Mardin is a stone town on a hillside in Southeastern Türkiye, looking south over the Mesopotamian plain. Come for the old town, built in terraces below a citadel, and for the Syriac monasteries of the Tur Abdin plateau to the east, some of them still in use after fifteen centuries. Plan two full days, ideally in spring or autumn, and see it as part of a wider route with Göbeklitepe and Mount Nemrut.
What is Mardin known for?
For its old town as a whole rather than one monument. Since 2000 the “Mardin Cultural Landscape” has been on Türkiye’s Tentative List for UNESCO World Heritage. The Ministry of Culture’s submission describes a city mainly medieval in origin, on the slopes of a rocky hill crowned by a fortress, with traditional stone architecture, religious and domestic, and a terraced street pattern that survives intact. Houses rise in rows up the hill, each looking out over the roofs below and the plain beyond.
The second reason is the people who built around it. The Syriac Orthodox community has worshipped in the region since late antiquity, and its monasteries still hold services in classical Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic. A modern form of the language, Turoyo, is still spoken in the villages and appears in UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.
What to see in and around Mardin
The old town: best on foot and slowly, along the lanes that run across the slope, with the citadel above and the plain below. Late afternoon light suits the pale stone.
Deyrulzafaran Monastery: about 7 km from the town, it was the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch from 1293 to 1932. Its church and burial chamber date to the 6th century, which makes it one of the earliest monastic churches still in use.
Dara: the ruins of Dara, also called Anastasiopolis, a frontier city of the Byzantine Empire, on our route from Mardin.
Tur Abdin: Midyat, Mor Gabriel and Anıtlı
East of Mardin lies Tur Abdin, “the mountain of the servants of God” in Syriac: a limestone plateau between the Tigris and the Mesopotamian plain, with around eighty villages, a hundred churches and seventy monasteries. A selection of its churches and monasteries was added to Türkiye’s UNESCO Tentative List in 2021.
Midyat: the town at the centre of the plateau, and the natural base for exploring it.
Mor Gabriel: textual sources date its foundation to AD 397, and most of its buildings to the 6th century. Its main church keeps 6th-century wall mosaics, among the very few Byzantine mosaics of that period to survive east of Constantinople.
Anıtlı (Hah): a village with the 8th-century Church of the Virgin (Meryem Ana), which the archaeologist Gertrude Bell called the “crowning glory of Tur Abdin”, and the ruined 6th-century cathedral of Mor Sobo.
Most of these monasteries and churches are working places of worship, not museums. Dress modestly, keep your voice low and follow the community’s rhythm of services.
How many days do you need in Mardin?
Two full days: one for the old town, Deyrulzafaran and Dara, and one for Tur Abdin. With three nights you can also arrive the evening before and see the old town at dusk. A single day covers the town but leaves out the plateau.
When is the best time to visit Mardin?
April to May and late September to October. Summer in the southeast is very hot, often above 40 °C in Mardin and Şanlıurfa, and walking the old town at midday is hard work. See our guide to the best time to visit Turkey for the whole country.
How does Mardin fit into an Eastern Turkey route?
Mardin sits between Şanlıurfa and the Tigris valley, so it works best as one stop on a longer journey rather than a trip on its own. A practical route flies from Istanbul to Gaziantep, drives via Mount Nemrut and Göbeklitepe to Mardin, continues to Hasankeyf and Lake Van, and flies back to Istanbul from Van. Our Eastern Turkey itinerary describes each stage.
Mardin is close to the Syrian border. Check your government’s travel advice before booking, as it can change for border areas.
Mardin with KAMPA Tours & Events
13 Days of Eastern Turkey spends three nights in the Mardin area. You arrive from Şanlıurfa and Göbeklitepe on day 6, visit Deyrulzafaran, Dara and the old town of Mardin on day 7, and spend day 8 in Tur Abdin with Mor Gabriel, Midyat and the village of Anıtlı, with breakfast and dinner each day. The hotel indicated is the Elite World Comfy Midyat, or similar, in the heart of Tur Abdin. The guide speaks English or French, departures are in April to May and October, and the tour can run privately on your own dates.
