%20(2).png)
Van, Türkiye
LAA
Van, Türkiye
LAA
Van, Türkiye
LAA
Van, Türkiye
LAA
Van, Türkiye
LAA
Akdamar Island
REGION
Van, Türkiye
ALTITUDE
1,640 m
TOP SIGHTS
Church of the Holy Cross · Exterior stone reliefs · Almond groves · Views across the soda lake · Gevaş cemetery on the mainland
BEST TIME TO VISIT
May–October; boats run in fair weather and stop in winter storms
HOW TO GET
Boat from Gevaş pier, 45 km from Van; crossing takes about 20 minutes
TIME NEEDED
2–3 hours
Akdamar is a rock of almond trees in the middle of Lake Van, and on it stands one of the great buildings of medieval Christendom: the Church of the Holy Cross, completed in 921 for King Gagik I of Vaspurakan.
What makes it extraordinary is the carving. The entire exterior is wrapped in a band of relief sculpture — David and Goliath, Jonah and the whale, Adam and Eve, lions, vines and grape harvesters — treated with a directness and humour rare in church art of any period.
The church was restored and reopened as a museum in 2007, and an annual liturgy is now celebrated there. The twenty-minute crossing from Gevaş, with the church rising against the blue of the lake and the mountains behind, is one of the finest approaches to any monument in the region.