With its rich history and cultural heritage shaped by countless civilizations, Mardin, southeastern Türkiye, was swarmed by tourists during the nine-day Eid al-Adha holiday.
The city, which dazzles with its mosques, madrasas, churches and stone houses carved like lacework, has become one of the most popular tourism routes in recent years.
In addition to foreign tourists, domestic tourists also preferred the city during the nine-day holiday period, leading to high visitor density.
Hotels, guesthouses and traditional mansions in the city, with a total capacity of around 20,000 beds, reached nearly 100% occupancy.
During the holiday period, Deyrulzafaran Monastery and Kasımiye Medresesi each hosted around 30,000 visitors, while the ancient city of Dara, located 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the city center, exceeded 50,000 visitors.
This heavy tourist flow in the historic city pleased both the tourism sector and local shopkeepers.
Mardin Governor Tuncay Akkoyun told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the city experienced a busy period due to the nine-day holiday.
He stated that occupancy rates in hotels, historic mansions and guesthouses in the city approached 100% and added that all necessary measures were taken to ensure visitors had a comfortable holiday.
Emphasizing that the city is a model in the world with its thousands of years of history and culture, Akkoyun highlighted that, in addition to its historical structures, the hospitality of its residents is one of the most important factors in Mardin’s rise in tourism.
Akkoyun said, “Another equally important issue is the atmosphere of peace in the city. In recent years, Mardin has gained significant momentum in tourism. Our goal is to further increase this momentum. While there were 650,000 overnight stays two years ago, today this figure has exceeded 1 million. Similarly, the number of tourists entering and leaving the city, which was around 2 million, has now surpassed 3 million. In this sense, Mardin will be one of the most special cities in the world. We are working diligently for this.”
He added that they prioritize regional development in tourism and aim to further boost the region’s tourism momentum.
Travel agency representative Fehmi Sincar stated that the city, which has gained significant momentum in tourism, maintained this during the holiday period as well.
Expressing their happiness in hosting visitors from all regions of Türkiye, Sincar said, “There was above-capacity density in the city. We worked at a very intense pace and now we have a pleasant fatigue. Shopkeepers, tourism workers and hotel operators also had a ‘festival-like’ holiday.”
Yılmaz Hiçbezmez, chairman of the board of the Deyrulzafaran Monastery Maintenance and Restoration Association, said that during the holiday, they hosted more than 3,000 visitors daily and nearly 30,000 in total at the monastery.
He noted that they hosted more guests than expected and that visitor numbers increase every year.
Hiçbezmez said they hope to host even more visitors in the coming years, adding: “We are preparing accordingly. Mardin is a city of unity and togetherness, a city of religions. Everyone respects and loves each other. Mardin is a city that will set an example for the world. It is like an open-air museum, which is why it attracts so much attention.”
Özlem Tekin, a volunteer guide at the historic Kasımiye Medresesi and a Tourism Guidance student at Mardin Artuklu University, said that during the holiday, long queues occasionally formed due to heavy visitor numbers.
She stated that around 30,000 people visited the madrasa during the holiday and added:
“Seeing and hosting our guests here was a great pleasure for us. I see Mardin as a cradle of cultural heritage. That is why it attracts tourism interest.”
Local shopkeeper İbrahim Seçilmiş, who sells regional products in the city, said they had a very busy holiday period: “As shopkeepers, we had a very good holiday season.”
Oya Yiğiter, who sells handmade products in front of Kasımiye Medresesi, said that visitors showed great interest in handmade goods and that sales went well.
Ercan Bingöl, who came from Erzurum to visit the city, said he had the opportunity to travel around several cities in the Southeastern Anatolia Region during the holiday, including Mardin and recommended everyone to visit the cities in the region, which he greatly enjoyed.
