Old City of Mardin

Intro

First of all i need to let you know from beginning that this following post is about the city of Mardin not Diyarbakir , i find it very difficult with each post i make to select a city or a place , just because is not listed . And of course my numerous emails asking them to add them remain without consequences . So once again please list my cities and universities i ask for !! 

Going this days throw my junk files in my computer i came across my license paper for then i graduated university , which was long time ago , 4 years actually . I was pleasant surprised about how many memories came back to me , and i started to remember my first Erasmus in Diyarbakir and all the amazing places i visited during this experience .

Places that now are very hard to reach because of the terrorism situation in Turkey , and most of this extremely old cities with incredible traditions and rich culture are situated very close to Syria border , and for so many reasons i think that maybe they are not well preserved anymore , which would be such a pity !

My first Erasmus experience was in Diyarbakir a city in the South Eastern Turkey , very close to the border with Irak . All about the city check my blog in Erasmus Adulthood post . So i was saying during this months in Diyarbakir i got the chance to visit amazing cities close to Diyarbakir some . What makes this cities special is that they are so much different about touristic cities such as Istanbul and Antalya . Here you can find the traditional ways and old culture which you may never find it in other cities with big exposure.

They are indeed cities with low key touristic points and tourists. Cities like Mardin , Hasankeyf , Urfa , Cappadochia are just a few of which i visited during my first Erasmus. And there is a saying that you always fell in love with your first Erasmus country and city in which you go , maybe that's why i am so hooked up about Diyarbakir and Mardin .

I was in my first year of university during my Erasmus experience so i had to choose a topic for my license degree paper , well it didn't took me too much to choose Mardin , one trip there i was fully convinced that this was the story which will give me an A plus and for sure nobody will have more interesting subject to speak about .

But let's start with the beginning..

Mardin

The city of Mardin is situated in the South Eastern part of Turkey in a place called way back before Mesopotamia , for those who don't know Mesopotamia was consider to be the birth place of civilizations and the oldest land on Earth .

Mardin has Syria as a neighbor and Irak at less than an hour until border. The people living there are so different from all population in Turkey . They are basically a mix between Christians from Syria and Armenians plus Kurdish and Arabs . But the predominant are Armenians and Syrians. Or it used to be anyhow.

What is amazing about this city that even today the main language is Arabic , and actually Mardin was the first city in Turkey in which arabic was official language . Also an important thing is that the city was a connection road in the famous 'Silk Road' so it was an important center back in the day .

The world Mardin means citadel or fortress which you can totally see once you arrive in the city .The way how the houses are positioned on the top of the mountain it gives you that citadel feeling .

                                                   Old city of Mardin

The entire city has an old architecture and style , there is no modern houses or villas or anything , so don't except shopping malls and Starbucks or nothing . Just an old rustic conservative air to it , which is completely fine if you want to escape a big metropol.

History

The city has a complex history which dates many centuries before . It starts with the Arabic occupation , then the Mongolian invasion and after even the governor of Egipt tried to invade the city . But most notable and persistent is the Syrian occupation which dates until our days .

Remains of old Christian Syrian and Armenians churches make today Mardin a world heritage open air museum. Literally the city is a walk in museum with super impressive structures and architecture .

Touristic sights

Mardin it was never and guess will never be a touristic destination. First because is a bit hard to reach it , you may need to get a flight from Istanbul to Diyarbakir and from there a car or a bus until Mardin . Secondly now because is so close to Syrian border and for sure nobody goes there anymore , and also all the Armenians living there they imigrate to better cities such as Istanbul . Is still now a war zone but you never know what to expect this days .

When i was 5 years ago i was so impressed about the Big Mosque and all this churches called madrassas. Also the big citadel which hosts many houses next to each other with some super tiny streets . And all this houses are in stairs organization type , like an amphitheater so you can make a clear idea . The houses are build with tall walls and inside there are rooms for men and rooms for women , but never together , which was the old way of living .

                                                  The Big Mosque

Besides this there is a big open museum which has collections from the 4th century , mostly which includes graved Arabic texts into the rocks and Syrian coins and all type of ceramic vases. I cannot remember very good but i guess entree fee was 2tl back then .

                                 the building hosting the open air musum

                                              anient items on display

                                             ancient items on display

I was so impressed when i first entered a madrassa in Mardin , by far i never seen a building such rich in decorations and architecture motives . For those who don't know madrassas is a name reffering to schools usually in the arabic world .

There is one very good conserved madrassa in Mardin from the 16th century , which is called the Red Madrassas. Also next to it is a Syrian Christian church .

                                                         Madrassa

Of course every city in Turkey , Arabic or not , has on every corner a statue or a reference to the father of the Turks , Ataturk . Mardin was the case also , a huge statue representing him was on display in the city center .

What caught my attention was a little girl sitting near Ataturk's monument and selling homemade bracelets , which i taught was so genuine and one moment i felt pity as well.

Tourism is not a source of income in Mardin , the main jobs and hand labor is provided by the Mardin Airport , over 40 thousands of the jobs are from the Airport and most of the people who are not working there have their own little shops selling groceries or repairing shoes , clocks and all sort of things .

It is indeed a poor city , but with extremely high culture and traditions which i will feel sorry if someday it will get lost because of some stupidity or act of violence .

I will conclude my post by adding a few tips and facts as usually !

Few tips:

• Legend about the city says that Mardin existed during the Great Flood .
• Best hotel in Mardin is Hilton.
• The weather is extremely hot , around 40-45 degrees every summer , and the most ever recorded was 48 degrees.
• People are so welcoming in Mardin , so never refuse the chance to drink a cup of tea in case they invite you .
• The view from the top of the castle over the Tiger River will let you speechless.

In case of wanting to travel to Mardin take safety measures and get informed ! But i can promise you that you will be overwhelmed with authenticity of the place .

Wish you a safe trip!