Mardin Old Town

Overview

The old town of Mardin looks like a city carved out of one block of honey-colored stone. Houses climb a steep ridge in terraces, roof above roof, until the old citadel crowns the hill. Below, the plain of Upper Mesopotamia runs flat and golden all the way to Syria. Seen from a rooftop at sunset, Mardin seems less built than grown out of the mountain. To pair Mardin with Göbeklitepe, see our Göbeklitepe and Mardin tour in 3 days. For dinner in Mardin, see the best restaurants in Mardin.

Yet the view is only the beginning. For centuries Arabs, Kurds, Syriac Christians, Armenians, Jews and Turks lived side by side on this hill. So you can still hear Arabic, Kurdish, Syriac and Turkish in the bazaar. Here a minaret base carries an inscription from 1176, and a madrasa may once have held a sultan as a prisoner. A monastery a few kilometers away served as the seat of a patriarch for almost eight centuries, and vaulted passages run straight through people’s houses. To stay in a stone house, see the best boutique hotels in Mardin.

Mardin, the Stone City Above Mesopotamia

Mardin is a city in southeastern Türkiye, built on a rocky ridge above the Mesopotamian plain. The old town, in the Artuklu district, stretches along the southern slope in long parallel streets connected by steep alleys and stairs. The modern city spreads below and to the west, so the historic core has kept its unity.

In February 2000 Türkiye added Mardin and its cultural landscape to its Tentative List for UNESCO World Heritage. Building in Mardin Old Town is strictly controlled, so new houses must use the local limestone. Diyarbakır lies about an hour and a half away by road, so Diyarbakır and Mardin fit into one trip.

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Artuqids, Syriacs and a Fortress on the Hill

Mardin Old Town, a fortress above Mesopotamia

People have lived on this ridge for thousands of years. It is a natural fortress over an old trade route linking the Mediterranean, Iran and Mesopotamia. Before that, Assyrians, Persians, Romans and Byzantines all held the region. The citadel at the top was probably first built in the 10th century under the Hamdanids, and later dynasties rebuilt its walls.

The Artuqid capital

Mardin’s golden age came under the Artuqids, a Turkmen dynasty that ruled here from the early 12th century to the beginning of the 15th. They gave the city most of its great monuments: the Great Mosque, the madrasas and the bridges and caravanserais of the region. Later the Akkoyunlu, the “White Sheep” Turkmen, finished what the Artuqids had begun, and from 1517 Mardin belonged to the Ottoman Empire.

A city of many faiths

At the same time, Mardin and the Tur Abdin plateau to its east were a center of Syriac Christianity. Churches rose here from early Christian times. Its liturgical language is still close to the Aramaic spoken in Jesus’ time. Nearby, the monastery of Deyrulzafaran served as the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch from the 12th century until 1932. Armenians, Chaldeans and a Jewish community also lived here. Today, churches still hold services, and Syriac families who emigrated to Europe have been returning to restore their houses.

Madrasas, Churches and Passages of Mardin Old Town

The Great Mosque (Ulu Cami) and its minaret

The fluted dome and slender minaret of the Great Mosque are the symbol of Mardin. The Artuqid ruler Il-Ghazi II commissioned it in 1176. Look closely, however: only the square base is Artuqid. The upper minaret dates from a rebuilding in 1888–1889 in a new, eclectic style, while the mosque originally had two minarets. Since it is a working mosque, visit outside prayer times, dress modestly and take your shoes off; women cover their hair.

Zinciriye (Sultan İsa) Madrasa

Built in 1385 for Sultan İsa, one of the last Artuqid rulers, this madrasa has a monumental carved portal, two fluted domes and a courtyard with a pool. Its name, “the chained one”, comes with several local stories. Sultan İsa himself was held here for a while after fighting Timur’s army. Climb to the roof terrace for the view over the domes and the plain. The madrasa keeps longer hours in summer than in winter, and we plan your visit around them.

Kasımiye Madrasa and its stream of life

Begun under the Artuqids, the Kasımiye Madrasa was finished by the Akkoyunlu between 1457 and 1502 and carries the name of Sultan Kasım. Its courtyard holds a famous symbolic fountain: the water springs from a small basin, then runs through a long channel past two smaller pools and disappears. It is a picture of human life, from birth through youth and age to death. So sit in the arcade for a few minutes and listen to the water. Like Zinciriye, the madrasa stays open later in summer than in winter. Our Dara tour starts here, then goes on to the ancient city of Dara.

Deyrulzafaran Monastery

About 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) east of the town, on a hill above the plain, stands the Monastery of Mor Hananyo. It is known as Deyrulzafaran, “the saffron monastery”, after the saffron that once grew around it. Its oldest parts date to the 5th and 6th centuries, and it was refounded in 793 by Bishop Hananyo. For roughly eight centuries, from the 12th century until 1932, it was the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs, several of whom are buried here. Guides show visitors the underground room that tradition calls a temple of the sun god Shamash, built of huge blocks without mortar. It is a striking space, although no excavation has yet confirmed the temple story. The monastery is still home to a small community, and services are held in Syriac. Monastery guides lead visitors around on the hour every day, and the entrance has a café and a shop. No public transport runs out here, so plan on a taxi or car.

The Church of the Forty Martyrs (Kırklar Kilisesi)

In Mardin Old Town, the Syriac church of Mor Behnam and Mor Sarah, known as Kırklar Kilisesi, is traditionally dated to 569. Today it is an active church, so behave as you would in any place of worship. It closes on Mondays and for a midday break. Nearby you will also find the Chaldean Catholic and Armenian Catholic churches, signs of how many Christian communities once shared the hill.

Mardin Museum

The Mardin Museum fills a fine yellow-limestone building put up in 1895 as the patriarchate of the Syriac Catholic Church. It opened as the Mardin Museum in 2000. Inside, the collection runs from Bronze Age finds to Assyrian, Roman and Artuqid objects, and the building itself, with its arcades and terraces, is a highlight. The museum closes on Mondays.

Sakıp Sabancı Mardin City Museum

Housed in cavalry barracks built in 1889 and opened as a museum in 2006, this museum is about everyday Mardin. It shows trades, costumes, weddings, food and religious life. The vaulted ground floor also holds the Dilek Sabancı Art Gallery. So if you want to understand the people of Mardin and not only its monuments, start here. The museum closes on Mondays.

The abbaras of Mardin Old Town

One of Mardin’s most surprising features is the abbara, a vaulted passage that runs under or between houses, linking two streets or two neighbors. They gave shade in summer and shelter in winter, and they are still public shortcuts. Look for them around Savurkapı and in the Teker, Şehidiye, Medrese (a school of Islamic learning) and Gül neighborhoods, and remember that the rooms above are people’s homes.

The bazaar of Mardin Old Town

The covered and open bazaars along the main street still sell copper, saddles, spices, soap, almond sweets and filigree silver. Look for the coppersmiths hammering in their workshops and the stalls of bıttım soap made from wild pistachio. Then look for the old post office, a mansion with a finely carved stone façade on the main street.

The citadel above Mardin Old Town

The citadel on the summit, the “Eagle’s Nest”, is a long walled ridge first built around the 10th century. The best view of it is from the lanes below. The citadel itself is closed to visitors.

The best photo spots in Mardin Old Town

• A rooftop terrace at sunset: the stone town and the plain turning gold.
• The roof of Zinciriye Madrasa: domes, minarets and the horizon of Mesopotamia.
• The Great Mosque from the stairs above: the fluted dome and minaret.
• Kasımiye Madrasa: arcades, courtyard and the water channel.
• The abbaras: light at the end of a stone tunnel.
• Deyrulzafaran: golden walls against the hills in the morning.

Four Languages on One Hill

Many languages, one hill

Listen in the bazaar and you may hear four languages in one minute. Mardin’s Arabic dialect, Kurdish, Turkish and, in churches and some families, Syriac all live side by side. People are proud of this mix, so the city likes to call itself a place of tolerance. Ask your host which language they speak at home; the answer is often a family story.

Filigree, soap and wine

Mardin and Midyat are known for telkari, silver filigree made of fine twisted wire, and you can watch masters at work in Midyat. Syriac families in Mardin and Midyat also make wine, a tradition linked to the region’s churches and vineyards; several family wineries have shops in town. Finally, the soap made from wild pistachio, bıttım sabunu, makes a light, local souvenir. Look also for Şahmeran paintings on glass: the half-woman, half-snake queen of local legend, painted in bright colors, guards many Mardin homes.

Mardin Old Town by night

In the evening, Mardin Old Town lights up gold, and families come out onto the terraces. Walk the main street, drink tea on a rooftop, then look south. When the night is clear, the lights of the villages on the plain look like a second sky.

The Mardin Table

Mardin’s cuisine mixes Arab, Kurdish, Syriac and Turkish traditions, and several of its dishes are registered with geographical indications. They include kaburga dolması, sembusek, ikbebet, kibe and almond sweets.

• Kaburga dolması: lamb ribs stuffed with rice, almonds and spiced meat, slow-cooked for hours. Order it for a long lunch.
• Sembusek: a closed, crisp flatbread filled with minced meat, Mardin’s answer to lahmacun.
• İkbebet and irok: bulgur-shell dumplings with a meat filling, boiled (ikbebet) or fried (irok).
• Kibe: stuffed tripe, for adventurous eaters.
• Almond sweets and kahve: candied almonds in brown and pale blue sugar shells, and bitter mırra coffee served in tiny handle-less cups. Hand the cup back to your host rather than setting it down; it is a small courtesy locals notice.

Also try dibek coffee, pounded in a stone mortar with menengiç (wild pistachio) and cardamom, which shopkeepers in the bazaar often offer to visitors.

Two Mardin names worth knowing

• Cercis Murat Konağı: one of the first restaurants in Mardin to serve the city’s home cooking to travelers, which chef Ebru Baybara Demir, winner of the 2023 Basque Culinary World Prize, opened in 2001 together with local women. Book a terrace table for the view over the plain.
• Ammo Faysal: a tiny old grocery on the main street between the Diyarbakır and Savur gates. Stop for dried fruit, spices and a chat.

Many other restaurants occupy restored stone mansions with terraces; the best tables face the plain. Some mansions also take guests, such as Mirsoum Hotel, with seven rooms and copper bathtubs. Our five picks are in the best restaurants in Mardin.

How to Visit Mardin Old Town

Getting to Mardin Old Town

• By air: Mardin Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar Airport lies about 13 km (8 miles) from the city center and has domestic and international flights. Municipal buses, HAVAŞ shuttles and taxis run into town.
• Combine the region: Mardin pairs naturally with Şanlıurfa and Göbeklitepe, Midyat and Tur Abdin, or Diyarbakır. Our Mardin and Midyat tour starts in the old town and goes on to Midyat and Mor Gabriel.

Day trips from Mardin Old Town

• Dara: about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast, a frontier city founded by the Byzantine emperor Anastasius between 503 and 507, with vast cisterns and a necropolis cut into the rock.
• Midyat: about an hour east, a stone town of Syriac mansions and filigree workshops.
• Mor Gabriel Monastery: 23 km (14 miles) southeast of Midyat, founded in 397 and still home to monks today. Monastery guides show visitors around every day except religious holidays, with a midday break.
• Malabadi Bridge: north toward Silvan, the 12th-century Malabadi Bridge of the Artuqid ruler Timurtash, who also ruled Mardin.
• Zerzevan Castle: on the road north to Diyarbakır, a Roman frontier garrison with a rock-cut temple of Mithras.

Local tips for Mardin Old Town

• Wear good shoes, because the old town is all slopes, stairs and polished stone.
• Stay in the old town in a restored stone house, so the evening and the sunrise are yours.
• Dress modestly in mosques and churches.
• Spring and autumn are the best seasons; summer afternoons are very hot.
• Carry cash for small shops, tea and church donations.
• Ask before you photograph people, and greet shopkeepers before you raise your camera.