Eastern Turkey

This region of Eastern Turkey, as yet little visited, will astound you with the breathtaking beauty and diversity of its sites.

Highlights of this region include:

• The ruined Armenian city of Ani with its great walls.  This city once had a
  
  hundred gates and a thousand churches, and was considered the 4^th most
  
  magnificent city in the world in the 10^th century, after Constantinople,
  
  
  Baghdad and Cairo.

• The superb 17^th-18^th century Ishak Pasa Palace, with its mixture of Seljuk, 
  
  Persian, Georgian, Armenian and baroque Ottoman architecture.

• The very large bright blue lake of Van surrounded by mountain peaks, with 
  
  its picturesque 10^th century Armenian church on Akdamar Island.

• The massive black basalt city walls of Diyarbakir, a superb example of 
  
  mediaeval military architecture, and its many black and white chequered 
  
  buildings.

• The Syrian Orthodox monasteries surrounding Mardin. During the Middle
  
  Ages, this region was  the centre of the Syrian Orthodox Church, with 4 
  
  bishoprics and 80 monasteries.

• Mardin, the most Arab town in Turkey, with its lovely Syrian-influenced 
  
  architecture, and the wonderful vistas over the ancient Mesopotamian 
  
  Plains, seen from the town citadel.
  
  
  

• The extraordinary beehive-shaped houses in Harran

• The breathtakingly beautiful 17^th century architecture in the holy city of
  
  Sanliurfa, where Abraham was born.

• The stupendous statues, lions and eagles on top of Mt. Nemrut at sunset

• The fascinating open-air museum of Hittite sculptures at Yesemek

Please refer to our tours page for tours taking in this region.