Astek Castle, which is located on the outskirts of Yenipayam village in the district and can only be reached by boats, is made up of a series of rooms and galleries that are several meters long and connect these rooms. These galleries were created by carving each floor of cliffs that led steeply down to Keban Dam Lake. The fortress of Hastek was built into the side of the mountain that overlooks the Euphrates river. In 1974, when a dam began to hold water, it eventually got completely buried in water.
Due to low water levels in the Keban Dam near Elazig, which is located in the eastern portion of Turkey, the old Hastek Castle has been unveiled in its entirety. It is important to note that the old Hastek Castle is situated in a unique geographical location on the Euphrates River’s brink. In this scenario, the region that was exposed as a result of the water level dropping included a number of crevices and confined areas, as well as three levels.
Mr. Korkmaz Sen, the chairman of the history department at Euphrates University, was quoted in a news report given to Anadolu. In the report, he strongly argued that the location known as Hastek Castle could have been a pre-Christian temple.
In addition, Sen mentioned that the three-story castle was cut into the rocks and brought attention to the fact that there are Greek inscriptions on the internal walls of the apartments within the castle.
In addition to this, he calls attention to the fact that the region served as a checkpoint throughout the time that the Eastern Roman Empire was in existence.