Deyrulzafaran Monastery (Deyrulzafaran Manastırı; known as Mor Hananyo in Syriac), lying 5 km east of Mardin on a hillside overlooking the plains, is a large and intact monastic community. Built on the site of a 4500-year-old pagan temple dedicated to solar worship (Güneş tapınağı, a gallery made of huge rock walls with no use of mortar; still intact and visitable at the underground floors of the monastery) in 5th century, Deyrulzafaran was the seat of patriarchate of all Syriac Orthodoxy until 1932. True to its original purpose, the monastery has 365 rooms in total, each symbolizing a day the Earth spends on its full cycle around the Sun. The impressive complex—which is more like a small village than a stand-alone religious edifice—is open (and indeed, friendly) to visitors (except, of course, its residential and the most sacred sections that are closed to all but monks; a young host will guide you through the open sections in groups, so you may have to wait in the café at the entrance until he returns the preceding group), but as this is actually a religious site, and not a simple tourist sight, respectful clothing (cover your legs and arms; in addition to your head if you are female) is a must. Eating, smoking, speaking loudly, and chattering on a cell phone are also out. (☎ +90 482 219-30-82 (, fax: +90 482 219-30-85), . Visiting hours: 9AM-noon, 1AM-5PM. )
Midyat, about 40 min by minibus to north is also known for its stonework architecture, with even more ornaments than Mardin's.
Hasankeyf further north on the banks of Tigris River is a fantastic village with its cave houses, citadel, and other monuments from Middle Age. You'd better hurry on visiting the place as the whole town might be submerged in as near future as 2013 due to a (yet-to-have-a-final-decision) dam project.
Beyazsu, or Avaspi in Kurdish (both meaning "white water"), is about one hour away from Mardin on the highway between Midyat and Nusaybin with waterfalls and some greenery, something of a miracle in this arid region, where locals like to visit at weekends.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Mardin
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Mardin - updated May 2024
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Mardin Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
