The Cendere Bridge: A Roman Arch Near Mount Nemrut
The Cendere Bridge, a Roman stone arch in Adıyaman built nearly 1,800 years ago near Mount Nemrut — among the largest Roman arches ever raised, and still standing today.
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Rumkale: The Fortress Above the Euphrates
Rumkale, the “Roman castle” on a cliff promontory above the Euphrates — a near-impregnable fortress and former Armenian church seat, now rising above a reservoir near Halfeti.
Read article →Harran: The Ancient Town of Beehive Houses
Harran, the ancient town near Şanlıurfa famed for its conical beehive houses — nearly 5,000 years old, named in the oldest scriptures, and a great centre of moon-god worship and early science.
Read article →Göbekli Tepe: The World’s Oldest Temple
Göbekli Tepe, the ~12,000-year-old temple complex near Şanlıurfa — the world’s oldest known monumental sanctuary, built by hunter-gatherers and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Read article →Akdamar Island: The Carved Church in Lake Van
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Akdamar Island in Lake Van — a thousand-year-old Armenian royal church famous for the vivid carved stone reliefs covering its walls.
Read article →Mardin Castle: The Eagle’s Nest Above the Plain
Mardin Castle, the ancient “Eagle’s Nest” citadel crowning the rocky summit above the old city of Mardin — a stronghold of many empires overlooking the Mesopotamian plain.
Read article →Harput Castle: The Ancient Fortress Above Elazığ
Harput Castle, the ancient “Milk Castle” crowning the old town above Elazığ — a hilltop fortress of the upper Euphrates with origins in the Iron Age and a layered history of many empires.
Read article →Çavuştepe: A Royal Fortress of Urartu
Çavuştepe, the ruined Urartian fortress and palace south-east of Van — built in the 8th century BC with temples, cisterns, and remarkably fine cut stone and inscriptions.
Read article →The Aras River: Border Stream of the Highlands
The Aras River (Çemê Aras / Araxes), a great river of the highlands flowing beneath Mount Ararat along the northern edge of the Kurdish world — a river of borders, plains, and ancient history.
Read article →Lake Van: The Great Soda Sea of the Highlands
Lake Van (Gola Wanê), the largest lake in Turkey — a great soda lake among the volcanoes of the eastern Kurdish highlands, dotted with islands and rich in ancient history from Urartu to Akdamar.
Read article →The Botan Valley: Gorge of the Bohtan Country
The Botan Valley (Çemê Bohtan), the deep river gorge of south-eastern Turkey that named the historic Kurdish emirate of Bohtan — a heartland of Kurdish culture, history, and white water.
Read article →The Erbil Citadel: The Oldest Inhabited Place on Earth
The Erbil Citadel (Qela’y Hewlêr), the great ancient tell above the city of Erbil — possibly the oldest continuously inhabited place on earth and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Read article →Lake Urmia: The Great Salt Lake
Lake Urmia, the vast salt lake of north-western Iran beside the Kurdish highlands — once among the largest in the Middle East, famous for its red waters and islands, now struggling against shrinking.
Read article →The Great Zab: River of the Kurdish Mountains
The Great Zab (Zê), a major mountain river of the Kurdish highlands — carving dramatic gorges from eastern Turkey through Iraqi Kurdistan to the Tigris, and site of the famous 750 AD Battle of the Zab.
Read article →The Karaftu Caves: An Ancient World in the Cliff
The Karaftu Caves, the ancient multi-storey rock-cut cave complex in the mountains of Kurdistan Province, Iran — carved over millennia and bearing an ancient Greek inscription.
Read article →Baba Gurgur: The Eternal Flames of Kirkuk
Baba Gurgur, the eternal natural-gas flames near Kirkuk that have burned for millennia — a place of ancient legend, and the birthplace of the great Kirkuk oilfield in 1927.
Read article →Mor Gabriel Monastery: Ancient Heart of the Tur Abdin
Mor Gabriel Monastery, the ancient Syriac Orthodox monastery of the Tur Abdin near Midyat — founded around 397 and among the oldest working monasteries in the world.
Read article →The Zeynel Bey Tomb: A Tower of Blue Tile at Hasankeyf
The Zeynel Bey Tomb, the 15th-century cylindrical tiled mausoleum of Hasankeyf — built for an Aq Qoyunlu prince and moved to higher ground to escape the rising Tigris reservoir.
Read article →Mount Safeen (Çiyayê Sefîn): The Ridge Above Shaqlawa
Mount Safeen (Çiyayê Sefîn), the long mountain ridge above Shaqlawa north-east of Erbil — a great Zagros crest of orchards, springs, and cool retreats in the Kurdish highlands.
Read article →Lake Darbandikhan: A Reservoir in the Mountains
Lake Darbandikhan, the great reservoir on the Sirwan river south-east of Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan — a dam for water, power, and flood control, and a scenic mountain escape.
Read article →Alqosh: An Ancient Town of the Nineveh Plains
Alqosh, the ancient Assyrian Christian town on the edge of the Nineveh Plains — home of the cliffside Rabban Hormizd Monastery and the traditional tomb of the prophet Nahum.
Read article →Lake Nemrut: The Caldera of Lake Van
Lake Nemrut, the crater lake inside the vast Nemrut caldera near Tatvan on Lake Van — one of the world’s largest calderas, with cold and warm lakes (not the Adıyaman Mount Nemrut).
Read article →The Jerwan Aqueduct: Sennacherib’s Ancient Waterway
The Jerwan Aqueduct, the ancient Assyrian stone aqueduct of Sennacherib near Shekhan in Iraqi Kurdistan — built around 690 BC to carry water to Nineveh, among the world’s oldest aqueducts.
Read article →Pirmam (Pîrmam): A Hill Retreat Above Erbil
Pirmam (Pîrmam), the cool hill town on the slopes of Mount Safeen north-east of Erbil — a green summer retreat near the heights of Salahaddin and a gateway toward the mountains.
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