress at one time or another. The ancient fortress is located just west of Van and east of Lake Van in the Van Province, Turkey.