Being a historian by training, the very name of Mesopotamia immediately invokes the mythical image of the 'fertile crescent', where human civilisations first flourished amid the green lands between the two Rivers of the Paradise - the Tigris and the Euphrates - that flow out of the Garden of Eden.
In reality, this vast stretch of land between the two great rivers is no paradise on earth, but a troubled zone plagued by cross-border sectarian conflicts, political instability, and chronic economic under-development.
Tucked away in the southeastern corner of Turkey's border with Iraq and Syria, both the town and the province of Mardin suffers long periods of neglect and under-investment until recently, when the ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces, in conjunction with the arrival of state investments aimed at improving the region's infrastructures, gave Mardin a new lease of life. Unlike some of the better known ancient towns in Turkish Mesopotamia, tourism was not a mainstay in Mardin's economic life until the last few years, when the sudden rise of Mardin to touristic stardom as one of the 'must-see' places in Turkey saw a rapid rise in the number of tourists visiting the town. Nowadays there are several high-end boutique hotels in Mardin and nearby towns, offering good-quality accommodation to affluent visitors from Turkey and abroad.
An ethnic mix-pot consisting of several cultures and religions, Mardin's most famous tourist attraction is the medieval town centre with its Arab-style architecture, located high above a rocky hill. The castle on the top of the mountain overlooking the Mesopotamia plains is still in use by the Turkish military, hence is out of bound for tourists, but there are plenty of beautiful honey-coloured sandstone mansions with delicate stoneworks, flat rooftops, offering unlimited views of the plains all the way up to Northern Syria. The view is all the more stunning and breath-taking in the night, when the plains are dotted with clusters of light, like countless little diamonds sparkling against the cloudless velvety night sky.
A major characteristic of the houses in Mardin is the flat terrace, which serves as a viewing terrace and a meeting place where family and friends can eat, drink tea, and celebrate family functions together. Because Mardin's old town is built along the steep hillside of a rocky mountain, each terrace also serves as the rooftop of the house underneath.
Mardin is also home to some of the most well-known and oldest madrasa in Anatolia, such as the Sitti Radviyye Madrasa from the 12th century. There are also several Orthodox Syriac-Christian churches and monasteries which are still in use today. Architecture-wise, one should not to forget to visit the lovely former caravansarayi built by the Artukid Turkish kings, which ruled Mardin between the 12th and 14th centuries. The complex has been carefully restored and converted into a beautiful boutique hotel (Kervansaray Artuklu).
The best time to visit Mardin and the surrounding countryside is in early spring or autumn. Summer months (especially Jult and August) can be scorching hot during the day, with temperatures rising above 40 degrees. Winter can be bitterly cold with heavy snow or wind. In autumn, it could turn very windy and chilly in the night, make sure there is a windproof jacket at hand if one intends to enjoy the night view of the plains of Mesopotamia from the open-air terrace of Mardin's tea gardens or exclusive boutique hotels. For a reasonable price, one can sip tea and enjoy the sight of one of the most scenic dusk in the world.
First enjoy the pretty vanilla-sky dusk over the boundless plains of Mesopotamia ....
... then head to the exclusive (and expensive) Cercis Murat Konagi restaurant, in the old town of Mardin, for a delicious traditional dinner featuring some of the best food I have ever tasted in the whole of Turkey. Their signature dish is the cold starter with 10 different kinds of meze, each served on a beautiful traditional ayran spoon. Using only fresh local ingredients such as pomegranates from the surrounding farms, this up-market restaurant is located in a beautifully restored old stone house in Mardin and offers traditional Mesopotamian dishes unique to Mardin. The service is attentive, the food are elaborately prepared yet very tasty. Reservation is essential - we had to plead with the manager to find us a table. For those who would like to try out this place but cannot find the time to visit Mardin, they now have a second restaurant in Istanbul, on the Asian side. The price is above average too, but it is worth it, if not just for the experience to sample unique Mesopotamian culinary arts in the heart of a beautiful old town.
The official website of Cercis Murat Konagi:
http://www.cercismurat.com/
Copyrights 2010. All text and photos by YC Cheng. All Rights Reserved.
Tucked away in the southeastern corner of Turkey's border with Iraq and Syria, both the town and the province of Mardin suffers long periods of neglect and under-investment until recently, when the ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces, in conjunction with the arrival of state investments aimed at improving the region's infrastructures, gave Mardin a new lease of life. Unlike some of the better known ancient towns in Turkish Mesopotamia, tourism was not a mainstay in Mardin's economic life until the last few years, when the sudden rise of Mardin to touristic stardom as one of the 'must-see' places in Turkey saw a rapid rise in the number of tourists visiting the town. Nowadays there are several high-end boutique hotels in Mardin and nearby towns, offering good-quality accommodation to affluent visitors from Turkey and abroad.
Mardin is also home to some of the most well-known and oldest madrasa in Anatolia, such as the Sitti Radviyye Madrasa from the 12th century. There are also several Orthodox Syriac-Christian churches and monasteries which are still in use today. Architecture-wise, one should not to forget to visit the lovely former caravansarayi built by the Artukid Turkish kings, which ruled Mardin between the 12th and 14th centuries. The complex has been carefully restored and converted into a beautiful boutique hotel (Kervansaray Artuklu).
First enjoy the pretty vanilla-sky dusk over the boundless plains of Mesopotamia ....
... then head to the exclusive (and expensive) Cercis Murat Konagi restaurant, in the old town of Mardin, for a delicious traditional dinner featuring some of the best food I have ever tasted in the whole of Turkey. Their signature dish is the cold starter with 10 different kinds of meze, each served on a beautiful traditional ayran spoon. Using only fresh local ingredients such as pomegranates from the surrounding farms, this up-market restaurant is located in a beautifully restored old stone house in Mardin and offers traditional Mesopotamian dishes unique to Mardin. The service is attentive, the food are elaborately prepared yet very tasty. Reservation is essential - we had to plead with the manager to find us a table. For those who would like to try out this place but cannot find the time to visit Mardin, they now have a second restaurant in Istanbul, on the Asian side. The price is above average too, but it is worth it, if not just for the experience to sample unique Mesopotamian culinary arts in the heart of a beautiful old town.
The official website of Cercis Murat Konagi:
http://www.cercismurat.com/
Copyrights 2010. All text and photos by YC Cheng. All Rights Reserved.
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