Mount Nemrut

On a 2,134-metre summit above the Euphrates basin, King Antiochos I of Commagene - ruler of a small kingdom wedged between Rome and Persia in the first century BC - built himself a tomb-sanctuary of magnificent ambition: a gravel tumulus some 50 metres high, flanked by terraces where colossal seated statues of gods, with Antiochos seated among them, once gazed out over Anatolia. Earthquakes have toppled the heads, and that is the image the world knows - two-metre stone faces of Zeus-like and Herakles-like deities standing ranked in the gravel, meeting sunrise on the east terrace and sunset on the west. UNESCO listed Nemrut Dag in 1987, and the pre-dawn pilgrimage by minibus and stepped path to watch first light strike the stone faces remains eastern Turkey's most theatrical appointment.

What you actually see

• The eastern terrace - the ranked heads at sunrise, the classic image.
• The western terrace - warmer evening light and the famous lion relief.
• The tumulus - the artificial gravel peak still hiding its royal tomb.
• The Commagene valley - Arsameia's reliefs and the Roman Cendere bridge on the road up.

When to go

May to October - snow closes the summit road the rest of the year. Sunrise is the ritual but sunset is warmer and less crowded; either way pack layers, because the summit is cold even in August.

Honest expectations

The visit means a pre-dawn start, a long winding drive and a steep stepped walk at altitude - modest fitness required. The statues are viewed from paths at respectful distance. It is remote: base yourself in Kahta or Adiyaman and expect the excursion to eat most of a day.

Nearby

Arsameia, the Cendere bridge, the Karakus tumulus and the town of Kahta below.