Mardin

This article is about the city. For other uses, see Mardin (disambiguation).

Mardin
Cityscape
Location of Mardin within Turkey.
Coordinates: 37°19′0″N 40°44′16″E
Country	Turkey
Region	Southeastern Anatolia
Province	Mardin
Government
• Mayor	Süleyman Yıldız
Area
• City	8,806 km2 (3,400 sq mi)
Elevation	1,083 m (3,553 ft)
Population (2009)
• Density	80/km2 (200/sq mi)
• Urban	82.444
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	47x xx
Area code(s)	0482
Licence plate	47
Website	Mardinimiz.net

Mardin (Ottoman Turkish: ماردين, Mardīn, Kurdish: Mêrdîn, Syriac: ܡܪܕܝܢ‎) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arabic-like architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.

History

Men in Mardin, around 1900

The name of the city is derived from the Syriac-Aramaic word "ܡܪܕܐ" meaning fortress. Most Syriac Orthodox churches and monasteries in the city were built on ancient Assyrian-Babylonian temple sites and some are still active today. The Syriac Orthodox Saffron Monastery was founded in 439 AD and is one of the oldest monasteries in the world and the only one that is still functioning in southern Turkey. From 1160 until 1932, it was the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch, until the Patriarchate relocated to the Syrian capital Damascus. The site of the monastery itself is said to have been used as a temple by sun worshipers as long ago as 2000 BC. Mardin is likely the Maride and Marida of the Greeks and Romans. Another important church, Kırklar Kilisesi (Church of the 40 Martyrs), originally built in the name of Behnam and Saro, the two sons of the Assyrian ruler who executed them because they chose to become Christian, dates from 569 AD^{[citation needed]}, and even during its use as a capital by the Artukid Turkish dynasty which ruled Eastern Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamia between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. The 12th century Sitti Radviyye Madrasa, the oldest of its kind in Anatolia, dates from this period.

The lands of the Artukid dynasty fell to the Mongols sometime between 1235 and 1243, but the Mongols never directly governed the area. The Artukid family ruling Mardin became vassal state of the Mongol Empire. During the battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, the Artuqid ruler revolted against the Mongol rule. Hulegu's general and Chupan's ancestor, Koke-Ilge of the Jalayir, stormed the city and Hulegu appointed the rebel's son, al-Nasir, governor of Mardin. Altough, Hulegu suspected the latter's loyalty for a while, thereafter the Artukids remained loyal unlike nomadic Bedoun and Kurd tribes in the south western frontier. The Mongol Ilkhanids considered them important allies. For this loyalty they shown, Artukids were given more lands in 1298 and 1304. Mardin was later controlled by the Turkic tribes who came from Central Asia Akkoyunlu kingdom. The Kasımiye Madrasa was built by Sultan Kasım, son of the Akkoyunlu Sultan Cihangir, between 1457 and 1502. In 1517, Mardin was conquered by Ottoman Turks. During 1915-1916, Arab, Assyrian/Syriac and Armenian Christians of all denominations were massacred or driven away. After the genocide in 1916, the Christian survivors fled mostly south to Syria and Iraq. The most common destination was either Al-Kamishli or Al-Hasaka, Syria; there is even a Mardin Club in Detroit, MI today.

Mosques

• Melikşah Grand Mosque
  
• Melik Mahmud Mosque
  
• Abdüllatif Mosque
  
• Şehidiye Medresse and Mosque
  
• Selsel Mosque
  
• Necmettin Gazi Mosque
  
• Kasım Tuğmaner Mosque
  
• Reyhaniye Mosque
  
• Hamidiye Mosque
  
• Süleymanpaşa Mosque
  
• Secaattin and Mehmet Mosque
  
• Hamza-i Kebir Mosque
  
• Şeyh Abdülaziz Mosque
  
• Melik Eminettin el-Emin Mosque
  
• Sıtra Zaviye Mosque
  
• Şeyh Salih Mosque
  
• Mahmut Türki Mosque
  
• Sarı Mosque
  
• Şeyh Çabuk Mosque
  
• Nizamettin Begaz Mosque
  
• Kale Mosque
  
• Dinari Mosque
  

Churches

Monastery of Deyrul Zafran

• Meryemana (Virgin Mary) Church
  
• Mor Yusuf (Surp Hovsep) Church
  
• Mor Behnam Church
  
• Deyrü'z-Zafaran Monastery
  
• Mor Mihail Church
  
• Mor Semune Church
  
• Mor Petrus and Pavlus Church
  
• Red (Surp Kevork) Church
  
• Mor Cercis Church
  
• Mor Efraim Monastery

Climate

Mardin has a semi-arid climate with very hot and dry summers and cold, wet, and occasionally snowy winters. Temperatures in summer usually increase to 40°C - 50°C (104°F - 122°F) due to Mardin being situated right next to the border of Syria. Snowfall is quite common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two. Mardin has over 3000 hours of sun per year. The highest recorded temperature is +48.8°C.

Climate data for Mardin
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	6.1 (43.0)	7.5 (45.5)	12.0 (53.6)	17.7 (63.9)	24.2 (75.6)	30.9 (87.6)	35.3 (95.5)	34.9 (94.8)	30.4 (86.7)	23.1 (73.6)	14.4 (57.9)	8.2 (46.8)	20.39 (68.71)
Daily mean °C (°F)	3.1 (37.6)	4.1 (39.4)	8.2 (46.8)	13.7 (56.7)	19.7 (67.5)	25.8 (78.4)	30.0 (86.0)	29.6 (85.3)	25.2 (77.4)	18.5 (65.3)	10.7 (51.3)	5.2 (41.4)	16.15 (61.07)
Average low °C (°F)	0.6 (33.1)	1.3 (34.3)	4.7 (40.5)	9.9 (49.8)	15.1 (59.2)	20.2 (68.4)	24.6 (76.3)	24.6 (76.3)	20.6 (69.1)	14.6 (58.3)	7.7 (45.9)	2.7 (36.9)	12.22 (53.99)
Precipitation mm (inches)	99.8 (3.929)	110.7 (4.358)	94.6 (3.724)	75.5 (2.972)	37.7 (1.484)	8.3 (0.327)	3.3 (0.13)	1.2 (0.047)	4.1 (0.161)	33.3 (1.311)	68.7 (2.705)	104.2 (4.102)	641.4 (25.252)
Avg. rainy days	10.6	10.6	10.7	9.9	6.6	1.7	0.5	0.2	0.7	5.3	7.4	10.2	74.4
Sunshine hours	139.5	142.8	189.1	222	310	375	396.8	368.9	315	238.7	174	136.4	3,008.2
Source: Devlet Meteoroloji İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü [1]

Notable people

• The world's tallest living man since 2009, Sultan Kösen, lives nearby.
• The Turkish poet Murathan Mungan hails from Mardin.
• Blessed Ignatius Maloyan was the Armenian Catholic Church's Archbishop of Mardin. After refusing to convert to Islam, Archbishop Maloyan was murdered as part of the Armenian Genocide.
• Birthplace of photographer Yousuf Karsh.

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Turkey

Twin towns — Sister cities

Mardin is twinned with:

Ljubljana, Slovenia, since 2003

See also

• Mardin (Chaldean Diocese)
• Tur Abdin
• Midyat

References

• Ayliffe, Rosie, et al.. (2000) The Rough Guide to Turkey. London: Rough Guides.
• Gaunt, David: Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I, Gorgias Press, Piscataway (NJ) 2006 I
• Grigore, George (2007), L'arabe parlé à Mardin. Monographie d'un parler arabe périphérique. Bucharest: Editura Universitatii din Bucuresti, ISBN (13) 978-973-737-249-9 [2]
• Jastrow, Otto (1969), Arabische Textproben aus Mardin und Asex, in "Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft" (ZDMG) 119 : 29-59.
• Jastrow, Otto (1992), Lehrbuch der Turoyo-Sprache in "Semitica Viva – Series Didactica", Wiesbaden : Otto Harrassowitz.
• Minorsky, V. (1991), Mārdīn, in "The Encyclopaedia of Islam". Leiden: E. J. Brill.
• Niebuhr, Carsten (1778), Reisebeschreibung, Copenhagen, II:391-8
• Shumaysani, Hasan (1987), Madinat Mardin min al-fath al-'arabi ila sanat 1515. Bayrūt: 'Ālam al-kutub.
• Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste (1692), Les six voyages, I:187
• Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1971), Linguistische Analyse des Arabischen Dialekts der Mhallamīye in der Provinz Mardin (Südossttürkei), Berlin.
• Socin, Albert (1904), Der Arabische Dialekt von Mōsul und Märdīn, Leipzig.
• della Valle, Pietro (1843), Viaggi, Brighton, I: 515
• Wittich, Michaela (2001), Der arabische Dialekt von Azex, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

External links

• News Portal of Mardin City
• Mardin Derik
• Mardin Tourism and Travel Guide
• Mardinimiz.net
• Governorship of Mardin
• Pictures of the city
• Mardin Weather Forecast Information
• Mardin Guide and Photo Album
• First International Symposium of Mardin History
• Istanbul'daki Mardinliler Egitim ve Dayanisma Vakfi
•  "Mardin". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 

• Mardinimiz.net