Diyarbakir
Lying in the Southeastern part of Turkey, Diyarbakir has claim to being one of the oldest cities in the world, so not surprisingly it has a colorful and violent history. The city certainly existed at the time of Hurrian empire some 5000 years ago and it subsequently saw successive periods of Urartian, Assyrian and Persian hegemony before falling to Alexander the Great and his successors, Seleucids.
The Romans appeared in the scene in 115 AD and over the next few centuries they and their successors, Byzantines, struggled violently over Diyarbakir with the Sassanid Persians. The Romans built the first substantial walls around the city in 297 but the ones we see today were built by the Byzantines on top of the Roman originals. Their threatening basalt bulwarks gave the place its popular ancient name, Amid the Black. The modern name of Diyarbakir comes from the Arabs which came to Diyarbakir at 638. With the decline of the Arab influence in the region, Diyarbakir became a Seljuk and finally an Ottoman stronghold.
Diyarbakir's 6 kilometer long city wall, breached by 4 huge main gateways plus several smaller ones, and dotted with 72 defensive towers, is Diyarbakir's most famous attraction. Although the foundations are Roman/Byzantine, most of what can be seen today dates from the 11th century Seljuk Empire. It is said that, like the Great Wall of China, the Walls of Diyarbakir are the only man-made structures on earth visible from space. The black basalt walls are 10-12 meters high and 3-5 meters thick and perfect examples of the military architecture of the middle ages.
Ulu Cami in Diyarbakir, probably built in 1091 by the Seljuk Emperor Melik Sah, is one of the most important places to visit in Diyarbakir. Legend claims that it was built on the site of the Byzantine Church of Saint Thomas at the time of the Arab invasion in 638 which gives rise to the assertion that this is the oldest mosque in Anatolia. Mesudiye Medresesi (medrese meaning university in the Arabic language) is the oldest university in Anatolia and lies in the Ulu Camii. Some other historical Mosques, Armenian Churches and Christian Churches still exists and is in use in Diyarbakir.