8 Things to do in Batman That You Shouldn't Miss

Reviewed By apricot44 - Turkey, null

HASANKEYF -CEPHENIA-HISN KEYFA today, the historical hasankeyf district, which is connected to batman province, is accessible by minibus and buses from batman city center and midyat district.you can also take a boat tour on ilisi Dam Lake and again from the places where you can see the Tomb of zeynel bey, which was saved from the waters of Ilisu dam..I'd like to give you a brief history of the place .good reading…. Hasankeyf district, which is a wonder of nature and history with its 12 000-year history and more than 7000 caves, founded on the edge of the Tigris River, which is the source of life of Mesopotamia and fertile crescent lands. The first inhabitants of the city were dominated by the Hurrians, then the Akkadians (naram -sin BC 2200-2300), Assyrians,urartians, Medes, Persians, Alexander the Great, Roman, Parthians, Sasanians and Islamic armies. The period with the most works(mosques,bath,bridges) left in the city was the period of Artuqids(diyar-i bekr and hısn keyfa artuqids) and Ayyubid .(AD 11-14 century).having inhabited areas since the paleotic period, the city owes its importance to the Tigris River, the river transport trade via the Tigris(diglat) River(port) and more than 7000 caves formed by human hands or natural means.the first sources with the city date to the new Assyrian period(7th-10th century BC).During the expeditions to the region during the period of II Asurbanipal(BC 9 century) the area in which the region is located is referred to as Kipani.Along with the region in Assyrian sources, the names kasyari region and izala mountains are used.after the Assyrians, the most obvious sources about the city date back to the AD 4th century.first, the struggle between the Parthians and the Romans in Mesopotamia (Euphrates-Tigris), which lasted for centuries, turns into a Sassanid Roman struggle after the fall of the Parthians. the eastern border of Rome goes as far as the banks of the Tigris River.the region constantly changes hands between 2 Kingdoms.Rome built or fortified several forts in the border areas against Sassanid incursions.Dara,amida,zerzevan,Heysem,hısn keyfa castles some of them are.when Rome lost the city of nusaybin(nisibis), he built Hisn keyfa Castle so as not to lose any more land.built on a steep rock about 100 meters from the Tigris River, the castle was built during the reign of Konstantinos II ( AD 337-361).the walls of the city of amid, where Syriacs fleeing the Sassanids took refuge, and the size of the castle(diyarbakır fortress) were increased to 2 times due to the large number of refugees. In medieval Islamic sources, the name “Hisn Keyfa” is commonly used for this place. The word” Hisn “is of Arabic origin and Means” Castle". The word” Keyfa "means" rock” It is presumed to derive from “kifo”of Syriac origin. Hence “Hisn Keyfa “means” kaya kale " in Turkish. A hundred meters from the castle in the city due to the fact that it is built on a large rock mass of cliff and monolithic in height it is presumed to have received the name.the city has changed hands continuously due to its large location and the advantages of Port transportation.This struggle continues until it is conquered by the armies of islam in the 7th century.it is home to the most important port of the river trade, starting from the city of amida(diyarbakir) and leading to cizre and from there to the city of Mosul.since ancient times, river transport(tigris) is an indispensable trade route for the Mesopotamian region.most of the 7,000 caves that have caused hasankeyf to be known all over the world are caves built by human hands, both as a natural refuge and for protection from natural and wild animals.the main reason for the easy construction of caves is that limestone caves have undergone karstic melting due to the influence of both underground and above-ground waters. the city of hasankeyf consists of 3 zones built in separate times.called up to the castle town, or mint,residences,churches,jail ,cisterns of water, and where it is located 100 meters from the Tigris River from the upper part of the oldest caves in the castle established around the Roman century,when it served as a garrison Fortress AD 2 -7 century opposite sides of the river and the foot of the medieval Islamic period in the area into part of the settlement areas. many artifacts belonging to the Islamic period can be seen on 2 banks of the river,mosques,baths,shrines, bazaars. unfortunately, only the castle and the inner castle part of this historical city, which was buried in the waters of the ilisu dam about 2 years ago, can now be seen.many historical monuments were transported to the new hasankeyf by special vehicles before they were under the ilisu dam.in our day, you have the chance to visit the historical area with hasankeyft boat tours. one of the most important works carried is the Tomb of zeynel bey, which stands out with its decorations and architectural structure.Akkoyunlu Ruler Uzun Hasan, with the Ottoman Empire Battle of Otlukbeli (AD 1473) for his son Zeynel Bey who died Zeynel Bey mausoleum still exists in Hasankeyf as a memory of that period conservation..