Van and the Kurdish highlands
وان و کوهستانهای کردSouth-eastern Anatolia, around Lake Van and the upper Tigris, where Kurdish is spoken.
Kurmanji and Zazaki, both Iranian languages, are spoken across the highlands of south-eastern Turkey, around Lake Van and the upper Tigris. For centuries the region was the frontier between Rome and Iran, and later between the Ottomans and the Safavids.
Diyarbakır's black basalt walls are among the longest city walls in the world, and on Akdamar Island in Lake Van stands the tenth-century Armenian church of the Holy Cross. Ahmad Khani's Mem and Zin, the classic of Kurdish literature, was written in this region in the seventeenth century.
Cities and towns
Diyarbakırدیاربکر
The city of black basalt walls
Vanوان
The city on the great lake
Mardinماردین
A hill town above the Mesopotamian plain
Landmarksبناها و نشانهها
Akdamar Island
آکدامارThe Armenian church of the Holy Cross in Lake Van
Walls of Diyarbakır
باروی دیاربکرBlack basalt walls around the old city
Van and the Kurdish highlands through time
Iranian historyThe Arab conquest and the Persian revivalفتح اعراب و احیای زبان فارسی
Islam reached Iran with the Arab armies of the 7th century. Persian survived, took on a new script and, under dynasties such as the Samanids, returned as one of the great literary languages of the world.
- Shapur II besieges and takes Amida
- Building of the Church of the Holy Cross begins
- Church reopens as a museum after restoration
- Diyarbakır Fortress inscribed by UNESCO