Diyarbakır

Ringed by nearly six kilometres of black basalt walls, Diyarbakır rises above the Tigris in the heart of Upper Mesopotamia. The fortifications — second in length only to the Great Wall of China — have been listed by UNESCO together with the terraced Hevsel Gardens that have fed the city for thousands of years. Walking the ramparts at sunset, with the river valley spreading out below, is the single best introduction to Eastern Türkiye.

Inside the walls, the old city is a dense weave of courtyards and covered bazaars. The Great Mosque (Ulu Cami), built in the 11th century on the site of a far older church, is one of the oldest in Anatolia, and its colonnaded courtyard reuses Roman and Byzantine stone. Nearby, the restored Armenian church of Surp Giragos and the Syriac Orthodox Meryem Ana testify to the many communities who have called this city home.

Diyarbakır is also the cultural capital of Turkish Kurdistan, and that identity is everywhere: in the language on the street, in the stringed saz drifting out of teahouses, in the copper workshops and the watermelon fields along the river. Local cooking is a highlight in itself — kaburga dolması (stuffed lamb ribs), spiced liver kebab and thick, sour meftune stews served in tiled courtyard restaurants.

We include Diyarbakır in our Turkish Mesopotamia tours, usually paired with Mardin and Mount Nemrut. Spring and autumn are the best seasons — summers on the Mesopotamian plain regularly pass 40°C.