Midyat Voyage Tips and guide

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Midyat in Southeastern Anatolia is a museum city like its neighbour Mardin, approximately 1.5 hours away. Rock mansions, gates with arches, Süryani churches with minaret like ascending gong towers, characterize a medieval city. Most beautiful samples of masonry, known as Telkari were in Midyat. A few telkari masters are trying to continue their job within Midyat bazaar.

The province, which is a part of Upper Mesopotamia, is founded in Tur-Abidin (Turabdin) Region. Midyat is known as "Matiate", which means cavern city in 9th century B. C. Asur Tablets. Probably its name is coming from this.

Midyat is easy to reach from the nearby cities of Mardin and Batman by buses in about an hour. You can also visit as part of a guided tour of the town and Tur Abdin originating in Mardin. The nearest airports are Mardin Airport (MQM) and Batman Airport, which has flights from both Istanbul airports, Izmir, and Ankara (as of September 2024).

Although there are roads leading to the disrict from roughly all cardinal directions, your most likely point of entry will be Mardin and Batman.

Hitchhiking from Mardin (the ride should take around 2½-2 hours) is very easy, thanks to the hospitality of the local people.

There are buses from Mardin and Batman, which take around 1 hour and cost 150 TL (As of 2025). Minibuses (dolmuş) from Diyarbakır take 3.5 hours and cost 300 TL(as of 2004).

There is no direct flight to Midyat. One should get to Batman or Mardin Airport

The nearest station with a regular passenger train connection to the rest of the country is in Batman to the north.

You can easily explore the old town on foot. If you want to see the monasteries in the Tur Abdin and other attractions outside town, it’s best to have your own car, you can join a guided tour or find a local resident( though airbnb or couchsurfing) who could accommodate you.

• Çağdaş Et Lokantası, Gölçük,Cizre Yolu Üzeri,No: 14. (updated Feb 2025)

There are some great places to choose from in the old town catering to every budget. Nevertheless, booking in summer months, especially at weekends, is important since Midyat attracts more and more travellers day by day but there are not lots of places to stay. For the sights of Midyat cheap accommodations such as Airbnb and Couchsurfing can be found. For cheaper accommodations, Dargeçit can be a good option.