Midyat

Midyat is the principal town of the Tur Abdin, the limestone plateau that has been the heartland of Syriac Christianity for well over a millennium, and the old quarter of Estel-Midyat is built entirely in a pale golden limestone that is soft enough to carve when quarried and hardens on exposure - so facades, arches, doorways and courtyards are covered in fine relief work. Church towers rise among the minarets: several Syriac Orthodox churches are still in use by the remaining community, and the Mor Barsaumo and Mor Sharbel churches can usually be visited. The Midyat Guest House, a restored mansion, is open as a museum and gives the clearest sense of how these houses worked. The town is also the centre of telkari, the silver filigree craft, worked in small workshops around the market and sold there. It is an hour from Mardin, less visited, and its stonework is if anything finer.

What you actually see

• The limestone mansions - carved facades, arches and courtyards.
• The Syriac churches - working congregations and their towers.
• The Guest House museum - a restored mansion interior.
• The telkari workshops - silver filigree worked and sold.

When to go

April to May and October to November; summers on the plateau are extremely hot. Church access is easiest on weekday mornings.

Honest expectations

Churches are working places of worship for a small community - ask before entering or photographing. Summer heat is severe with little shade. Restoration in the old quarter is uneven.

Nearby

Mor Gabriel monastery is 20 km east; Mardin and Deyrulzafaran are an hour west.