Tigranakert (Armenian: Տիգրանակերտ, transliterated "Tigranakert" and also spelled "Dikranagerd" in Western Armenian), was a city near present-day Silvan, Turkey, south of Diyarbakır. It was founded by the Armenian Emperor Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC. Tigranakert was founded as the new capital of the Armenian Empire in order to be in a more central position within the boundaries of the expanding empire. Armenia at this time had expanded east to the Caspian Sea, west to central Cappadocia, and south towards Judea, advancing as far as the regions surrounding what is now the Krak des Chevaliers. A Roman force under Lucius Lucullus defeated Tigranes at the Battle of Tigranocerta nearby in 69 BC, and afterwards sacked the city. Tigranakert was a center for Armenian culture and was home to the Armenians up until the Armenian massacres of the 19th century and the Armenian Genocide of 1915, whence the population was eradicated and replaced by Kurds.

History of Armenia | Former capitals of Armenia

Tigranocerta | Тигранакерт