Mardin

Mardin is a city of stone, which continued to be the main building material even after the discovery of concrete. The most prominent aspect of the city’s architecture are Assyrian monasteries and churches, for Mardin used to be the center of the Christian Assyrians until 1932. A great many buildings in the center of the city date from the Turkish Artuklu and Akkoyunlu dynasties and the Ottoman Empire. From the Artuk period, there is the magnificent Ulucami and the Emüddin complex that attests to an architectonic approach in the inclusion on a single site of a hospital, mental hospital, hamam and religious school.

The historic town of Midyat exercises a magic spell with the design of the houses and the urban conception. It is famed for its filigree works and silver jewelry. It is as though the masons and jewelers vied with one another to produce the marvel of the houses, towers and old bazaars. Midyat’s wine is also famous. Another integral urban structure which is not as large as Midyat but has been well preserved is Savur. It is a medieval town hidden behind vineyards and apple groves that has survived to the modern day.

Gaziantep

The first fossils from the Paleolithic Age were found in Dülük located 12 km to the south of Gaziantep. The city has a rich cuisine and is known for its kebap and baklava. The modern city with shopping and entertainment centers was built on the same spot as the ancient one so that a stroll reveals the historic caravansaries, bazaar, castle and mansions, and the modern cityscape. Yesemek, the first known open - air sculpture museum in the world, is an absolute must.

Zeugma is located on the Gaziantep - Şanlıurfa road. What remains of the submerged city are the palace and columns. The road then winds toward Birecik, home to the bald ibis. Halfeti, which the Romans called Ekamia, is close by. We identify the old stone bakery, the carpenter’s and the blacksmith’s stores, the kebap restaurant and finally the old mosque with the aid of the latter’s projecting minaret. The vineyards and hazelnut groves are also where they used to be. But the water is their new master.

Şanlıurfa

Where else in the world can one see so many birds adorned from head to toe? Hundreds, thousands of pigeons with golden and silver anklets, rings and bracelets, bejeweled with emerald feathers flood the sky...

Balıklı Göl ends at the point where the evil Nemrut is rumored to have catapulted the prophet Abraham to the lake where the fish are believed to be holy and endowed with a healing power. The fish that are said to give the kiss of life to the patients who go in the water have become so valuable that they have reportedly been smuggled to Germany. It has been proved with some certainty that contact with the fish has a healing effect on dermatological conditions such as psoriasis.

The houses of Harran that are under protection appear at first sight to have merely adjusted to the demands of nature. But the visitor who steps inside will be stunned by a great sense of space and of an expanse infused by an ethereal light.

Sumatar is located north of the ancient city of Şauyip on the Tektek Mountains. It is an open - air temple where offerings were made to the sun and moon gods, the stars and Marilah, chief deity of the ancient Sabaeans. In the same area, there are Roman graves carved into caves, Assyrian inscriptions, human relieves in the Pagnon cave and the nearby Sun Temple.

Diyarbakır

It features the longest standing city wall after the wall of China, stretching along a distance of five kilometers, rising as high as 10-12 meters and with a thickness of three to five meters. This imposing wall surrounds a castle that was built at an altitude of one hundred meters and opens on all four directions through gates that present a visual feast. Inscriptions, symbols, a history that gains depth through every reading... There are eighty two bastions on the wall.

Diyarbakır is the largest city of Southeast Anatolia, and it may be best to start the city tour from Ulu Cami, a former church converted to mosque in 639 AD that is located at a convenient distance from other historical sites. The Nestorian Church and the St. George Church inside the castle area are significant not only as religious buildings but as signs of the belief in immortality of the contemporary architects. The link between the past and present in Diyarbakır becomes manifest in the historic streets too narrow to grant passage to even one car and the old neighborhoods. The stone walls tell stories from a distant past.