Diyarbakır's basalt city walls circle the old town for about 5.5 km and are among the longest fortified walls anywhere, built up from Roman origins and heavily reinforced under the Artuqids. Inside them is a working old city of black-stone houses, a Seljuk-era mosque complex, and streets that still function as a market rather than a museum piece. A day here is walking the ramparts, then dropping into the Sur district for the buildings and courtyards behind the walls.
| Distance | 90 km from Batman |
|---|---|
| Travel time | 1.5 hours by bus |
| Getting there | Bus from Batman Otogar every 30-60 min; 80-120 TRY one way (~$2.70-4 USD); 1.5 hours |
| Address | Diyarbakır city center, Diyarbakır Province |
How to get there
- Intercity bus from Batman Otogar
- Rental car (90 min drive)
- Taxi (300-400 TRY one way, ~$10-13 USD)
Location
Diyarbakır city center, Diyarbakır Province
37.9144, 40.2306 View on map
Highlights
- Diyarbakır City Walls — walk a stretch between the bastions (burç) for the clearest sense of scale; several sections are open for climbing.
- Ulu Cami (Great Mosque) — an 11th-century Seljuk mosque built on a Roman/Byzantine site, with a courtyard layout unlike the domed mosques further west.
- Hasan Pasha Han — a 16th-century stone caravanserai near Ulu Cami, now shops and cafés around a two-storey courtyard.
- On Gözlü Köprü (Ten-Eyed Bridge) — a Roman-Artuqid bridge over the Tigris on the edge of town, worth a short taxi ride for the view back at the walls.
- Hevsel Gardens — the strip of riverside orchards below the walls, part of the same UNESCO listing as the fortifications.