Mardin Castle

The golden rock walls surrounding the summit of the hill that crowns the whole old city of Mardin is a 10^th century castle built by the Hamdanids.

The 3,000 years old castle is closed to the public at least for the past 60 years.  Because of its strategic position – at more than 1,000 meters high from the ground level – it was deployed by NATO  during the cold war, and was used by Weather Radar Position for 60 years.  It is called the “Eagle’s Nest”.

The fortress was never conquered by any other army, was besieged several times but never occupied.

Plans has it that it will undergo a TL20 million worth of restoration and will then be opened to the public to attract more tourists to come to Mardin by the year 2015.  This development is a long-awaited moment for the people of Mardin and for tourists as well.

Mardin Castle with houses below it.

The castle with Zinciriye Medresesi below it.

But at the moment – getting beyond the prohibited barricaded boundaries surrounding the castle is strictly prohibited and will put tourists crossing the line in danger from possible military assault.

I just content myself getting to the best possible distance that I could have a good view of the castle above from below.