Bitlis, Turkey Tourism

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Bitlis Çayi, a tributary of the Tigris. The population of the surrounding villages is mainly Kurdish, the principal occupation being livestock rearing (sheep and goats) and cultivation of cereals, vegetables and fruit on little irrigated plots of land. The townsfolk are very traditionally minded and show little enthusiasm for modernization. In addition to its attractive setting Bitlis also boasts an Old Town with numerous charmingly decorated basalt houses, a variety of interesting sights, and a busy bazaar, making it altogether a place worth visiting. There are sulfurous thermal springs below the town on the east bank of the river.

History

Although the area was certainly settled in the seventh century B.C. Bitlis itself is said to have been founded in the late fourth century B.C. by one of Alexander the Great's generals, who named it Balaleson. When or whether it ever belonged to Rome is questionable. The Arabs under the Caliph Omar occupied the town in 641, followed by the Seljuks in the 11th century and the Mongols in the 13th. Finally, in the 16th century, Selim I claimed the town for the Ottoman Empire. Even so, the local Kurdish princes (of the Rushekid dynasty in the 14th century for example) always enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy in the region. From the 16th century onwards Bitlis was the capital of a Kurdish beylik.