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Mardin, is a poetic city of Southeast Anatolia Region
reflecting the impression as if the time had stopped with its present
architectural, ethnographic, archeological, historic and visual merits.
The city hosts mosques, mausoleums, churches, monasteries and similar
religious creations parallel to the different religious beliefs all of
which are representing both artistic and historic values. The province
of Mardin is located along the historical Silk Road and there are 5
inns and caravansaries in the city.
Mardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arab-style architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria. Mardin has a very mixed population, Turks, Arabs and Kurds all represent large groups. Mardin is an Aramaic word and means "fortresses".
The earliest settlers in Mardin were Syriac Orthodox Christians, arriving in the 3rd century AD. In fact, most Syriac Orthodox churches and monasteries in the city, which are still active today, date from the 5th century AD, such as the Deyrülzafarân Monastery. Another important church, Kırklar Kilisesi (Church of the 40 Martyrs), originally built in the name of Benham and Saro, the two sons of the Assyrian ruler who executed them because they chose to become Christian, dates from 569 AD. Mardin remained a heavily Christian area during its control by Muslim Arabs between the seventh and twelfth centuries, and even during its use as a capital by the Artukid Turkish dynasty which ruled Eastern Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamia between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. The 12th century Sitti Radviyye Madrasa, the oldest of its kind in Anatolia, dates from this period. The lands of the Artukid dynasty fell to the Mongols who took control of the region in 1394, but the Mongols never directly governed the area. Mardin was later controlled by the Turkish Akkoyunlu kingdom. The Kasımiye Madrasa was built by Sultan Kasım, son of the Akkoyunlu Sultan Cihangir, between 1457 and 1502.
Mardin province was added to the Ottoman Empire under Selim I in 1517, and has remained a part of Turkey ever since. In 1832 the city was the site of a Kurdish rebellion. Many of Mardin's Christian inhabitants, descended from the early settlers, were killed or forced to leave during the Assyrian Genocide, and Christians now form a tiny minority in the city.
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