Mardin
Discover Mardin
Mardin is a historic city in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. The city is known for its fascinating architecture and location: heavily decorated stone buildings cascading down a mountain, overlooking the vast expanse of the Mesopotamian plains below. Mardin lies at the heart of the homeland of the Assyrians (also Syriacs, Turkish: Süryaniler), an ancient people who trace their origin to the Akkadian Empire, established in Mesopotamia around 2200 BC. Syriac is a Semitic language directly related to the native tongue of Jesus Christ, Aramaic. Syriac Orthodoxy was established after one of the earliest divisions in Christianity in the 5th century, much earlier than the Great Schism of the 11th century between the churches of Rome and Constantinople. While the Syriac population in Mardin dwindled due to emigration (nowadays Assyrians are more numerous in Sweden than in all of Turkey), they are still very much present in the city, along with more or less all other regional cultures, including Turks, Kurds, and Arabs.
What to Experience in Mardin
Taste of Mardin...
Süryani şarabı is the local red wine, found in some shops and restaurants. Local tap water is far too chalky to be tasty and may be unsafe to drink. Buy bottled water instead. Booking in summer months, especially at weekends, is important since Mardin attracts more and more travellers day by day but there are not lots of places to stay. For the sights of Midyat cheap accommodations such as Airbnb can be found. For cheaper accommodations to visit Midyat, Dargeçit can be a good option. The safety situation has been vastly improved since the 1990s, and Mardin and its surrounding area seem to be very safe with an overly heavy presence of policemen in the old city. There are also a couple more internet cafes on the main street of old city. There is a tourism information office (Turizm İrtibat Bürosu) on the main square of old city, run by students of a local high school. They also offer free internet. If you are hitchhiking toward Urfa, it will be easiest to take an inexpensive dolmus/minibus from the Mardin otogar/bus station to Kiziltepe, a town just south of Mardin. The bus station in Kiziltepe is right near the dusty highway toward Urfa. You may have to walk a bit to get out of town, or just start flagging and try to get a ride to the edge of town (if the ride isn't going the whole way). If you wear a Kurdish kuffiya, you won't have any problems finding a ride and plenty of goodwill.
Essential Information
Getting There
Multiple OptionsAlthough there are roads leading to the city from roughly all cardinal directions, your most likely point of entry will be Urfa. Upon getting close to Mardin, the hilltop old city will greet you from a distance, and as you get closer, the road will swing north, eventually leading to Yenişehir behind the hill. The connecting highways are all well-paved, except for a 100-km section east of Urfa which is full of potholes. Hitchhiking from Urfa (the ride should take around 2½-3 hours) is very easy, thanks to the hospitality of the local people. There are buses from Urfa, which take around 4 hours and cost 25 TL. Minibuses (dolmuş) from Diyarbakır take 2 hours and cost 9 TL. To go to the old town from the bus terminal (otogar), one option is to take a bus towards the new city (stop in front of Mardin Mall) and take one of the yellow dolmuş going up to the old town (ask for Eski Mardin). Each ride should cost about 20 TL (in 2025)....
Getting Around & Staying
Getting Around
Minibuses (dolmuş) M6, M7A, and M8 connect Yenişehir (the new city) with Eski Mardin (the old city). They cost about 20 TL/person (in 2025). The steep road between the new and old cities might be taken in 30–40 minutes on foot, however it will surely be a very demanding walk, particularly during the peak of summer heat. The old city is small enough to be negotiated on foot; the distance between either end of the main street can be taken in about half an hour. You will certainly not find any vehicles of any kind on the twisty and staired side alleys — even garbage is collected with the assistance of diligent donkeys there. Most of the sights of Mardin are located in the old city and some are located in Midyat, Mardin. Several banks have branches on the main street of the old city, complete with ATMs on the exterior walls. There is a big-box type store (Migros) in Yenişehir, right at the beginning of the ascent towards the old city.
Where to Stay
Booking in summer months, especially at weekends, is important since Mardin attracts more and more travellers day by day but there are not lots of places to stay. For the sights of Midyat cheap accommodations such as Airbnb can be found. For cheaper accommodations to visit Midyat, Dargeçit can be a good option. The safety situation has been vastly improved since the 1990s, and Mardin and its surrounding area seem to be very safe with an overly heavy presence of policemen in the old city. There are also a couple more internet cafes on the main street of old city. There is a tourism information office (Turizm İrtibat Bürosu) on the main square of old city, run by students of a local high school. They also offer free internet. If you are hitchhiking toward Urfa, it will be easiest to take an inexpensive dolmus/minibus from the Mardin otogar/bus station to Kiziltepe, a town just south of Mardin. The bus station in Kiziltepe is right near the dusty highway toward Urfa.
Money & Budget
Several banks have branches on the main street of the old city, complete with ATMs on the exterior walls. There is a big-box type store (Migros) in Yenişehir, right at the beginning of the ascent towards the old city. Stores in the old city are closed by 21:00-22:00 (even those few that are offering alcoholic beverages, which are typically open till late at night in western Turkey), so make sure you have enough supplies of snacks and drinks (especially water!) for the night. Süryani şarabı is the local red wine, found in some shops and restaurants. Local tap water is far too chalky to be tasty and may be unsafe to drink. Buy bottled water instead.
Safety Information
Safety Overview
The safety situation has been vastly improved since the 1990s, and Mardin and its surrounding area seem to be very safe with an overly heavy presence of policemen in the old city. There are also a couple more internet cafes on the main street of old city. There is a tourism information office (Turizm İrtibat Bürosu) on the main square of old city, run by students of a local high school. They also offer free internet. If you are hitchhiking toward Urfa, it will be easiest to take an inexpensive dolmus/minibus from the Mardin otogar/bus station to Kiziltepe, a town just south of Mardin. The bus station in Kiziltepe is right near the dusty highway toward Urfa. You may have to walk a bit to get out of town, or just start flagging and try to get a ride to the edge of town (if the ride isn't going the whole way). If you wear a Kurdish kuffiya, you won't have any problems finding a ride and plenty of goodwill.
Glimpses of Mardin
Mardin, the city of Mesopotamia.
Mor Gabriel Syriac Orthodox Church
Mardin city from Turkey
A view of a city with a tall clock tower
Mardin, the city of Mesopotamia.
a building with a staircase
This is a view of the city of Mardin
Kasimiye madrasa from Mardin city, Turkey
Mardin, Midyat,
a woman in the streets of mardin
Mardin, the city of Mesopotamia.
Mor Gabriel Syriac Orthodox Church
Mardin city from Turkey