The search for the 5 churches of Midyat

It was quite confusing! 

Meandering the streets of Eski Midyat desperately searching for those elusive churches gazing up most of the time looking for those bell towers I have seen and have “took a snap shot on my mind’s eye” from the rooftop of the Konuk Evi,  I'm having a stiff neck.  

The streets are winding, going up and down, ending in some cul-de-sac, to find myself on the same spot over and over again.  It’s a like a maze.  For foreign tourist (like me), it’s a tough task, information is hard to find.  There is a tourist information center near the mosque just around the clocktower but I didn’t find anyone there and even if I found one what are the odds that I won’t get lost in translation.

Children playing on the streets of the old town.

So there are five churches. I have visited the first one on my first morning, the Mor Barsawmo which is the most popular among all churches in the town.  I continued my search for the bell tower on the far-left end of the horizon while I was on top of the Konuk Evi, that will be the Second, and luckily I found it, and maybe it's the Mor Sharbel.

The Third one is not far from it at the edge of the town near the highway.  Both churches are closed, and it seemed like it’s non-operational.  Now, that’s 3 churches in total!

The First church - Mor Barsawmo.

This is the Second church, probably the Mor Sharbel Syriac Orthodox Church?

The Third church - and probably the Mor Akhsnoyo?

The fourth church was the one inside the high walls beside the Konuk Evi located at the edge of the town with the vast plain on the horizon, which was also closed.   

The Fourth church beside Konuk Evi.

And the search ensued for the remaining fifth. I think I have seen a belfry inside a walled compound in one of the street corner although I was not sure if it’s the back side of the Mor Barsawmo church, I was so damn tired to have to walk to the end of the street and turning right and left to get to the other side, so I concluded my search that day.

The Fifth church, or so I thought.

It's a cul-de sac, nowhere to go except to turn around.

You know those movies that leave the viewers thinking (to personally resolve) what might have happened in the end because the director or writer had decided to end it that way to make us mulling over the ending of the story and somehow we deduced it was an intelligent movie after all?

Well, that was exactly what just had happened to me that day!  I saw the last belfry considering finally that it may have been the fifth and last church on my list, if it was the back of the first and popular (Mor Barsawmo) church or not, I’m not sure and I don't want to find out.  All I know is that my tummy started to growl.  I had to end the day that way.  I walked along the maze-like streets in search for the Tarihi Geluski Hani, NO! it's not another church, it’s a restaurant, I was starving.

Knock knock!

Oh, here's an idea for the town's tourism bureau -  "Find the 5 churches of Midyat".  Let the tourists enlist to find all the churches in town and whoever accomplishes the task gets a certificate or a T-shirt that says "I survived Midyat" or a gift certificate from the best dining in town, hah!

Ok, I'm starving, really.