Van Gölü’nün doğu kıyısından yaklaşık 850 m içerde, kabaca doğu-batı doğrultusunda, Van Kalesi/Tuşpa sitadeli uzanır. Sitadelin kuzeyinde Van Kalesi Höyüğü, güneyinde ise Eski Van Şehri yer alır. Yaklaşık 85 hektarlık alanı kaplayan alan İlk Tunç Çağı’ndan 20. yüzyılın başına değin iskana sahne olmuştur. Tuşpa sitadeli Urartu dönemine ilişkin anıt yapıları, Van Kalesi Höyüğü İlk Tunç Çağı ve Urartu dönemine tarihlenen sivil karakterli yerleşme katmanları ve Eski Van Şehri ise daha çok Türk-İslam Dönemi yapı toplulukları ile tanınır.

Van can be followed in some miniatures, engravings and photographs. The earliest examples would be the miniature named “Kala-i Sengi Van” at the Topkapı Palace Archives and the information in the Travels of Evliya Çelebi Cantay 1994 . Both of these sources indicate that the Old City of Van was surrounded with walls pierced with gates at various intervals. However, there seem to be contradictions on the names and number of these gates. Similarly, there are contradictions regarding the towers and bastions on the city walls. However, it is possible to state that there were four city gates. Saray Kapı Palace Gate , which was close to Hüsrev Pasha Complex and provided access to Pasha’s Palace, and Orta Kapı Central Gate located 250 meters east of Palace Gate both provided access from the south. Tabriz Gate, located in the east, is understood to be the grandest and busiest gate. Sources state that at the west of the city, near the orchards of Horhor, there was a gate called either İskele pier or Yalı shore . The structural character of the encircling walls is debated. Even though the seventeenth-century miniature depicts the city encircled with double-fortifications, this has not been verified. However, it is generally agreed that a moat filled with water ran along the walls. The moat was crossed over via wooden bridges in front of the city gates