Mardin

Photographer's Note

This is from Mardin, one of the oldest and most spectacular of the many old and spectacular cities in Turkey, described by Wikipedia as a kind of open-air museum due to its historical architecture. On top of the hill there is a glimpse of a castle said to be 3,000 years old.

Here is a larger version.

I spent one day in Mardin in July 1971 and have to confess I didn't like it very much, even though it was obviously a unique place, not like any other I had ever seen. Stupid circumstances made my short visit less pleasant than I had hoped for, but if I should go back to Turkey once more, Mardin would be very high on my agenda.

I was kind of "kidnapped" by two young men who had been on my bus from Urfa. They were friendly and helpful, but the "nice" hotel they brought me to turned out to be the worst stinking dump I had ever seen. They insisted on showing me the city but never understood why I wanted to stop to admire the many marvellously adorned faзades or visit any of the ancient mosques or churches.

I deeply regret that I was too polite to tell them to leave me alone. How I would have liked to explore the winding alleys and dark staircases on my own. And why didn't I look for a better hotel?

But I was also disturbed by the fuss I created in the streets. Lots of people stopped and stared at me, all the small boys came running, trying to borrow my camera or examine my shoulder bag. I also found the city disgustingly dirty.

But what an amazing city it is, filled with medieval buildings and tracing its history thousands of years back. It is a culturally mixed city dominated by Kurds but with a strong influence of Arabs and Chaldeans (Christian Assyrians/Syriacs) – unless the latter have all migrated to Sweden. There are about 150,000 Assyrians/Syriacs in Sweden, making them probably the largest Chaldean community outside the Middle East.

I have one nice memory from Mardin. In the evening, when I finally managed to go out alone to have dinner, I found a table next to a group of men who turned out to be policemen off duty. They greeted me and we exchanged a few polite phrases. They continued their meal and I had mine. Before I had finished they left, wishing me goodbye and a pleasant continued journey. When I later asked the waiter for my bill I was told that these men had already paid it.

I had similar experiences in many places on that journey. I will never forget the generosity and hospitality I met all over Turkey.

This photo was scanned from an Agfacolor CT18 slide. I won't post any other of my few photos from Mardin. This one is noisy, but you should have seen the others...

ktanska, Royaldevon, jhm, Fis2, johnjmoe, rychem, jean113, pierrefonds, PiotrF, mcmtanyel, ChrisJ, aliabazari, bertolucci, sacimar, lucasgalodoido, clic, macjake has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Silvio1953 (220525) 2020-01-19 0:47

Ciao Gert, great view of fantastic village on the rocks, lovely composition with besutiful old cars, excellent clarity, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

pajaran (114845) 2020-01-19 0:55

Pozdrav.
Lep pogled, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lepi automobili i fasade kuca.
Lepo pokazano.
Lepa fotografija i secanje.
Zelim vam lep dan za odmor, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Greeting.
Nice view, interesting and good text ...
Nice cars and facades house.
Beautifully shown.
Beautiful photography and memories.
Have a nice day for you, all the best.

Miguel82 (47110) 2020-01-19 1:22

Gert, that city on the hill looks very old. Some houses were built in cutted stones. Stairs lead to this neighborhood. Cars can t climb on the hill because the alleys are too small or don t exist then they use a parking further down. I like the vintage cars dating from the 70's visible here. Fine colors, good sharpness, absorbing photo note, regards.

ikeharel (112397) 2020-01-19 2:02

Not to believe that this is a scanned photo, Gert, technical's are immaculate and the subject is marvelously rendered.
Old town from almost 49 years ago, the cars models says it all.
One of your greatest post from this series.
Have a nice sunday,
Ike

lousat (138561) 2020-01-19 2:31

Hi Gert,so you were a bit disappointed by this city as i can read in your note. But the view is one of the most beautiful in your turkish memories series for me. A beautiful view on this hill full od old houses and some interesting facades too and a watch on the cars of these years,always interesting,good quality of sharpness too. Have a nice Sunday and thanks,Luciano

alvaraalto (42804) 2020-01-19 3:11

Hello Gert,
You have placed another beautiful story with this fascinating photo.
A day to remember with a happy ending that makes the experience of the day more acceptable.
A fascinating photo with the houses between the ruins and especially the cars places the photo well in time.
Have a nice Sunday, groet Rob

ktanska (44446) 2020-01-19 5:22

Hej Gert,
That city certainly looks ancient and this hillside view shows many old facades. Certainly not a touristic place. Interesting to read your mixed feelings about the place. I'm a bit surprised to see most of the cars are American.
Kari

jhm (211734) 2020-01-19 5:30

Hello Gert,

I see that you can make a big version, what is the link?
But I work still on Window 8.1! I want to Windos 10
Again wonderful done..
Pleasant composition, lovely presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice day
John.

Royaldevon (85606) 2020-01-19 5:38

Hello Gert,

I have to say, I look forward and enjoy your notes just as much as the photographs.
I can thoroughly understand how you felt after being 'befriended' by local people and not wishing to be impolite to them.
Something similar happened to us but much more recent, probably in the mid 1990's. We were 'befriended' shown interesting places and taken to the 'best' restaurant in town, which turned out to be very limited and quite expensive. I wondered if these friends were sent out to meet visiting tourists! Fortunately, we stayed only for drinks and then were able to say we were meeting friends - imaginary but a useful ploy!

It does seem a pity that you weren't able to make best use of your time there and visit the historical places that must have been hugely interesting and probably relatively free of other visitors. You will have to return!
As it is, you show us two contrasting parts of the city, the modern forms of transport, in a makeshift carpark, and the quaint, old houses, rising up the steep hillside, like crumbling steps!
I wonder what the roads were like to accommodate modern cars!

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

Fis2 (169659) 2020-01-19 7:09

Witaj Gert!
A very interesting view, architecture makes impression.
Good framing, composition and colors.
Curioius town.
Well done.
Nice afternoon.
Krzysztof

jmdias (114220) 2020-01-19 7:44

gert

they paid you a dinner and you didn't like the town !!! haha.
marvelous view with many different faзades in evidence and even a collection of old cars (fish tail). a place I never have heard about. TFS.

take care

jorge

rychem (72187) 2020-01-19 7:54

Great reportage photo, an amazing city and there are amazingly many cars which seem to be American road cruisers, nice note to your photo
regards Ryszard

jean113 (27613) 2020-01-19 9:15

Hello Gert, a fascinating real life account of your visit to Mardin.
The kindness of the off duty policemen making up for your experiences during the day.
I have never heard of Mardin before, I will look it up later to see how it is today.
The flashy and large American cars are a surprise.
A very interesting picture. The quality of your scans are very good.
Kind regards, Jean.

GyurMaster (24668) 2020-01-19 9:29

Dear Gert,

My first thoughts was exactly the same and your notes supported this assertion. The town indeed looks a bit dirty and the staircase on the left with that shady part isn't that inviting. It would be interesting to see how it developed during the decades.

Best Wishes,
Gy

pierrefonds (113534) 2020-01-19 9:39

Hi Gert,

I am seeing a lot of pld american cars. The pointof view is showing the details of the houses. The light is giving nice tints to the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

Tue (91526) 2020-01-19 10:37

Hej Gert,
Et smukt billede med den gamle by, som kan ses tydeligt herfra. Det meget gamle slot ser imponerende ud hшjt oppe pе bjerget. Du fik nogle fine klassiske biler med i forgrunden ogsе. Godt fanget!
Lars

PiotrF (54246) 2020-01-19 16:29

Hello Gert,
Interesting photo from your archive. Nice view of Mardin from years ago. Beautiful, old cars in the foreground. Thank you for informative note. I like good composition and nice colors.
Fine presentation.
Regards Piotr

Gerrit (62042) 2020-01-19 19:13

Hello Gert,
wonderful place indeed and the classic cars make it a fine seventees document too.
Thanks and regards,
Gerrit

mcmtanyel (67583) 2020-01-19 21:01

Hello Gert,
My, look at all those big (old) American cars used as taxis - of course, gas was cheap in 1971, the petrol crisis hadn't hit yet. Except for the few newer (but not nicer) buildings, the whole neighborhood is an archaeological site! 👍🏻👍🏻
Regards,
MT

ifege (46869) 2020-01-19 21:13

Hi Gert
Some memories of places are strong for the wrong reason. On looking at the map to see where it is I wouldn't think that it would be a great place to visit now, being so close to Syria.
There are lots of great bits of old detail in the photo making the large version a good one to examine slowly.
cheers
Ian

Nicou (193806) 2020-01-19 21:53

Hello

superbe vue et cadrage de cette sortie de ville avec toutes ces maisons collйes ce grand escalier а gauche les anciennes voiture а droit et ce rendu sur ces faзades de maison superbe composition et image
Bravo et amitiй
Nicou

emka (157280) 2020-01-20 0:21

hello Gert,

No links, no Workshops? Interesting view of this old city. I was thinking about going to Mardin when I was in Turkey last time, but it was too far. A pity, as it looks fascinating and probably it looks like this also now.

Kind regards Malgo

ChrisJ (171172) 2020-01-20 11:29

Hi Gert

I am a little envious that you at least got to visit Mardin. I considered it but left Hasankeyf for Tat Van via Batman instead. I had a similar experience in Cairo with someone latching on to me despite telling him several times that I did not want or need a guide. I just wanted to wander around & take photos. Like you I was probably too polite to tell him to get lost. I never really did get to like Cairo, & if it wasn't for the pyramids and archaeology museum I wouldn't recommend anyone ever visit. The noisy traffic and chaos of 20 million people were all too much for me. Anyway a nice scene reminiscent of Matera in Italy. Tfs!

aliabazari (21197) 2020-01-20 20:19

Hello my friend Gert
Nice view of this beautiful old town with classic cars. Good text. Good clarity and exposure. Thanks for sharing

SteveH (8220) 2020-01-20 23:59

Hi Gert, I remember Mardin more for the monastery on its outskirts but this shot shows some really interesting buildings, for those not deterred by a bit of dirt. Another good scan from your archives. cheers, Steve

mesutilgim (0) 2020-01-21 7:55

Hello Gert,
Another topclass capture and TE entry in your gallery.
I've been there many times, last time two years ago but unfortunately there is nıt much change even after almost half century.
Many good and usefull notes.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

bertolucci (14052) 2020-01-21 9:22

Hi Gert, The a bit toned down colours add an extra touch of authenticity to this vintage capture of Mardin. These old cars in a way work well with the weathered structure of the buidings of the town. Thanx for sharing. Bert
Best, Bert.

sacimar (38173) 2020-01-22 5:33

Hello Gert,

good old image of this place, I like the different types of cars we can see here and the how the facades of the houses create a beautiful collage, well done,

Best regards,

Sergio

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2020-01-22 9:17

Olб Gert,
mais uma bonita imagem antiga da Turquia, e achei a qualidade muito boa, nгo reparei ruнdos. Belo trabalho.
Parabйns e Abraзo,
Lucas

clic (76) 2020-01-22 11:41

Hallo Gert Given the bald cliff at the upper-right corner, I had first the impression Rock-Hewn dwellings, given the same building material used to erect the village. The Turkish building engineers of back then knew how to save space, quite evidently! This picture is quite interesting for its historic interest and scarcity on TE. Happily you met good at heart people for a free lunch instead of suspicious characters!!
Thanks for showin this piece of history with such highly-developed explanations. Halsningar

willperrett (14195) 2020-01-23 0:29

Hello Gert

An apparently largely monochrome city, though today it's probably "enlivened" by advertising hoardings and the like. Curiously (or perhaps not) my attention in this dun-coloured town is caught by the foreground cars, several of which appear to be '50s American. Not the Land Rover of course!

Regards

Will

macjake (98260) 2020-01-26 10:02

Hi Gert
i'm surprised there are no WS included this time, you almost always have them. Ok, lots to say here....First, just like many of your posts, after I write this I will click on the city Mardin to see the modern day shots. That's always interesting for comparison and to see if I can find any of that amazing architecture you commented about. Then of course there are the cars in the shot, in today's world, European countries are filled with SMALL cars, so its odd to see such large cars here - but then again its 1971 so it was a different time. I wonder what would have happened if you did tell these men to bugger off - you say it probably would have been a better experience if you did. However, perhaps it would have made the situation WORSE, you never know how people may react in that situation. Maybe it was best to just be polite and go along with it. Great ending to the story with the policemen paying your bill! Wonderful post, i'll check out other more recent photos now. cheers
Craig

kasianowak (17672) 2020-01-31 5:50

Hi Gert
You made me realise how often our memories of various destinations we visit are not objective but tinged with what we experienced and how we were feeling when we visited. That's how we personalise our travels and, while that mental process often results in great memories, it can sometimes spoil the pleasure of being in some truly amazing place. Your adventures remind me of my first visit to India, particularly the guided tour of Old Delhi (a tour just for me; but the guide could not understand why I wanted to stop to look at a chipmunk or a myna bird, creatures I had never seen before; also, the idea of taking photos seemed to be totally alien to him, as if we were just supposed to tick things off and then move on).
I like the photo. What really strikes me is that when you took it, it was showing new cars with old architecture in the background. Now it's showing... vintage cars with old architecture in the background. :-)
Thanks for sharing this shot and your memories!
Have a nice weekend
Kasia