The telegraph

The gorgeous Turkish surprise you have most likely by no means heard of

Bordered by tawny peaks rising to 13,000 toes, the beautiful blue Lake Van, an inland sea seven occasions the scale of Lake Geneva, is one in every of Turkey’s best-kept secrets and techniques. On condition that this intriguingly lovely excessive altitude lake (5,380 toes above sea degree) lies practically a thousand miles drive east of the Flesh Swimming pools of the financial and cultural capital of the Turkey, Istanbul, it isn’t stunning that comparatively few Turks go there, not to mention foreigners. , which as an alternative flock to the nation’s Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Distant at present, the lake was as soon as astride a significant department of the Silk Street and was for a lot of centuries a populated and affluent area. The Armenians who lived right here till the vicissitudes of World Battle I had a saying: “Van on this world, paradise within the subsequent”, and the beautiful medieval church buildings that dot its shores bear witness to their business and piety. Van was additionally a paradise for the precursors of the Armenians, the little-known Urartians. From round 900 BC to 600 BC, the Kingdom of Urartu rivaled the mighty Assyrian Empire to the south, they usually gave in addition to they obtained towards the notoriously warrior Assyrians of their formidable palace-fortress capital. on the jap shores of the Lake. Situated on the outskirts of the one city on the lake, Van (a million inhabitants), the Rocher de Van makes a great introduction to the area. A few mile lengthy, this spectacular limestone outcrop rises from a swampy floodplain, with a steep cliff riddled with rock-hewn tombs of the Urartian kings on the south facet, and a milder north flank rising to the partitions. of mud bricks from the Ottoman interval. from a powerful summit. The views west of the summit, particularly at sundown, when the low solar hangs like a golden globe above the indigo vastness of the unruffled lake, the orange sky washed with pink and purple, are elegant. These to the east, with the upcoming presence of volcanic Mount Erek (10,416 toes), are solely barely much less dramatic. The presence of the Urartians is in every single place on the Rock. A go to to the tomb of King Argishti, comprising a number of chambers carved into the steep cliff, just isn’t for the dizzying ones, however properly well worth the effort for the beautiful cuneiform inscription carved above the steps resulting in its opening. Different writings adorn the western finish of the rock and, at its jap fringe, two massive arched niches as soon as housed statues of Urartian gods. To study extra a few individuals famend for his or her abilities in metallurgy and engineering, there’s the state-of-the-art Urartu Museum, one of many largest in Turkey and containing practically 100,000 artefacts. The museum’s elegant glass facade has been artfully designed to mirror the magnificent Van Rock reverse. On the foot of the southern cliff of the Rock are the poignant stays of the Previous Van, destroyed within the combating between the Ottoman Turks, Armenians and Russians in WWI. Two enticing Ottoman mosques have been restored, though not a lot stays besides the crumbling baked-brick minarets of some mosques in Selçuk, the shell of an Armenian church, and a caravanserai (vacationers’ hostel). Look as much as the Rock to see the large trilingual fifth century BC inscription of Persian King Xerxes engraved excessive into the cliff, and behind the church plenty of khachkars, distinctive Armenian crosses, have been carved into it. outcrop by pilgrims.