Mardin Attractions
Southeast Anatolia
The provincial town of Mardin which lies on a picturesque site at the foot of a steeply sloping rocky plateau, offers a tremendous view to the south over the extensive cultivated plains of northern Syria.
The provincial town of Mardin which lies on a picturesque site at the foot of a steeply sloping rocky plateau, offers a tremendous view to the south over the extensive cultivated plains of northern Syria.
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Isa Bey Külliyesi
The Koran school complex, the best preserved building in Mardin can be seen on the eastern side of the town center above the main street. Founded in 1385 by Isa Bey the decorations on the portal are of special interest. The complex is comprised of a domed mosque, a mausoleum and two inner courtyards. Part of the building is used as a boarding school and part as museum where the rarest exhibit is a Seljuk door-knocker from the Ulu Cami at Cizre.
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Knidos
Situated on a peninsula and likely founded in the 7th C, ancient Knidos, was first discovered by the archeologist Sir Charles Newton in 1857-58.
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Town walls
(Knidos)
The old town wall at Knidos, which stretches for 285 m, is considered to be an excellent example of Hellenistic fortifications.
Bishop's Palace
Mardin is the official seat of one of the metropolitans of the Syrian Orthodox church, whose adherents follow the thinking of its first and most important teacher Jacob Baradair (490-578). He spent 35 years as an itinerant monk in Syria. His followers, also known as Jacobites, split from the Byzantine church which in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon (Kadiöy near Istanbul) rejected monophysitism, the belief that Christ has a god-like nature and was never a human being.
Kasim Bey Külliyesi
The Kasim Bey Külliyesi complex in the west of Mardin consists of a theological college and domed mosque. It was founded by the Akkoyun Ogullari in the 15th century.
Latifiye Camii
The Latifiye Mosque which stands on Mardin's main road was built in 1371 and has a fine portal. The minaret was added in 1845.
Mardin Kalesi
Mardin castle or Telhan Kalesi towers above the town on a rocky crag, near a radar station belonging to the U.S. army (access forbidden). Many assailants have tried in vain to conquer this castle but now a steep path leads up from the Sultan Isa Medresesi. Dating from Roman times, it had been extended by the 15th century so that all the inhabitants of the town could seek refuge there in the event of an impending attack. A relief carving of two magnificent lions can be seen on the gateway.
Sinciriye Medresesi
To the west of Mardin castle above the Sultan Isa Medresesi was another Koran school which used to house an archeological museum. Only the ethnography section remains.
Ulu Cami
The large mosque in the center of Mardin was built in the 11th century by the Artukids, but it was reconstructed in 1176. The building suffered badly during a Kurdish uprising in 1832 and it has been partially restored. Beneath a prism-shaped stone dome supported by pillars lies a prayer room which is divided in three sections. Only the three simple entrance doors remain from the original building.
Mardin Surroundings
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Deir az-Zafaran
The Deir az-Zafaran has been continually inhabited by the Patriarch of the Jacobites since the middle of the 12th C.
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Hasankeyf, Turkey
The town of Hasankeyf enjoys a riverside location and is the home to the remains of a 12th C bridge. Also of interest is the Artukid palace.
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Mar Gabriel Monastery
The Mar Gabriel Monastery dates from the 5th C. On the property tourists will find an assortment of other churches and burial chambers.
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Midyat, Turkey
Midyat is known as a silversmith's haven. Tourists will find many shops selling beautiful jewelry.
Anitli, Turkey
The small village of Anitli is situated 10km/7mi southwest of Izbirak and is noted for the domed church of El Hadra (St Mary's). Of interest are the decorated external walls and the relief work on the narthex doors (ca. 700).
Ceylanpinar
On the edge of the desert close to the Syrian border lies Ceylanpinar D.Ü.Ç state farm where in the middle of the steppe landscape wheat is grown on a large scale. The region was also home to the ahu or goitred gazelle, a species which was at one time threatened with extinction, but now lives on protected reserves.
Istilil, Turkey
92km/57mi southeast of Mardin and 17km/10mi north of Nusaybin lies the village of Istilil and the remains of the ancient settlement of Dara. The town was expanded under Justinian in the sixth century, but it declined in the seventh century after suffering a defeat by the Arabs. Remains of the town wall and part of an old flight of locks have been preserved. The water comes from a powerful karst spring (worth a visit) which supplies water to the Çaçak Çayi near Seyhmehmet in the north of the valley.
Kiziltepe, Turkey
The regional center of Kiziltepe made the headlines in the early 1980s when a blood feud led to violence. It is situated some 20km/12mi southwest of Mardin. In 1766 it was the seat of a provincial governor. In 1840 it was scarcely more than a village and did not become an administrative center again until 1945. The Ulu Cami with its magnificent portal and impressive prayer niche date from the town's heyday in the 13th century.
Yeziden (Alevites)
Another minority group live on the Tur Abdin. The Yeziden (or Alevites) are regarded with mistrust by the Turks because of their liberal interpretation of the Koran and their refusal to pray in mosques. None of the Yeziden villages has a mosque and the Turks regard them as devil-worshippers. Their religion is an amalgamation of Islamic, Persian and Christian elements.
