Mardin

The city’s main museum, housed in a former barracks and funded by the Sabancı foundation.

The city’s main mosque was built circa 1180 AD but destroyed in the battles of 1833/35. It was rebuilt on the original pattern.

Also called Erkulu Mosque, this was built in 1314 AD, with the minaret added in the 19th century.

The most attractive building in town, every couple comes here for their wedding photos. The madrasah (Islamic school) was completed in 1385 as part of a kulliye, a religious complex. You enter through a grand recessed portal. Rooms surrounding the central courtyard have beautiful wall and ceiling decorations. There’s a mosque, a mausoleum (intended for the Sultan, but unused), and an upper deck with great views.

Small museum in the former Syriac Catholic Patriarchate building of 1895.

Grand building completed in 1445 by Kasım ibn Cihangir. The elephant clock on its front is a repro of a 12th century mechanism. The marks on the courtyard wall are said to be the blood of Kasım when he was deposed and disassembled. The madrasah is on the slopes southwest edge of the city.

An ancient monastery still in use, variously called the Monastery of Saint Ananias, Dayro d-Mor Hananyo, or Deyrulzafarân ("the monastery of saffron") from the colour of its walls. From around 2000 BC this was a pagan temple to the sun god Šamaš. The original rock vaults with no mortar are still visible on the lower floors, and one window is aligned to sunrise. The site became a Roman / Byzantine citadel, then a Christian monastery in 493 AD. Over the centuries it suffered multiple attacks, massacres and periods abandoned but remained the senior church of Syriac Christendom until 1924. Highlights include the underground sun-temple, Sayyida or Virgin Mary Church from 5th / 6th century, Domed Church from circa 800 AD, Mausoleum of the Fathers, Church of the Patriarchal Throne from the 1690s, and The Paradise (Dayr al-Firdaws) a burial vault for especially holy individuals. You visit by guided tour, with respectful dress and behaviour.