Iç Kale (The inner castle) is the name used for the oval citadel, covering 650 square meters and protected by 16 towers. The walls have five gates, the western one is the main entrance. It is built on a hill, Büyük Tepe (Big Hill) which consists of the remains of earlier occupations and is about 40 meters higher than its surroundings. Excavations brought foundations of the Artuqids (Ortokids) palace to light. The Artuqids resided here in the 12th century, re-using a 4th century Byzantine fortification. The current layout was created in 1527 on the orders of Sultan Süleyman.

I visited it in 2010 (when some restoration was going on), in 2014 I was not allowed in, but guards told me the complex was to be turned into a cultural centre, a kind of museum quarter, which would contain the then closed archaeological and who knows what more.