Silvan Attractions

The district town of Silvan (100km/62mi east of Diyarbakir) probably stands on the site of Tigranocerta, the Old Armenian capital. A town called Martyropolis, of which only some walls survive, was founded here in the fifth century by Bishop Marutha. He was the bishop who persuaded the Sassanids to adopt a more tolerant attitude to Christianity. After a chequered history it became an Ottoman possession in 1515.

The Selaheddin-i Ayyubi Camii was built by the Sultan Saladin in 1185, incorporating columns from a Byzantine basilica. It has an impressive entrance (rosette frieze; round-arched niche embellished with reliefs).