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69.jpg (24596 bytes)The province of Van sits by Lake Van, and was the ancient Urartian capital of Tuspa. It is situated in a green, fertile oasis in the midst of rocky mountains. An impressive citadel stands on one of these peaks and dates back to the 9th- century BC. There are steps carved into rock leading to the fortress, and while descending you will be able to see some cuneiform inscriptions paying homage to Persian King, Xerxes of the 5th- century BC. In the fortress, the Urartian royal tombs are of interest. The surrounding area is full of Urartian remains. In the old city there are many mosques and mausoleums such as the Ulu Mosque, the Husrev Pasa Mosque, the Kaya Celebi Mosque and the Ikiz Kumbet. The Archaeological Museum in the new city exhibits the Urartian finds. At Van Harbour you may find pleasant places to rest. For swimming and camping you may head for Edremit, 14 kms to the southwest. It is a holiday resort center from where you may do some sightseeing excursions. At Gevas, there is a Seljuk graveyard, filled with extraordinary headstones, as well as the lovely Halime Hatun Tomb.

Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey and provides good opportunities for enjoyable excursions. You may go trekking or hunting in the mountains surrounding it, especially Mount Suphan, the second  highest mountain in Turkey after Mount Ararat. Alternatively you may head for on the beach, or visit the Urartian sites and Turkish cultural centres. The islands on the lake are also interesting, most of them housing many monasteries and churches. The most important of these is the Akdamar Island with its 10th- century church of Holy Cross. The church is now restored as a museum and its richly decorated walls have Old Testament reliefs. After visiting the museum you may rest at the beneath lakeside the almond trees, where there are good opportunities for picnicking and swimming. Carpanak Island is also interesting and deserves a visit. Hosab, 67 kms east, has a magnificent old fortress fronted by huge walls. At Cavustepe, there is an Urartian site, which is 25 kms from Van on the Hakkari road.

88 kms north of Van, are the Muradiye Waterfalls, perfect place to rest while listening to natures harmony at one of the restaurants or tea gardens around the falls. Van is also famous for its Van cat, a pure white, longhair cat which has the strange feature of one blue eye and the other green.

Van CastleIt was built within the capital of the Uratu State, Tushba during the 9th century B.C. The castle fell into the bands of the Assyrians during the early 7th century B.C. when the Urartus were defeated and fled from the region. The castle also carries imprints of the Selç uk, Karakoyunlu, Akkoyunu and the Ottoman eras. The most important sections in the castle are the rock cells and inscriptions belonging to the Urartus. The castle also contains a mosque built by Sultan Sü leyman the Great.

kilim carpet

Source: http://www.adiyamanli.org/van.html

 

Van on the southeastern shores of Lake Van, the largest lake in Turkey, was Tuspa, the capital city of the Urartians (1000 B.C.). Van Citadel was first constructed by Sardur I, the Urartian King, in the ninth century B.C., is 80 meters above the lake level and extends 1800 meters from the east to the west, and 120 meters from the north to the south. The city of Van was at the southern foot of the citadel before the First World War.

Today, in this region which is called Old Van, there are historical structures from the Seljuk and Ottoman Periods.Urartian artifacts found in the region are exhibited in a rich collection, at the Archaeological Museum in Van.The city is known for its kilims, made with natural dyes and the art of silversmithing is also developed. Furthermore, Van cats are famous because the color of each eye is different and they have thick white fur.

Lake Van is in the realm of the beauties of Eastern Anatolia. Mountain silhouettes, coves, beaches, islands, waterfalls and centers belonging to various historical ages are located around the lake. There is plenty of sodium carbonate in the lake which is at an elevation of 1720 meters above sea level. The fish caught in the lake are without fat and very delicious. Among the islands in Lake Van, Akdamar Island is the most beautiful. This is the place in the region that becomes green the earliest in the spring. There is a church remaining from the tenth century on the island, which can be reached by motorboat from the wharf, at a distance of 45 km from Van. The external facade of the church is covered with reliefs from the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible.

Source: http://www.enjoyturkey.com/info/sights/van.htm

 

10th century Armenian church, Akdamar Island, Lake Van(Order Custom Fine Art Print)

Breathtaking in the beauty of its surroundings, the ruined church of Akdamar Island in Lake Van represents one of the most sublime examples of Armenian religious architecture. The church is the sole remaining building of the palace of Aght& rsquo amar built by the architect Bishop Manuel between 915 and 921 AD. Constructed during the reign of the Armenian King Gagik Ardzrouni of the Vaspurakan dynasty, the complex of buildings originally included streets, gardens and terraced parks surrounding the palace and church. Constructed with a cruciform plan (cross-shaped) and a conical roof domed on the inside, the building is made of red colored tufa stone brought to the island from distant quarries.

Upon the outside walls of the church are extremely beautiful but much weathered stone reliefs by Armenian master carvers. These reliefs depict Biblical scenes with Adam, Eve, Abraham, David and Goliath, and Jesus as well as earthly themes, such as life at palace, hunting scenes and human and animal figures. A remarkable design of vines interspersed with animals carved in high relief encircles the exterior of the church. The manner these themes are worked show an influence of 9th and 10th century Abbasi art, which was itself influenced by Central Asian Turkish Art. Early descriptions and local legends tell that the relief carvings and the door to the church were set with precious stones, pearls and gold encrustations but these have long since disappeared. The interior church walls are decorated with frescoes showing religious themes but vandals and the elements have much degraded these once lovely paintings.

The name given to the island, Aght'amar, is explained by a local legend. A nobleman who fell in love with a beautiful girl named Tamar visited the island every night to see her. As he was crossing the lake one stormy night, his boat capsized and fighting the waves, he drowned uttering the words " Ach Tamar" . Tamar, awaiting the arrival of her loved one, grieved deeply upon hearing the news of his death and died soon after. Hence, the island was called " Ach Tamar" (Aght'amar) ever since. Local folklore also tells that the lake is enchanted and that angels go in and out of the water. The island lies close to the shore Lake Van (Turkey& rsquo s third largest lake) and is approximately 55 kilometers from the city of Van. In the springtime, when the island& rsquo s trees are blooming with fragrant flowers, the island is a place of truly enchanting beauty.

An intriguing matter which few people know about Lake Van is that, at 1670 meters above sea level, it is a salt lake. Other large bodies of water in the same general region, including Lake Urmia (at 1250 meters above sea level), the Caspian Sea (the largest landlocked body of water on the entire planet), and the Aral Sea (480 kilometers east in the countries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) are also salt lakes, and yet there are no appreciable salt layers bordering any of these lakes in the local geological strata. The Caspian Sea also contains porpoises and seals, animals which are normally only found in marine environments. The existence of these high altitude salt lakes and their unusual marine life so far inland from ocean environments is a perplexing mystery to orthodox scientists. Certain & lsquo unorthodox& rsquo scholars, however, (for example Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas, writing in Uriel& rsquo s Machine) have gathered evidence which suggests that these bodies of water are each of relatively recent geological origin, dating to around 7640 BC and the seven cometary objects known to have impacted the earth at that time. Why this is so fascinating is that these cometary impacts were all in ocean locations and are known to have initiated massive waves that flooded great areas of land far inland from the actual sites of the cometary impacts. One of the seven impacts was in the Persian Gulf region roughly 800 kilometers south of the region with the enigmatic salt lakes. Considering the strange occurrence of great landlocked, seawater lakes deep within the continental landmass and the unexplained existence of ocean mammals in the lakes, it is safe to say that the probably explanation was that both the water and the mammals were deposited there by the massive flooding caused by the 7640 BC cometary impacts.

 

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Emsa profile picture EmsaSeptember 2016
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