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Mardin is perched at
the edge of a plateau in southeastern
Turkey overlooking the sweltering Mesopotamian
plain 95 km (59 miles)
south of Diyarbakir.
Mardin is a provincial capital (population
62,000, altitude 1325 m/4347 feet)
and an ancient town built of sandstone with
some interesting old buildings,
including the medieval Sultan Isa
Medresesi (1385), Kasim
Pasha Medresesi (1400s), the Ulu
Cami (Great Mosque, 1000s),
and a rambling bazaar.
But most people come to visit the Saffron
Monastery (Deyrul Zafaran), 6
km (4 miles) to the east. This was
a holy place even in pre-Christian
times. The monastery has been here
since 495 AD. Some of its existing
floor mosaics are 1500 years
old.
Once the seat of the Assyrian patriarch (who
now resides in Damascus), Deyrul Zafaran
is now mostly an orphanage run by a
few monks.
Church services are still chanted
in Aramaic,
the language Jesus spoke.
Other Assyrian monasteries are scattered
throughout the Tur Abdin ( the
region to the east), particularly
at Midyat and Mor
Gabriel.
Minibuses run
frequently from Diyarbakir to Mardin throughout
the day.
Turkish
Airlines flies from Istanbul via Ankara to
Mardin several times weekly, as does
Onur
Air. There are more frequent
flights to Diyarbakir.
The nearest train station is
at Senyurt,
25 km (16 miles) south on the Syrian
border, but the weekly train connecting
Gaziantep with
Baghdad,
which stopped at Senyurt late before
midnight, has been temporarily
cancelled due
to the Iraq war. Thus the nearest trains
now serve Diyarbakir.
Distances & Travel Times
Adiyaman: 280
km (174 miles) W, 4.5 hours
Ankara: 1005
km (625 miles) NW, 15 hours
Diyarbakir: 95
km (59 miles) N, 1.5 hours
Istanbul: 1459
km (907 miles) NW, 22 hours
Kahta (Nemrut
Dagi): 312 km (194 miles)
NW, 5 hours
Midyat: 59
km (37 miles) E, 1.25 hours
Nusaybin (Syrian Border): 60
km (37 miles) E, 1 hour
Sanliurfa: 172
km (107 miles) W, 2.25 hours
Southeastern
Turkey
Eastern
Turkey
Where to Go
Turkey
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