Mount Ararat and Dogubayazit

Places of Interest - Turkey

introduction

Dogubayazit is a dusty town at about 2000 meters altitude which is the last "real" Turkish city on the way to the border with Iran. The border town therefore has a large Iranian influence and is the main artery of Europe to Asia, resulting in a stream of migrants, but also "touts" and other people who want something from you. In the windy city itself there is little to do or see, except for a local market.

The big tourist sights are to find outside the city. About 5 kilometers east is the beautiful Ottoman palace Ishak Pasa; a very grotesque Oriental Palacecomplex situated between the bare rocks and walls of the mountains here. But perhaps the most important site is and remains the "peak" above the 5000 meter high peak Ararat. You can climb the mountain but also see the supposed Ark of Noah which is 20 kilometers away from the snowy mountain peak.

highlights

Mountain Ararat and Noah's Ark:

Mount Ararat is with 5137 meters the highest and largest mountain in Turkey and the Armenian Plateau. In addition to the highest peak, the mountain also has a lower summit of 3896 meters altitude in the southeast called Little Ararat. The stratovolcano Ararat is made up of layers of lava and tufa. It is not known when the last eruption of the Ararat took place.

The Ararat is considered a sacred mountain because according to the Bible (Genesis) the Ark of Noah landed on the mountains of Ararat after the sinking of the water of the flood (on the seventeenth day of the seventh month). Noah built this vessel (Ark literally means "coffin") according to biblical tradition by order of God, who gave him precise instructions for this. When the flood was imminent, God had a male and a female brought to the ark of all the basic species of the land animals and birds. An amount of all the edible food had to be included.

Last, Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives entered the ark. Then it began to rain heavily for forty days and forty nights, and the flood came. A hundred and fifty days passed before the water sank and the ark got stuck to the Ararat mountains. After a raven and sending out a dove three times to find out if the earth had dried up, Noah and his family, and the animals that were with them, left the ark. The Armenian people in particular have been seeing the Ararat as a spiritual homeland with great reverence since ancient times.

Today the mountain is the national symbol of Armenia and is also in the coat of arms of this country. Although conservative believers (Jews, Christians and Muslims) believe that there really is an Noah's Ark and that the oval shape with upstanding "petrified" edges of 300 meters long and 5 meters wide that we can see today, are the remains of the Ark, there is great doubt among researchers and scientists about the existence of the Ark.

Palace of İshak Paşa

The palace of İshak Paşa is a largely Ottoman palace complex located on a hill about 5 km east of Doguybayazit. The palace was built on behalf of Colak Abdi Pasha and the construction was started in the year 1685. It is a mix of styles; Seljuk, Ottoman, Georgian, Persian and Armenian. According to the inscription in the door, the harem was completed by his grandson Ishak (Isaac) Pasha in 1784.

The palace is more of a complex of buildings than a palace. It is the second administrative campus, after the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul and the most famous palace built in more recent years. The palace was built during a period when castles no longer stood for safety and where firearms were developed, but that does not detract from this beautiful building in a very mystique and picturesque location.

There are two courtyards, the second only for family and high guests and the first for "regular" visitors and traders. You can visit the mosque, the harem, the library, the armory and the dungeon.

ENTRANCE: 7 million Lira.

history

Various attempts have been made to find the ark of Noah and most agree that this must have been at the Ararat mountain, but nothing concrete has yet been found.

The first Westerner who started Ararat's ark was Marco Polo, who in 1271 heard about the ship of Noah during his trip to China and wrote about it in his famous travel book in Genoa prison. In 1960, Life Magazine published an article that depicted an aerial photograph showing the contours of a ship.

Noah's-Ark-Ararat-Dogubayazit-Turkey-Shape

tips & advice (2004)

The "big" bus station is located in the middle of the center (east side) and from here (large) buses usually go first to the city Erzurum and from there to elsewhere in the country. In addition, there are several smaller (bus)stations where minivans (dolmuses) depart mainly to the south, east (border Iran = 40 km) and the north of the country.

Dogubayazit - Amasya: first you will have to go to "Erzurum" in 5 hours; cost about 8 mln lira - it is about 285 km.

Name: Hotel Erzurum

Address: Dr Ismail Besikci Caddesi 22

Price: 5 mln Lira (dormitory)

Phone nr. : 312 5080

Content:

This hotel is located in the main street of the city (right in the center of everything) and is in need of a good cleaning and a major renovation. An old-fashioned hotel with dorms but also a one person and "double" rooms. The staff is friendly, the dorm room is spacious but it is dusty and very quaint with large wooden bunk beds.

The stations of dolmusses and the big bus station are both a stone's throw from each other; in that respect, perfectly situated.

As mentioned, there is little to do in the dusty town of Dogubayazit itself. But it is and remains the best place to book a tour to the holy mountain Ararat and the alleged Ark of Noah. Even though you do not believe that the story is full, the biblical story does not bother you either - the view or panorama you are presented with it is and stays mythical. In addition, a visit to the palace is unique - this is a "setting" in which such a palace fits - bare, khaki-colored rocks and stones and no flat or other home or people in sight.

And the palace itself is also really worth a visit. You can visit the palace on your own, but the mountain Ararat as well as the Ark you can better visit together in a tour - you can hardly get here with public transport - everything is possible but it is a lot more efficient, cheaper and smarter to do it in a tour.

TOUR Ararat

Departure 11:00 - Arrival 17:30

Departure from center Dogubayazit

Price pp: 15 mln Lira (5 persons total)

Including:

Meteor crater and border Iran
Ark of Noah and museum
Mount Ararat (viewpoint)

Ishak-Pasha-Palace-Dogubayazit-Dome-Turkey