Mardin

Clinging to the steep southern face of a 1,080-metre limestone ridge crowned by an ancient eagle's-nest citadel, Old Mardin (Artuklu) looks straight out across two hundred kilometres of the flat, golden Mesopotamian plain toward Syria. Because every house, madrasa, church and bazaar on the slope was carved from the same warm, honey-yellow local limestone (Midyat ve Mardin taşı), arranged in tiers so that the flat roof of one mansion serves as the sunset terrace of the house directly above it, the entire hillside glows amber at dusk.

Along its single main artery, Birinci Cadde, and through the vaulted stone tunnels (abbara) below it, Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish and Neo-Aramaic (Syriac) have been spoken side by side for centuries. Within minutes of the fluted minaret of the 12th-century Ulu Cami and the reflection pools of Kasımıye and Zinciriye Madrasas stand the 5th-century sun temple and saffron walls of Deyrulzafaran Monastery, the rock-cut necropolis of Ancient Dara, and the silver filigree workshops and monasteries of Midyat and Tur Abdin. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Mardin.

Mardin Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar Airport (MQM) sits on the plain 18 kilometres south-west of the escarpment and connects to Yenişehir (New Mardin) and the entrance of Old Mardin in 25 to 30 minutes via Havaş coaches, municipal public buses and metered taxis. Inside Old Mardin, small purple-and-blue municipal minibuses shuttle continuously along the one-way loop between Cumhuriyet Meydanı and Diyarbakır Kapı, while every side alley is explored on foot. See getting to Mardin and how Old Mardin transport works.

To experience the magic of Mardin, spend at least two nights in a restored stone mansion (konak) in Old Mardin (Artuklu), where you wake up to church bells and the call to prayer echoing across the Mesopotamian plain and drink evening tea on a high stone terrace. If you are travelling with a large vehicle or require step-free elevator access right from the pavement, book in Yenişehir (New Mardin) ten minutes down the hill. We compare all options in where to stay in Mardin.

Watch sunset over the reflection pool of Kasımıye Madrasa and climb the rooftop domes of Zinciriye Madrasa, duck through the vaulted stone abbara tunnels off Birinci Cadde, visit the Mardin Archaeological Museum and Sakıp Sabancı City Museum, tour the underground sun temple at Deyrulzafaran Monastery, descend into the 40-metre cisterns of Ancient Dara, and spend a day in Midyat and Mor Gabriel. Full list in things to do in Mardin.

Mardin's kitchen is a feast of slow-braised meats, warm spices (allspice, cinnamon and coriander), bulgur and almonds: whole lamb ribs stuffed with spiced almond-and-currant rice (kaburga dolması), boiled and fried bulgur dumplings (ikbebet and irok), half-moon stone-oven minced meat pasties (sembusek), sweet-and-sour plum lamb stew (alluciye), intense dark mırra coffee, handcrafted Syriac wines and sky-blue lahore-dyed almond candies (badem şekeri). Read more in our Mardin food guide and Syriac wine and coffee.

Known in Syriac as Marde ("Fortresses"), the city reached its architectural golden age between the 12th and 15th centuries under the Artuqid dynasty and remains a living sanctuary of the Syriac Orthodox (Süryani), Chaldean and Armenian Christian communities alongside Arab, Kurdish and Turkish Muslim traditions.