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Stone houses and minarets of Mardin old town on the hillside above the plain 8 more photos
Photo: Ben Bender / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, resized

Culture · Mardin & Midyat · Artuklu

Mardin old town

Mardin eski şehir

A honey-coloured town of carved stone houses, madrasas and minarets stacked on a steep ridge, looking out over the flat Mesopotamian plain.

Today: sunrise 06:31 · sunset 17:31 (calculated for this spot)

  • Open space No opening hours, no ticket
  • Ticket Free
  • Visit ~3–6 h

Directions See it on the Mardin & Midyat map

Build a day-by-day plan with closing-day warnings and ticket totals.

What to see

One long main street runs along the slope, with stepped alleys climbing above and below it. Look for the Zinciriye and Kasımiye madrasas, the minaret of the Great Mosque, Syriac churches such as Kırklar, and the old caravanserais and bazaars.

A full day on foot, or two if you stay in one of the restored stone mansions and add the monastery of Deyrulzafaran and the ruins of Dara.

Sunset from the terraces is the classic moment. The streets are steep and partly stepped; wear good shoes and expect little shade in summer.

Getting there

Mardin airport is about 20 km south of the old town; buses link Mardin with Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır and Midyat. The old town is best explored on foot.

Transport lines are general directions, not checked against the operator's timetable.

Open in OpenStreetMap See it on the Mardin & Midyat map

Watch

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    Travel Lord On Location · Watch on YouTube (new tab) ↗

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Nearby

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Eat & drink nearby

Restaurants

Cafés

Bakeries

Listings from ilçemde, our sister directory; ratings from the map service shown. We don't rank by payment. Nearer places come first (within 300 m, then 700 m), then ratings weighted by how many reviews they have. Opening hours can change; “Open now” uses Istanbul time.

Also in this area

Featured in Viewpoints.

Where to stay nearby

Artuklu (Mardin) has 45 places to stay licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Ministry list, counted on ilçemde on 30 Sep 2026).

Hotels and guesthouses in Artuklu ↗

How we rank: Nearby Ministry-licensed places first (matched to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism list), then other places by distance band (within 5 km, 15 km, 40 km; straight line) and public map ratings and review counts. A licensed place never jumps ahead of a closer band. Places more than 25 km away in another town are shown only when there are few options nearby. No business pays to be listed. A high score from a handful of reviews counts for less than a slightly lower score from hundreds. Ratings and counts come from ilçemde's data (source shown on each card, checked 1 Oct 2026); read the reviews themselves on the map services.

Accommodation lists open on ilçemde, our sister directory of Turkish businesses (new tab). We do not take bookings or commissions.

Pharmacies on duty tonight in Artuklu ↗ The list changes every day; on-duty pharmacies stay open when the others are closed.

About this page

Location: Wikidata Q188022 (P625). Ticket, hours and closing days: only from the operator's own pages; anything we could not confirm there is marked “Not verified”. Last checked 30 Sep 2026.