Dara Ruins / Dara Ancient City has been fascinating with its beauty as one of the ancient legacies of Anatolia for 7000 years. How about discovering one of the most important legacies left by the Persians to Anatolian lands by using the car rental facilities? The most famous city of Mesopotamia, Mardin Dara Ruins is one of the most important ancient cities of the region with its 7 thousand-year history.
Dara Ruins was established as a settlement in 570 b.c and 530 b.c by the order of the Iranian ruler Darxis. It hosted the Persian and Babylonian Kingdoms. In the 12th century, it was first under the rule of the Umayyads and Abbasids, and then after the rule of various principalities. Finally, it under the rule of Ottoman. After visiting the ancient city of Dara, if you think about where I can have tea / coffee and where to eat in Mardin, you can take a look at our Mardin venue guide article.
Dara Ancient City
The ruins located in the Oğuz village on the Mardin Nusaybin road are spread over an area of approximately 10 kilometers within the village. According to the rumors, only 10% of the ruin has been opened for visiting. The fact that the first dam of Mesopotamia was built in this region and that the Silk road passes through the city of Dara is one of the features that make the city important. The excavations of the Dara Ruins started in 1986 from the Cistern and Agora, since most of the places in it were private property of the villagers.
By examining the excavations, the palace, dungeon and bazaar of the ancient city can be observed. Dara ancient city has 2 entrance gates. Built with large blocks of stone along the Dara stream flowing north from the south gate of the city, the Agora was used as the city’s public space during that time. The part, which was built underground during the time of its establishment, was later used as a dungeon and cemetery.
Another feature that makes the city important is the baptism boat in Dara, north-east of the Great Church, for the conversion of adults to Christianity.
Dara / Artuklu / Mardin
It is possible to see 2.5 km long walls in Dara, which has 28 towers and ditches, including inner and outer walls. The dungeon, which is located in the Sarnıç in the northwest of the city and has a height of 100 meters and has reached the present day intact, is worth seeing.
The Great Gallery, which is located at the end of the Dara Ruins and attracts my most attention, was found in 2009 by the Mardin Museum Directorate while excavating. It is said that over 3,000 human bones on the lower floor of the gallery were collected in this tomb for the day they will be resurrected, just like the miracle of Ezekiel in the Torah.
How to get to the Dara ruins? / Where is Dara ancient city?
Mardin Dara Ruins are 30 minutes away from the city. By choosing Mardin Airport car rental options, you can easily reach the Artuklu district of Mardin. Those who set out from Istanbul to visit Mardin historical buildings can benefit from İstanbul car rental opportunities. It takes 16 hours and 3 minutes between Istanbul and Mardin via O-4 and E90. Thus you can even take a short tour of Turkey. If you wondered how many kilometers between Ankara and Mardin, let’s just say it is 1029 kilometers. On D750 / E90 and E90, you can reach Mardin by examining Ankara car rental opportunities in 10 hours 52 minutes.
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