Arival Istanbul airport. Transfer from airport to hotel.

Half day city tour. Hagia Sophia

Dinner at hotel.

Acc. In Istanbul

Flight from Istanbul to Van 07.35

Arrival Van airport. 

Drive to Dogubeyazıt hence the new Turkish name "Doğubeyazıt" which literally means "East Beyazıt". Around 3 hours drive. For most of the periods described there Doğubeyazıt was a bigger and more important settlement than the present-day provincial capital Ağrı, not least because this is the Iranian border crossing.The area has had a rich history since it was settled during the times of the Urartu (over 2700 years ago). It was subsequently conquered by Persians , Romans, Byzantium and arabs all of whom would have used the plain to rest and recoup during their passages across the mountains. Turks arrived in 1064, but were soon followed by the Mongols and further waves of Turks. The castle of Beyazit was built and rebuilt many times throughout this history, although it is named after the Turkish warlord Celayırlı Şehzade Bayazıt Han who ordered one of the rebuildings (in 1374). Ultimately, the town was renamed Beyazit itself.

After its conquest by the Ottomon era in 1514 the area was ruled by Turkish generals, later including İshakpaşa, who built the palace that still bears his name. Ishak Pasa Palace that we will visit. Ant then Noah’s Ark. 

Dinner at hotel

Acc. In Dogubeyazıt

Not until the 19th century was the region settled enough, and welcoming enough for Westerners, to make it possible for significant expeditions to search for the Ark. In 1829, Dr. Friedrich Parrot, who had made an ascent of Greater Ararat, wrote in his Journey to Ararat that "all the armenians are firmly persuaded that Noah's Ark remains to this very day on the top of Ararat, and that, in order to preservation ,no human being is allowed to approach it." In 1876, James Bryce historian, statesman, diplomat, explorer, and Professor of Civil Law at Oxford, climbed above the tree line and found a slab of hand-hewn timber, four feet long and five inches thick, which he identified as being from the Ark. In 1883, the British Prophetic Messenger and others reported that Turkish commissioners investigating avalanches had seen the Ark.

Searches for the Ark diminished in the 20th century. During the Cold War, Ararat found itself on the highly sensitive Turkish/Soviet border and in the midst of Kurdish separatist activities, such that explorers were likely to find themselves in extremely hazardous situations. Former astronaut James Irwin led two expeditions to Ararat in the 1980s, was kidnapped once, and like others found no tangible evidence of the Ark. "I've done all I possibly can," he said, "but the Ark continues to elude us."

In 2001, the Turkish government re-opened Mount Ararat to climbers. However, the government requires a climbing permit and the use of a certified Turkish trekking guide. It takes approximately two months to obtain climbing permission.

By the beginning of the 21st century, two main candidates for exploration had emerged: the so-called Ararat anomaly near the main summit of Ararat (an "anomaly" in that it shows on aerial and satellite images as a dark blemish on the snow and ice of the peak), and the separate site at Durupınar near Dogubeyazıt 18 miles (29 km) south of the Greater Ararat summit. The Durupinar site was heavily promoted by adventurer and former nurse-anaesthetist Ron Wyatt in the 1980s and 1990s, and consists of a large boat-shaped formation jutting out of the earth and rock. It has the advantage over the Great Ararat site of being approachable—while hardly a major tourist attraction, it receives a steady stream of visitors, and the local authorities claimed that a nearby mountain is called "Mount Cudi", making it one of about five Mount Judis in the land of east . Geologists have identified the Durupınar site as a natural formation,[ but Wyatt's Ark Discovery Institute continues to champion its claims.

In 2004, Honolulu-based businessman Daniel McGivern announced he would finance a $900,000 expedition to the peak of Greater Ararat in July of that year to investigate the "Ararat anomaly"—he had previously paid for commercial satellite images of the site.[After much initial fanfare, he was refused permission by the Turkish authorities, as the summit is inside a restricted military zone. The expedition was subsequently labelled a "stunt" by National Geografic News, which pointed out that the expedition leader, a Turkish academic named Ahmet Ali Arslan, had previously been accused of faking photographs of the Ark.

We will leave from Doğubeyazıt for Van, after breakfast.

The Fortress of Van also known as Van Citadel is a massive stone fortification built by the ancient kingdom of Urartu overlooking Tushpa the Urartu Capital . It is the largest of a number of similar fortifications built throughout the kingdom, where modern Armenia, Turkey and Iran meet, usually cut into hillsides and outcrops. The lower parts of the wall were built out of unmortared basalt, the rest out of mud-brick. Such fortresses were usually used for regional control, rather than for defense against foreign armies. And then Van, the modern city is located on the plain extending from the Lake Van at a distance of 5 kilometers from the lake shore.

It has often been called "The Pearl of the East" because of the beauty of its surrounding landscape. An old Armenian proverb in the same sense is "Van in this world, paradise in the next". This phrase has been slightly modified in Turkish as dünyada Van, ahirette iman or "Van for this world, faith for the next". 

Dinner at hotel

Acc. In Van

Hosap Castle, Ahtamar Island with its cathedral

Note : Ahtamar Island and Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross 

Ahtamar Islan is a small island in Lake Van in the ,about 0.7 km2 in size, situated about 3 km from the shoreline. At the western end of the island a hard, grey, limestone cliff rises 80 m above the lake's level (1,912 m above sea level). The island declines to the east to a level site where a spring provides ample water. It is home to a tenth century Armenian church, known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross (915-921), and was the seat of an Armenian Cathoicos from 1116 to 1895.

The architecture of the church is based on a form that had been developed in Armania several centuries earlier; the best-known example being that of the 7th century St. Hripsime church in Ecmiadzin,  incorporating a dome with a conical roof. The unique importance of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross comes from the extensive array of bas-relief carving of mostly biblical scenes that adorn its external walls. The meanings of these reliefs have been the subject of much and varied interpretation. Not all of this speculation has been produced in good faith - for example, Turkish sources stress alleged Islamic and Turkic influences behind the content of the reliefs and minimise native Armenian influences. Some scholars[assert that the friezes parallel contemporary motifs found in Ummayid art - such as a turbaned prince, Arab styles of dress, wine imagery; allusions to royal sasanian imagery are also present griffins.

Dinner at hotel. Acc. In Van

Drive in South eastern country side from Van via Hasankeyf to region Mardin (Tur Abdin).

Hasankeyf (Greek: Kiphas; Kurdish:  Hesenkeyf Latin: Cepha; Aramaic: Hisn Kayfa;  Syriac: Heskîf; ) is a city located along the Tigris River in the Batman province of Turkey. It is an ancient city, with roots going back 10,000 years. It was declared a natural conservation area  by Turkey in 1981. Traditionally, the city was dominated by Syriac but today, the Kurdish form the majority in this city.

Tur Abdin is a hilly region of south east Turkey incorporating the eastern half of Mardin province , and Sırnak province west of the Tigris on the border with Syria. The name 'Tur Abdin' is from the Syriac Aramaic meaning 'mountain of the servants (of God)'. Tur Abdin is of great importance to Suryani Christians, for whom the region used to be a monastic and cultural heartland. The Assyrian/Syriac  of Tur Abdin call themselves Suroye and Suryoye something they share with their brethren Nestorian and Chaldean Assyrians and traditionally speak the Aramaic dialect recently called Turyoyobut originally called "Surayt" in their mother tongue.

Dinner at hotel Acc. In Mardin region

Deyrul Zafaran and Deyrul Umur  and old city.

Deyrul Zafaran :

Founded in 493 AD, the monastery was formerly the seat of the patriarch of the

Deyrul Umur :the centre of Tur Abdin, halfway between Midyat and Cizre , is Dayro d Mor gabriel. Built in AD 397, Mor Gabriel monastery, is the oldest functioning Syriac Orthodox monastery. It is the residence of the Metropolitan Bishop of Tur Abdin, seven nuns, four monks and a host of guests, assistants and students. The monastery is charged with keeping the flame of Syriac Orthodox faith alive in Tur Abdin, for which it is as much a fortress as a church. Acc. In Mardin region

We will drive from our hotel on Silk road to Şanlıurfa. 

Harran Harran, also known as Carrhae, is a district of Şanlıurfa in the southeast of  Turkey.

A very ancient city which was a major mesopotmian commercial, cultural, and religious center, Harran is a valuable archaeological site. It is often identified as Harran, the place in which Abraham lived before he reached Caanan.

Among Harran's trading partners was Tyre ( Ezekiel 27:23). One of Harran's specialities was the odoriferous gum derived from the stobrum tree.The city was the chief home of the Mesopotamian moon god Sin under the babylonians and even into Roman times.

Carrhae is a defunct ancient town on the site, and gave its name to the Carrahea Battle(53 BC), fought between the Romas and the Parths.

Harran's ruins are from Roman, Sabian and Islamic times. T. E. Lawrens surveyed the site, and an anglo- turksih excavation was begun in 1951, ending in 1956 with the death of D. S. Rice.

Note: Harran in scriptures

It is said that  Adam and Eve set foot in Harran after they were expelled from the  Garden of eden . The Hebrew’s Bible book of genesis (Genesis 11:31, 12:4-5) identifies a place called Haran (also Harran, Charan, and Charran; Hebrew: חָרָן‎), where Therah and his son Abraham grandson Lot and Abram's wife Sara halted on their way from ur of the Caldees to  Cannan. Some scholars identify the Biblical Haran with Harran. Genesis 27:43 makes Haran the home of Laban and connects it with Isaac and Jacop: Jacob spent 20 years in Haran working for his uncle Laban (cf. Genesis 31:38&41). The place-name should not be confused with Harran (Hebrew: הָרָן), Abraham's brother and Lot's father — note that the two names are spelled differently in the original Hebrew.

Islamic tradition also links Harran to Aran, the brother of Abraham. (cf. Genesis 11:26-32)

During the reign of King Hezekia of Juda Harran rebelled from the Assyrians, who reconquered the city ( 2 Kings 19:12; Isaya 37:12) and deprived it of many privileges which king sargon 2nd later restored.

Urfa is also identified as the birthplace of Abraham which is commemorated by a mosque in the city, and as the birthplace of Job. City tour.

Dinner at hotel Acc. In Urfa

We will leave from SanlıUrfa to Kahta which is a small town in attractive countryside at the foot of Nemrut Dağ  for transport (in the form of shared taxis or minibuses) to people visiting the mountain. We will have sunset on mountain. Nemrut Dağı is a 2,134 m (7,001 ft) high mountain , notable for the vast statues at a 1st century BC tomb on its summit.

In 62 BC, King Antiochus 1 Theos of Commegene  built on the mountain top a tomb-sanctuary flanked by huge statues (8-9 meters high) of himself, two lions, two eagles and various Greek, armenian and persian gods, such as Hercules-Vahagn, Zeus- Aramazd  or Oromasdes (associated with the Persian god Ahura mazda), Thyce, and Appolo- Mithras. These statues were once seated, with names of each god inscribed on them. The heads of the statues are now scattered throughout the site; the pattern of damage to the heads (notably to noses) suggests that they were deliberately damaged because of belief in iconoclasm. The site also preserves stone slabs with bas-relief figures that are thought to have formed a large frieze. These stones display the ancestors of Antiochus, who included both Macadonians and Persians.

The same statues and ancestors found throughout the site can also be found on the tumulus at the site, which is 49 meters tall and 152 meters in diameter. The statues have the likeness of Greek facial features, in conjunction with Persian clothing and hairstyling. The western terrace contains a large slab with a lion, showing the arrangement of stars and the planets  Jupiter, mercury and Mars on 7 July 62 BC, the possible time when construction began on this monument. The eastern portion is well preserved, being composed of several layers of rock, and there is evidence of a walled passageway linking the eastern and western terraces, from a path below at the foot of Mount Nemrut. Possible uses for this site might have included religious ceremonies, due to the astronomical and religious nature of the monument.

The arrangement of such statues is known by the term hierothesion. Similar arrangements have been found at Arsameia on Nymphaios at the hierothesion of the father of Antiochus, Mithridates 1 Callinicus. 

This tomb was excavated in 1881 by Karl Sester, an engeenier from Germany. Subsequent excavations have failed to reveal the tomb of Antiochus. However, this is still believed to be the site of his burial. In 1987, Mt. Nemrut was made a world heritage site by Unesco Tourists typically visit Nemrut during June through August. Mount Nemrut is part of a geographic area named the Armanian highlands by Russian and Soviet geographers.

Dinner at hotel. Acc. In Kahta

We will leave from Kahta for Gaziantep.

In the center of the city stands the Gaziantep Fortress and the Ravanda citadel as reminders of past - the citadel was restored by the byzantines in the 6th century. The Archaeological Museum, with its important collections from neolotic and the Hittite ages as well as the Roman and commegene times, attracts many visitors. A recent addition to the Museum's riches are the Roman mosaics discovered in Zeugma. The surroundings of the city are also full of valuable Hittite remains and city tour.

Dinner at hotel.

Acc.in Gaziantep

Flight from Gaziantep – home.