We flew to Mardin from Ankara.
Cultural diversity is what strikes you in Mardin where Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Assyrian Christians live together.
I watched this video in tears when I was in Mardin. “Sounds of Mardin” features three traditional folk songs of Mardin vocalized by 48 local artists in Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Syriac and Armenian languages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qxsPpOMyWk&ab_channel=MardinM%C3%BCzeM%C3%BCd%C3%BCrl%C3%BC%C4%9F%C3%BC
Mardin Museum is a must see, showing thousands of years of cultural heritage and diversity. Some other highlights include: Sakip Sabancı Kent Museum, Kirklar Kilissesi/Church, Revakli Carsi, Zinciriye Medresesi and Ulu Cami. Other than that, just get lost in the narrow streets of Mardin, visit Orthodox churches, mosques, indulge in food and shopping.
The old city can be covered in one full day by feet and you need at least another day or two to see the surrounding areas. Once you are in Mardin, you must see Midyat, Nusaybin and Dara. There are resident guides in the monasteries, so you don’t need to hire a guide, but I do regret that I did not have a guide in Dara.
Roman Emperor Anastasius had built the eastern frontier city of Dara in 591 AD in honor of their people who were killed by the Sassanids after the invasion of 577. The site is a large burial ground carved into the bedrock.
Deyrul Zafaran Monastery, a 30 minute drive from Mardin, is the most famous monastery and a must see. We see many examples of sacred sites built on top of each other in human history, Deyrul Zafaran monastery is one of them. Deyr means monastery and Zafaran is saffron and it's built on top of a Sun temple (Shams/ Shamash) which existed since 2000 BC.
Ancient people were more tuned to natural energies and could feel the sacred earth energies. They have built temples where they felt earth energies the most. Some says they built on top of an older structure to eradicate the old view and establish a new. You decide!
According to the legend, the saffron plant was used in the mortar of the Deyrul Zafaran Monastery and the structure took its yellow color from this plant. In 451, the Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobites) split from the Byzantine Church after a debate about the true nature of Christ. The church still uses Aramaic, Jesus’ language, as its liturgical tongue. Services are held daily.. The church houses a 300-year-old Bible, a 1000-year-old baptismal font, and a 1600-year-old mosaic floor.
What impressed me the most is the original pagan sun temple where the monastery is built upon, where sunrises fills the room from the Eastern window while the niche on the southern wall holds an altar.
Beyaz Su is the popular picnic area by the river, and is best to take lunch break.
The same Rent-a car company (Seker) drove us from Mardin to Diyarbakir. which is only 1.5 hours drive. On the way, we were blessed to be able to stop by Zerzevan castle (a second time for me and first time for my son). Zerzevan castle was the half way point, only 45 minutes away from Mardin.
Zerzevan Castle is one of the best-preserved Roman military settlements in the world. So what? There are many castles around the world. Well, this castle also hosts a Mithras temple, a temple used by the Mithraic cult which is the religion of Roman Empire prior to Christianity. For that reason, the castle gives clues not only about the life in the ancient world but also give hints about history of faith and religion and how beliefs are transformed over centuries. Plus, there are lots of mysteries about this place.
If you're interested to hear more about it, you can watch one of my previous zoom talks:
https://drive.google.com/.../1ptKAod9_EHT-Gpe_EnL.../view...
Next: Diyarbakir
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