Van Castle and other Van, Turkey Things to Do Tips

Van Castle has a strange appearance. It’s simply impressive. Urartians had built their castles over the rocky hills. They had just enforced the weak parts of the rock and use it. (If there is an easy part to climb over, they’d built a stone wall there, for example.). They were so good at stone carving, so they also made rooms or corridors through solid rocks.
After Urartu rule, both Selcuklu and Ottoman Empires used the castle. Old Van city had been built under the castle. Over the hill, you can still see the remains: 2 mosques in good condition, 2 more unlucky ones, some basement-like trails…

You should hop a bus to reach castle. It is 3 km away from Ipek Yolu (Silk Road) and Ipek Yolu is at least 1-2 km to city center. Not a distance impossible-to-walk but thinking about climbing the castle, you better find a bus.
There is a garden/park after the entrance of the castle. Entrance fee is not a big amount; 2-3 lira per person. You can have some tea before exploring the castle. On the right, there are some new built houses which show the traditional architecture of the region. The soil layer above the roof is for isolation, as I remember well. The winters of Van are so cold and it snows a lot. It is possible to enter the “Van Evi”. Then, if you follow the path, it will lead you a small bridge over a brook. There, the castle begins.
If you start to climb from your left, you’ll soon reach the best view of whole area: New Van at north, old Van at south, Edremit at east… And you’ll witness a beautiful sunset if you wait. But if you first go to your right, you can see a cuneiform (civi yazisi) over the corner of a stone wall. It is about the building of the castle and the temple. Yes, also there is a temple dedicated to Tesiba.
Castle had been built between 840 and 825 B.C. by the King Sarduri I. The massive rock has 20-120m width, 1800m length and 80 m height from Van Lake.

There is an unbelievable stair climbing to castle from old Van. I liked it a lot but I wasn’t allowed to try it. Also King Sarduri I.’s tomb is at the castle.
Castle’s highest point is a tower built from wood reinforcements and a soil mixture. It has a scary appearance. It is hard to believe that this soil mixture is 2800 years old and counting.
Spare some time to castle and enjoy the scenery. And be sure you’ll need more time you planned, because the castle is huge, walking over is hard, and you’ll be stunned several times.

Leave a Comment

Address: 5 km from city center

This is the symbol of Van and most famous image of the city. Ahtamar island is the biggest of three islands of the lake and the only one can be visited.
We found the Gevas minibuses to reach it. And we noticed Gevas is not at the shore. The driver left us in a small kahve to drink a tea and wait for the minibus to port. We waited a little, saw the ugly “Van Lake Monster” statue in the town and went to port. There were several boats waiting and some tourists. But the captain told that there should be at least 10 passengers to depart. So we waited at the place across the road and had a beer.
We departed after reaching the required amount: A short trip to island with French, German, Turkish and Kurdish people.
It was a short trip to island since the port is the closest one. We took photos of the mountains behind us and the church we were headed. There is a ticket office at the port of island. Entrance fee was 3 lira ($2.5-2 euro).
The small path leads you to the Armenian Church. There are many almond trees on island. A rocky part (seems like a hill) is surrounded by a fence and prohibited to enter. There is a small café at the island and another port on the other side.
Don’t forget to bring your swim suit and sun protections. There are trees but they don’t shelter the sun. And there are beaches if you want to swim in a saline and soda lake.

Now, the church: It is an Armenian Church had been built between 915 and 921 during the rule of King Gagik. It is a small church. At least I was expecting a bigger one because of its glory in the photographs. But it is charming. Interior is modest but the decorations over the outer walls are amazing. It is like an illustrated Bible book. We turned around it twice or more times.

I entered the church immediately. It is renovated the year before our visit. It has a well in the first room and some stones with Armenian writings. After the second door, I found myself in a domed main hall. Walls have many pictures from Bible. Drawings are extraordinary. They have an astonishing blue at some figures.

Around the church, there are carved stones. They are gravestones, I think. It is a rocky island, and there are stones or rocks everywhere you stepped on. Be careful and look at them closer, because so many of them have faded decorations and easily mixed with a natural rock.

And there is a strange story about this church. In 1951, government decided to demolish Armenian ruins. Some intellectual men from Van and an unknown young writer informed … about the situation and saved the church. We all know this writer now: Yasar Kemal.

And there is a well known legend about the name of the island. It is officially Akdamar but genuinely “Ahtamar” or “Aghtamar”. Story goes:
There was a young man in love to the daughter of the priest of this church and Tamara was her name. He swam all the way to see her, at nights and she waited with light. One night, he swam but there was no light so he couldn’t reach the island and died calling her name “Ah! Tamara!”

Leave a Comment

Address: In the lake :)
Directions: Go Gevas

I’ve read a lot (as always) before my Van trip and learn Urartian culture had affected and is still affecting the region. For example, I’ve read the Semiramis canals were still in use after 2800 years.(!)
These canals are approximately 60km long and most part is in Edremit. So we headed to this place from Van. It is 19 km away from Van center on Gevas and Bitlis direction. We asked about the canals in the minibus and people gave us this strange look. “Which canals?” they said. “Samran” we replied, the changed name of canals, which you can hear in folk songs. They even didn’t know. A man in the bus told us to follow them and lead us to the inner parts of Edremit. It is a green and beautiful village with houses in gardens. He reached his destination and told us to continue for another 100 meters to see the canals. We did and saw a concrete canal. What a disappointment! I cannot describe my feelings.
There was a house near the canal and a couple in front of it. We said “Hello” and asked about the old canal. He was a public officer and about to go to his job but he stayed for a while and told us that DSI renovated (!) the canals with CONCRETE. “But…” he said “there are still old parts of canals” and offered to take us to the main road by his car. We had a little conversation, reached the Silk Road, he turned the Gevas direction and said “I decided to show you where you should go to see the canals.” He left us somewhere, showed the way, we thanked a lot and he returned to Van direction. We turned our back to lake and walked. After passing the concrete canal by DSI we saw a primitive ark, took some pictures. But it didn’t satisfy me at all.
Walked back and took some pictures of flora and lake. I was feeling bad about not seeing an Urartu water canal. Returned to main road, swam a little.
After days, we met Mehmet Kusman and he told us that Semiramis canals have lots to see. At 13 points, canals meet big rocks and there were Urartian inscriptions over these rocks.
So, don’t go to canals without enough knowledge.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Edremit

Don’t ask me “Why?”, don’t say me “I have it everyday”, this is a must in Van. This city is famous with breakfast saloons and it deserves this fame.
I know eastern tastes quite well. Van’s famous cheese was usually on our breakfast menu all my life. It is a cheese I like. If you don’t like smelly cheese, stay away. If you don’t have a problem with smell, try it. It has the delicious milks and many special wild plants of the region.
The first day I wanted to try ALL! So, we asked for otlu peynir (the cheese), cacik (some green plants with stiff yogurt and butter), bal-kaymak-ceviz trio (a slice of milk cream under honey layer, all covered with walnuts) and “kavurmali yumurta” (braised meat and egg). And they brought us tons of tea. Waiters were changing our glasses at the moment we finished. We hardly finished all and I felt dizzy when we were done. Following days we ordered less but the dizziness continued.
Waiters ask whether you want milk or tea. Locals drink milk generally. Cacik, kavut, murtuga, otlu peynir are regional tastes. Braised meat, too, but you can also have it other regions of Turkey. Though, it is more delicious here, because of the plants of mountains.
Go, ask for the “Kahvalti Sokagi” (means breakfast street). It is a small street parallel to Cunhuriyet caddesi. Pick a place and have your breakfast. My personal favorite was Sutcu Fevzi. I wanted to try all but our first try was so disappointing, so we returned to our first breakfast saloon and kept going there until the very last day.

Leave a Comment

Address: Kahvalti sokagi (Breakfast street)

A small museum it is. Very small, especially when you think this is the capitol city of Urartu Empire. It has many “civi yazisi” (cuneiform) steles in the garden, some pieces of armor, weapon, pots, some jewelry, few carpets, etc. I heard that it has an enormous stock of relics behind closed doors. They just need more space to exhibit.
It also has these Hakkari steles, which impressed me a lot. They were found in a garden in Hakkari (a city at south of Van). I could spend a day with them in that court. Took tons of pictures but couldn’t imagine their position in history. They are so figurative, almost modern.
I invite you to visit these thirteen steles. They’ll be transferred to Hakkari museum after its opening.

Leave a Comment

Phone: +90 432 216 11 39
Address: Serefiye Mahallesi, Haciosman Sokak No:9

There are several Urartu castles around the area, Cavustepe is one of them. The excavation took place between 1961 and 1984. The castle had built between 756 and 730 B.C. It has two parts, one is the first castle and palace, second is the upper castle.

You have to take Gurpinar or Baskale minibuses. Cavustepe is 4 km after Gurpinar. We went there with Gurpinar minibus and after arrival they offered to take us to castle for a price. If you take Baskale minibus, you can go to castle by walking from the main road. Or, you can be ripped off a little, like us. (Well, it is not a huge amount of money but since the transportation is too cheap in this city, we thought it was too much.)

We were hoping to meet Mehmet Kusman here and luckily we did. He welcomed us at the entrance, noted down and started to tell us Urartu history after getting acquainted. He has some documents in his big bag, used them to tell us Urartian history. We sat and listened to him for a while. He joined us wandering around and told more about the settlement and invited us for a tea to his hut. He will be the subject of another tip, so that’s enough for now.

Cavustepe is over a hill like any other Urartu castle. Lower part has a palace, too. The corridor we walked was carved into a solid rock with craftsmanship. Floor is so perfect and walls have a right angle to the floor. There are some rooms, cisterns, sinks to smash grapes and jars to keep wine… At the end of journey, we saw a sacrifice stone with a hole in it. Then a toilet, modern a la turca toilet with sewer system.

As Mehmet Kusman told us, we found the symbol of the castle, too. He told us that Urartians didn’t have a flags but the symbols of the castles. Yet, we haven’t seen the symbol of Van castle.

Leave a Comment

This trip was recommended from lots of people and I skipped it. Because Tusba an Urartian culture was my priority and Muradiye was only offering a waterfall. I saw the village on my way to Dogubayazit. It is a green village and water flows through it is great. Since it is a volcanic region, water carved a path through volcanic rocks and sometimes it goes really deep. We saw goats side of these deep valleys, eating grass. Around the waterfall, there were some cars. I thought people were there for a picnic. May be you could have more time and wish to visit this place. But hurry, because they’ll build a dam here.

Leave a Comment

Pearl mullet lives in this area only. You cannot find it any other place in Turkey or in the world. And I returned without tasting it!
All Turkey knows this fish from the news. They swim against the water flow for leave their eggs. This is an amazing view, they all jump over other fishes, fight the water… It is the only fish living in soda water. And people say it is tasty. There is a certain period to eat this fish after the breeding time. You can find it from July to March.
I cannot recommend a place to taste it because neither I saw a fish restaurant, nor I heard one.

Leave a Comment

You’ll visit here without any intention, because the busses for Ahtamar Island depart from Gevas. It is the village where Vizontele movies filmed. There is an ugly “Van Lake Monster” statue in the village and I heard the movies decorations are still there and the director left it (and the movie theatre in the movie) as a gift to village.

There were several cafés (tea-houses, generally for men) and general stores where we waited. So, there isn’t much to do here.

Leave a Comment

Website: http://www.vizontele.com/

Van Lake is the biggest lake of Turkiye. It is a saline and soda lake and has no outlet (“endorheic” says wikipedia). Lake’s surface is 1640m above sea level. Its widest point is 119 km, average depth is 171m and maximum dept is 451m. Its area is 3755 square km.
The only fish living in this lake is Pearl Mullet.
There are 4 islands in the lake. The most famous one is Ahtamar Island. It is the only island open to visit, I think.
There is a ferry going between Van and Tatvan. It carries the train cars traveling between Iran and Istanbul.

Swimming in a soda lake is a strange experience. Its water is soapy and warm.

Leave a Comment

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Van