A two hour flight from Istanbul in late May had taken me
southeast across Turkey to the lake side city of Van, not too far from the
borders of Iran and Iraq. I came here to spend my holidays exploring ancient
cultures. Lakes and mountains feel like a natural habitat for me and with
breathtaking scenery in every direction I felt at home immediately. These
mountains surrounding the lake were of great stature and dignity, many of them
still snow capped, but it was the mighty Mt Siphan on the north side which
really caught the eye.
Lake Van is a huge expanse of blue water with only inlets and no outlets, a
virtual inland sea. It did once have an outlet until blocked by an ancient
volcano. Van castle, located like most of the Urartian castles on a declining
ridge, once stood on the lakeside but no longer. The lake has receded over the
centuries so the castle and the city stand 2-3km from its shores. I especially
enjoyed wandering around the city. Its High Street takes on something of an
international character with banks, telephone and dress shops predominating but
pide and tantuni saloons offering Turkish fast food still have a presence. One
block in from the main drag is the real Turkey, shops in friendly disorder and
disarray. Strange products hanging like beads outside, men sat around small
tables waving an invitation to join them, offal shops displaying sheep’s heads
and innards. I strolled into the covered cheese market to find a dozen or so
shops piled high with cheese but in just two varieties, soft cheese with herbs
and soft cheese without, both of which I had tasted within seconds of entering.
Even if you don’t taste them there, they are certain to be on your breakfast
table.
In spite of my guide book’s discouraging comments about the food, I really
enjoyed it. Yes, the diet is meat based since the farming livestock is a major
industry here but the lamb is delicious and there is always chicken and fish.
The saline and soda waters of Lake Van are not good for fish but the rushing
mountainside rivers are ideal for trout. The meze dishes were inventive and the
use of pomegranate concentrate, nar ekşili sos, as a dressing added a new
dimension to salads.
The
Urartians were nowhere on our landscape before this visit but this was their
Kingdom in the ninth century BC. Their craftmanship cannot be denied even in the
way they cut and dressed stone but above all they were skilled silversmiths. A
shop in Van specialises in producing their designs in silver. Any high ridge
with a sloping approach from the end was an invitation to build a castle, like
the one here, hence the powerful Van Kalesi and the city of Van. Expect the
unexpected here, a landing jetty now far removed from the lake, arched niches
from a Urartian temple, an incredible wall of well preserved cuneiform and a Van
cat at the entrance house. The Van cat, a good natured white cat with one blue
and one golden eye, is the new darling of the cat breeders world.
The lush trees and shrubs of the lakeside disappeared on heading into the
mountains to find the castles, waterfalls or just the high mountain passes. I
was keen to visit the two castles which lie off the D975 road heading out
southeast from Van towards Güzelsu. The first reached is Çavuştepe founded as
long ago as the third millennium BC, according to Armenian folklore, but
certainly used by Urartian kings in the 8th century BC. Now this long ridge has
the remains of citadel walls, the king’s tower, storehouse, cisterns and more.
The curator was in the habit of plunging his hand into one of the buried grain
stores to pull out a handful of carbonised grain to show visitors, until he was
bitten by a scorpion which had taken refuge there. Now he has a sample in a
small box to show. From the castle we looked down on an immense fertile plain,
the Biblical Garden of Eden. Being an old cynic my eyes searched in vain for
apple trees. Should I have been looking for pomegranate trees?
The higher we drove into the remote mountains, the more Biblical the scenes
became with women riding donkeys and milking sheep in the wayside fields. As
always, I kept half an eye reserved for my other passion wildflowers. I was well
rewarded here when I spotted a spectacular dwarf iris, Iris paradoxa. These
barren mountain sides looked unlikely to offer little to the flower enthusiast
but careful exploration yielded dwarf tulips, fritillaries and more iris amongst
many others endemic plants special to this particular region.
Once the towering walls of Hoşap castle, at Güzelsu, come into view on its hill
crest, a guide or book is not needed to tell you this is a Medieval castle. It
was built in 1643 by a Kurdish warlord San Süleyman Mahmudi. Again the location
is spectacular and, viewing from the castle, the old walls enclosing the town
stand out clearly.
Time might seem to stand still here but not for visitors, it was galloping by. A
visit to the crater lake at the southern end of Lake Van was prevented by the
snow melt damaging the track at the very entrance. I was able to cross on foot
but there was not time to get to the lake itself. There remained one more site
of historical interest which I saved for the last day. The old Armenian
monastery on Akdamar island.
Built around 920AD, this monastery stands on the tiny island just off the shores
towards the southern end of the lake. Ferries ply back and forth quite regularly
whenever there are passengers to carry. The monastery, recently restored by the
Turkish government, is small but elegant. Relief carvings on the outside,
running in bands all the way around, depict Biblical stories including David
taking on Goliath. I took away not just good memories but a CD of Armenian love
songs to help with the nostalgia.
Hoşap Castle
Akdamar Monastery
Crater lake