Eastern Turkey - From Van to Diyarbakir

Traveling along the eastern edge of Turkey, we're only a few miles from Armenia and Iran. Passing mustard fields of bright yellow, there are fields of sheep, ravines with Armenian watchtowers on the other side. At Tuzluca the river valley widens, but watchtowers still guard each side. In the distance we can see nuclear power plants in Erevan, Armenia. In 1999, we traveled through eastern Turkey, some of the most isolated and beautiful terrain in the world. After visiting Kars and Ani, We moved south thru Igdir and Dogubayezit to Van. After exploring the Urartian ruins there, we drove Diyarbakir and Nemrut Dag, then to on to Urfa Antakya, near the Syrian border.

Igdir is a small town, dominated by Mt. Ararat. A lenticular cloud is forming on this peak of almost 17,000', the mythical final resting place of Noah's ark that straddles the Iranian and Turkish borders.

22 May . We drive towards Iran, stopping at the Beyazit Mosque, built in 1512, for an overall view of the Ishak Pasha Palace. From afar it's a magical looking castle, set on the side of a hill. Up close, it's a disorienting array of architectural styles, designed by its eccentric owner. A wild pastiche of Seljuk, Armenian and Georgian styles leads to an unear incoherent overall effect, but from a distance the silhouette on its ridge makes for great postcards The castle dominates the road below, part of the ancient Silk Road route going thru Iran and farther east.

That night we stay at the Sim-Er Hotel with wonderful verws out to the broad white slopes of Ararat. It's out of season, and the hotel has neither heat, no hot water. We played bridge in front of a wood fire in the main room, at times wondering if we could buy some of the furniture to keep the fire going. Ararat clouded over in the evning but was clear again by breakfast, a rare view

  Early departure to Van. The vast plain of Chaldiran holds Ararat in view. There's little to see, but this area is historically rich, being fought for by various empires for over 3000 years .  On 23 August 1514 a battle was fought here, between the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire of Persia.  The victorious Ottomans temporarily captured the Safavid capital of Tabriz, but were unable to hold it But it did  it establish the border between the two empires, which later became the boundary  between Turkey and Iran today. Tabri, the former capital became a frontier city, strategically too close close to the Ottoman enemy.  That became a big factor leading the Safavids to move their capital to Qazvin, in the mid-16th century, and later to Isfahan, in central Persia, in 1598.  THis wasn't the first time a major battle was fought here - it was also the site of one of the first large chariot battles as the Hittites conquered this area in the 16th century BCE

Farther south, we entered the town of Van  Once the capital of Ancient Urartia, Van dates to the times of Gilgamesh and the Great Flood.  Other legends place  the Garden of Eden here.   Our first stop is Van Kalesi,  (ancient Tushpa), an 10th - 8th century BCE Urartu fortress stretching along a hilltop. The lower walls date to the 16th - 19th centuries. . Good examples of cuneiform inscriptions on the temple ruins and a well-preserved cistern dating from 700 BC can be found there.

Next was Cavustepe to see the remains of the 8th century BCE capital of the Urartian Kingdom. Built by Sardar II, it was held until the Urartians were conquered by the Cimmerians and Scythians. The outlines of the defensive walls are clearly seen, stretching along the low hills, dominating the major roads that still run below it.  Storage chambers still contain wheat that's 3000 years old.  A cuneiform inscription, loosely translated, reads "I did this! Mess with me or my work and my god-pals will kill you"

At the end of the fortress is the citadel, carved out of rock with cisterns to sustain a siege.  The ceilings are 4 feet thick, then rock carved and hollowed out below.

Just outside the city, to Aktamar Island sits with and its beautiful 10^th century Church of the Holy Cross.  We hired a small boat to take us out to the island.  The architecture asgain is a mix of Seljuk, Armenian and Georgian styles, with fantastic Bible stories carved in relief as bands around the church.  The interior is less impressive - the once beautiful frescoes are now washed out, defaced or vandalized, as at Ani.

The mountains of Chandir Dagi rise at the other end of the lake, and outside a small graveyard presents expansive views of the blue-green lake.

Farther to the southeast,  Hosap Castle a very photogenic landmark dating from 1643 and built by Sari Suleyman.   Like European castles, this stronghold allowed its owner to control the trade routes, and at times even challenge the claims of the Ottoman empire. The castle presents a solid front to the main road.  You have to walk around the castle and through a series of external walls to approach the main gate.  Completing a spiral passageway around the citadel, you end up in an open courtyard.  The citadel itself  is climbed by stairs cut out of the rock.  Lots to explore - remains of outer walls, the harem area, the old mosque.  From the top of the citadel you look over the road hundreds of feet below.  There was a haman [Turkish bath] at the top, with water pumped from below.

We had tea in a shop just below the castle, near the remains of a 16th century stone bridge.  Back in the city, the Van Museum nicely displays artifacts from all these sites we'd visited

25 May 1999. Tensions were still high, even though an armistice and truce were supposed to be in effect with the Kurdish insurgents in the PKK. So along the road we'd pass oxcarts and armored personnel carriers. Checkpoints, with machine guns were spaced along the road, but we, in our tourist van had no trouble; locals though might be delayed for hours. We dropped into a deep rocky canyon, with more greenery than we've seen for a few days. But the narrow road and military presence doesn't allow for easy stops. I did get out to take pictures of the Malabodi Koprusu, an old Ottoman stone bridge with a 100 foot span. At the next checkpoint, we were met by a military jeep just setting out to find us - they had expected us 10 minutes earlier.

Arriving at Diyarbakir, we discovered a new defense, none of its medieval attackers had to face. A ring of ugly tenements block access to good views of the city walls. Most of the black basalt walls are in good condition. First built by Emperor Constantine, it's a mix of Byzantine rounded barbicans with later accretions over the centuries. The 1800 year old walls having sixteen keeps and five gates, are among the longest in the world (5.5 km). We mounted the wall at the south gate for good views in both directions.

The local museum had good coverage of the neighboring Neolithic sites, Cayuna from 8-6000 BCE and Uctepe from from 5000 BCE. Then a quick stop at Ulu Cami, which despite its name is a fairly recent restoration of an 11th century mosque. It resembles the far larger Omayyad Mosque of Damascus from around the same time. Outside, old men sit drinking tea around a central oven. A group of younger men with large scythes lounge nearby, but assume heroic poses when they see our cameras.

The next day we headed for one of the highlights of any trip to Turkey - . Nemrut Dag, a monument to the megalomania of the pre-Roman King Antiochus I.