Ishak Pasa Sarayi 
Southeast of Dogubayazit, above a barren hillside dotted with the abandoned houses of the old town, are the ruins of the magnificent Ishak Pasa Sarayi, half hill fortress and half oriental palace. Long ago a Urartian stronghold stood near this site, 300m/985ft above the plain. Ishak Pasa Sarayi however was the replacement for a less ancient citadel, sometimes said to have been built by Bayazit I (1389-1403) to guard the Silk Route or perhaps to keep a watchful eye on Tamerlane.
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Must-see attractions nearby:
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After Bayazit's defeat at Ankara in 1402, the Mongol leader is supposed to have kept him prisoner here until his death. Neither claim bears much examination since the region was not yet part of the Ottoman Empire at the time.
In fact the claim appears to be a case of mistaken identity. As the hold of the Mongol Ilkhan empire weakened in eastern Anatolia, the area fell under the sway of two brothers of the Mongol Jalairid dynasty, Ahmet and Bayazit. It was the Jalairid Bayazit who, in 1374, refurbished the existing (possibly Genoese) fortress at Darujnk (Darong) as a defense against Bayram Hoca (after which it became known as Bayazit Kalesi).
Although the keys of the fortress were surrendered to Selim I as early as 1514, the town itself became an Ottoman possession only in the mid 17th century This followed a series of long drawn out and bloody confrontations with the Shiite Safavids from Persia, and a total of five different peace treaties.
At the end of the 18th century Ishak Pasa II, Kurdish emir and governor of Dogubayazit from about 1769 until 1797, transformed the fortress into the extraordinary complex of buildings seen today, a project begun by his father Hasan, a member of the Çildiroglu dynasty, and completed by his son Mehmut. Now in part restored, the palace with its outer and inner courtyards, flamboyant doorways, audience chambers, offices, kitchens, harem and men's quarters, is a curiously satisfying blend of Seljuk, Ottoman, Armenian, Georgian and Persian styles. It most definitely warrants a visit. Note in particular the very ornate türbe in front of the little domed cuboidal mosque.
On the far side of the small chasm east of the palace, beyond Eski Dogubayazit's domed mosque (built by Selim the Grim in 1514), are the ruins of Bayazit's old fort, with circular towers. Local people still refer to it as Ceneviz Kalesi (the Genoese fort) as well as Bayazit Kalesi. To the left of the fort can be seen a partly completed relief, carved in the rock face either side of a Urartian rock chamber (ninth century B.C.).
In fact the claim appears to be a case of mistaken identity. As the hold of the Mongol Ilkhan empire weakened in eastern Anatolia, the area fell under the sway of two brothers of the Mongol Jalairid dynasty, Ahmet and Bayazit. It was the Jalairid Bayazit who, in 1374, refurbished the existing (possibly Genoese) fortress at Darujnk (Darong) as a defense against Bayram Hoca (after which it became known as Bayazit Kalesi).
Although the keys of the fortress were surrendered to Selim I as early as 1514, the town itself became an Ottoman possession only in the mid 17th century This followed a series of long drawn out and bloody confrontations with the Shiite Safavids from Persia, and a total of five different peace treaties.
At the end of the 18th century Ishak Pasa II, Kurdish emir and governor of Dogubayazit from about 1769 until 1797, transformed the fortress into the extraordinary complex of buildings seen today, a project begun by his father Hasan, a member of the Çildiroglu dynasty, and completed by his son Mehmut. Now in part restored, the palace with its outer and inner courtyards, flamboyant doorways, audience chambers, offices, kitchens, harem and men's quarters, is a curiously satisfying blend of Seljuk, Ottoman, Armenian, Georgian and Persian styles. It most definitely warrants a visit. Note in particular the very ornate türbe in front of the little domed cuboidal mosque.
On the far side of the small chasm east of the palace, beyond Eski Dogubayazit's domed mosque (built by Selim the Grim in 1514), are the ruins of Bayazit's old fort, with circular towers. Local people still refer to it as Ceneviz Kalesi (the Genoese fort) as well as Bayazit Kalesi. To the left of the fort can be seen a partly completed relief, carved in the rock face either side of a Urartian rock chamber (ninth century B.C.).
