Mardin
Tourism

... More >

Patriarch of the United Syrian Christians (Jacobites) of Tur Abdin. Many of the grand stone houses reflect the town's strong agricultural traditions and the style is clearly influenced by Arabic architecture. Cereal growing is important in the region and there are also a number of olive groves. Extensive fruit orchards flourish in the hinterland (Tur Abdin).

History

Little is known of the town's history before the spread of Islam. In 640 the town came under the control of the Omayyad caliphs from Damascus and a century later fell to the Abbasid dynasty of Baghdad. Before the Seljuk era a Kurdish dynasty held sway (1100) but then eight years later the Artukids from Turkmenistan became masters over Mardin and remained in control until 1260. In 1516 Mardin fell to the Ottomans until the renegade Egyptian governor Mehmet Ali supported two Kurdish uprisings (1832 and 1840) against the Sublime Porte but they were brutally put down by Resid Pasa.