Tigranakert (Armenian: Տիգրանակերտ, transliterated "Tigranakert" and also spelled "Dikranagerd" in Western Armenian; Latin Tigranocerta) was a city near present-day Silvan, Turkey, east 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.