Visiting Mardin during winter
Eastern Turkey 2023-2024 part 2
Mardin is a beautiful old city build on a hill overlooking the Mesopotamian plains. It’s in the southeast of Turkey close to the Syrian and Iraqi borders. Nicole and I travelled here straight from Iraq after a very tough border crossing in December 2023. Here’s why Mardin is worth visiting, especially during winter.
Old Mardin
The old city is a labyrinth of alleys with madrassas, mosques, churches and a big citadel. Many buildings, some dating back to medieval times, are made of limestone. This helped them survive disasters, including the terrible earthquake earlier in 2023. The citadel on top of the hill is off limits due to the military base. Fortunately there are plenty of alternatives for a nice view, like the rooftop terraces across the city. A highlight is the Zinciriye madrassa, a 14th century building with magnificent domes and a great panorama view as well. Another famous landmark is the 12th century Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque). It’s also fun to just wander around the alleys and see where you end up.
Old Mardin, near Ulu Cami
Old Mardin
Ulu Cami
Not surprisingly Mardin is considered a highlight of Eastern Turkey, and I read people find it to crowded with tourists. This is why winter is a good time to visit. In December there weren’t many tourists, and sometimes we could enjoy the sights just by ourselves. Yet restaurants, rooftop terraces and landmarks were still open. And though it can get chilly, winters are mild here.
Deyr-az-Zaferan Monastery
A short ride out of the city is the 5th century Deyr-az-Zaferan Monastery. As the weather was pleasant we walked the 5 kilometres from Mardin to the monastery, enjoying some nice viewpoints along the way. The monastery is a well renovated impressive building, though there is not much to see inside. Another downside was that we were only allowed in by joining a tour, which was very short and in Turkish, so we don’t think going here is a must.
Deyr-az-Zaferan Monastery
View from Zinciriye madrassa
Zinciriye madrassa
A diverse city
Mardin is culturally very different from the west of Turkey, and diverse as well. Big communities of Christians used to live in here, hence the churches, monasteries but also the local winemaking. Nowadays there are only a few Syriac Orthodox Christians and Armenian Catholics. The majority of Mardin’s inhabitants are Kurds and Arabs, Turks are a small minority. In a big part of Eastern Turkey the Kurds are in the majority as well, including around Van lake, the Ararat region, Kars and Erzurum, a region often referred to as Turkish or northern Kurdistan. In the following posts I write about travelling there, starting with the city of Van.
Practical advice on travelling here
Getting there and around
The intercity bus station is only three kilometres from the old city. Parts of the old city are hard to reach by car, so some places can only be reached on foot. In our case we had to walk from our hotel in the old city to a taxi stop at the roundabout of ‘’Eski Hastane Bulvarı’’ for a taxi ride to the bus station. For more tips on travelling around the region, read ‘’How to travel around Eastern Turkey in winter’’.
Rooftop terraces and where to eat
There are plenty of options for food in Mardin ranging from budget places to dinning out. If you’re not on a budget and want to enjoy local cuisine, I highly recommend restaurant Al Hayaal. Seyr-I Merdin has a rooftop terrace with great views, though we only had coffee and tea there.
Visiting Deyr-az-Zaferan Monastery
There is no bus to the monastery, so you have to take a taxi, get your own car, join a tour or walk . At the monastery you have to buy a ticket and wait for the next tour to enter.