Mardin

The church, which was built in the name of Mor Behnam and his sister Saro, and which is now known as Kirklar Church, took both its names from early Christian legends and is a mid-6th century building. After Mardin became the Assyrian Ancient Patriarchate Center in 1293, the spiritual and administrative affairs of the people began to be administered from this church. n the Kirklar Church, patriarchs and metropolitans used to reside in the courtyard of the church in rooms whose ceilings were built with cut stone. In 1850, a new patriarchate center was built in place of these rooms, and in 1925 this place was expanded and a divanhane was built next to it. A school was opened here in 1799, and it is known to have been active between 1825 and 1899. Education and training continued until 1928.

Built on cliffs overlooking the city because of this the other name of Mardin Castle is ‘eagle's nest’. It is a very important castle that lived the periods of Subari, Sumerian, Babylonian, Mitanid, Assyrian, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Abbasid, Hamdanid, Seljuk Dynasty, Artuklu, Karakoyunlu, Akkoyunlu, Safaviler and Ottomans. A rumor about the castle dates back to the 4th century. M.S. In 330, a ruler named Şad Buhari, who worshiped fire and the sun, settled in the Mardin Castle. When the monarch comes to the castle, he is sick and about to die. After a while, when he started to recover, he had a palace built in the castle, which he believed to be healing, and spent 12 years of his life here.
The Persians and the people he called from Babylon and settled here started a development movement in the Mardin region that would last until 442 AD. After years of abundance and prosperity, plague comes and everyone in the castle dies with the great epidemic. Local residents, who think that this castle is cursed and that they will die if they enter it, do not step into the castle for almost 100 - 200 years after the plague. In 795, Timur besieged the castle 3 times but could not take it. Although it looks like it has painted the city brown with its completely stone houses, it actually has a very colorful and different history.

It is in the Midyat district of Mardin. The monastery is one of the famous and great works of the Syriac Ancient Community. It was built on a high hill covered with oak trees. The foundations of the monastery were laid by Mor Şmuel and Mor Şemun in 397 and the building was completed in a short time. Additions were made inside and outside on different dates. Mor Gabriel Monastery is at least 400 years older than any monastery founded on Mount Athos, Greece. It is about 80 years before the Mor Saba Monastery in Palestine and one and a half centuries before the Mort Katherina Monastery in the Sinai region of Egypt. The monastery has been called by different names from time to time in the historical process. In its early days, it was known as Mor Şmuel and Mor Şemun Monastery after the names of the founders. The name "Mor Gabriel Monastery", which is still used today, comes from the name of Turabdin Metropolitan Mor Gabriel (634-668).

The Beyazsu Creek, which takes its source from the skirts of the plateaus and hills in the south of Midyat, flows towards Nusaybin in a valley. Beyazsu is like an oasis in the arid and treeless geography of Mardin with its cool and clear water, local trees and greenery. Drinking water of Mardin and other districts is also supplied from the Beyazsu spring. Beyazsu, which meets the water needs of Mardin throughout all four seasons, responds to a second need of the people of the region as a resting and eating-drinking area during the summer months. Fishermen's restaurants built on the Beyazsu River offer the fish they have caught from Beyazsu to the visitors. The fishermen's restaurants, with their tables made in the form of traditional thrones and sitting places set on the stream in the style of an oriental corner, display a unique appearance to the region.