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Tatvan was built in
the 19th century to serve the railroad: trains
from Istanbul and Ankara arrived
here, the rail cars were loaded onto
big lake ferries and transported
across the great salt Lake
Van to the city
of Van, from which some cars
went on to Iran.
Thus Tatvan has a selection of hotels and restaurants,
none of which are great, some of which
are serviceable.
The PKK Kurdish terrorism
of the 1980s and 1990s curtailed rail
service, not to mention tourism, so
Tatvan's role switched from civilian
and commercial to military.
With the decline of the PKK Tatvan's tourism fortunes
may revive because it's well placed
to be a base for visits to the Seljuk
Turkish monuments of Ahlat,
the crater lake in the extinct
volcano of Nemrut Dagi,
and Akdamar
Island.
For you, Tatvan is probably a lunch
stop or at most a one-night
stay on your way to the city
of Van from Erzurum or Diyarbakir.
Many buses stop
here on their way to and from Van.
The Vangölü Ekspresi (Lake
Van Express) train from Istanbul via Ankara operates
twice a week taking about 41 hours
for the run. It leaves Istanbul (Haydarpasa)
in the evening on Sunday and Friday,
and Tatvan in the morning on Tuesday
and Thursday. See the Turkish
State Railways website for the
schedule. The nearest airport to
Tatvan is at Van.
Distances & Travel Times
Ahlat: 44 km (27 miles) N,
45 minutes
Ankara: 1098
km (682 miles) W, 20 hours
Bitlis: 25 km (16 miles) W,
35 minutes
Diyarbakir: 229
km (142 miles) W, 4 hours
Edremit: 119 km (74 miles)
E, 2 hours
Ercis: 98 km (61 miles) N,
2 hours
Erzurum: 333
km (207 miles) NW, 5.5 hours
Gevas: 90 km (56 miles) E,
2 hours
Istanbul: 1644
km (1022 miles) W, 28 to 34 hours
Malatya: 579
km (360 miles) W, 10 hours
Malazgirt (Manzikert): 139
km (86 miles) NW, 2.5 hours
Nemrut Dagi Crater Lake: 30
km (19 miles) N, 45 minutes
Van: 150
km (93 miles) E, 2.5 hours
Mount
Ararat
Eastern
Turkey
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