Things to do
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Mardin Grand Mosque
The Artuqid mosque of the twelfth century at the centre of the old city, with a fluted minaret that is the town's landmark and a courtyard reached through the bazaar. It was damaged and rebuilt more than once.
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Mardin Museum
The former Syriac Catholic patriarchate of 1895, a carved stone mansion holding the archaeology of the plain from Assyrian to Islamic, arranged over three floors. The building is worth the ticket on its own.
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Dara
A Roman frontier fortress city built against the Persians in 505, with a vast rock-cut cistern, a necropolis of chambered tombs and a dam, all inside a working village. Excavation is continuing.
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Erdoba Evleri
Three restored stone konaks in the old city joined by terraces, with vaulted rooms and a view over the plain from most of them. It is the largest of the historic house hotels in Mardin.
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Kasımiye Medrese
A college begun by the Artuqids and finished around 1500, built on two levels around a long pool that was cut to represent the course of a life. It stands apart at the western end of the city.
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Midyat
A town of carved limestone houses and churches in the Tur Abdin, the heartland of Syriac Christianity, with silversmiths still working telkari filigree in the old quarter. It is about an hour east of Mardin.
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Mor Gabriel Monastery
The oldest working Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world, founded in 397 in the Tur Abdin hills near Midyat, with fifth-century mosaics in the sanctuary. It keeps a community of monks, nuns and students.
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Mor Hananyo Monastery
The Deyrulzafaran, a Syriac Orthodox monastery founded in 493 on a Sun-worshipping temple, seat of the patriarchate for six centuries and still in use. Services are sung in Aramaic and visits are guided.
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Zinciriye Medrese
An Artuqid theological college of 1385 on the upper terrace, with a carved portal, two domes and a courtyard that looks straight out over the plain. The roof is the best viewpoint in the city.