Urfa's castle was garrisoned with janissaries until their dissolution in 1826. It was already in serious disrepair by that point, though; only the part where the janissaries were posted was maintained at all. Afterwards, the citadel was essentially abandoned. In 1849, a local citizen named Sakıp Efendi dismantled part of the citadel and used the stones to build an inn and market; he also allegedly took a lot of stones to sell for money.
