Dramatic Dogubayazit, set on a stark treeless plain between ranges of craggy mountains, is the last Turkish town on the highway to Iran. The border, 22 miles to the east, helps to define the role that Dogubayazit (Altitude 6400 feet, population 36,000) plays in life, as does the striking 18th-century Ishak Pasha Palace 3 miles to the east. You may be here to gaze upon legendary Mount Ararat, or the giant meteor crater 2.5 miles west of the border, or Eski Beyazit, the foundations of a settlement thought to date from Urartian times (800 BC).
To put Turkey into perspective, Istanbul is 939 miles from Doguybayazit!
Famous in the Bible as the final resting-place of Noah's Ark, Mount Ararat has been wreathed in legends for millennia. Its two peaks, Great Ararat (16,854 feet) and Little Ararat (12,779 feet) were revered by the people of ancient Urartu (13th to 7th centuries BC), who gave their name (Urartu = Ararat) to the mountain. The nearest town to the mountain is Dogubayazit.
When permits are granted for climbs up the mountain, the treks depart from this town. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2000 BC) describes a great flood, as does the later record of Berossus (3rd century BC), and of course the Bible (Genesis and Gospels) and the Kur'an. In the story, a flood lasting 40 days and nights wipes out all living things except those in a boat or ark built, on orders of God, to survive The Deluge. In the ark are male and female representatives of each species, including Noah, his wife and family. Recent marine archeological research in the chill, deep waters of the Black Sea has revealed sunken cities on the underwater slopes along the Turkish coast. Geological evidence supports the theory that in ancient times the northern end of the Bosphorus was blocked by earth and rock. Were there characters like Noah who saw the flood coming and built boats to survive? We may never know. Posted by Blog Assistant.
When permits are granted for climbs up the mountain, the treks depart from this town. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2000 BC) describes a great flood, as does the later record of Berossus (3rd century BC), and of course the Bible (Genesis and Gospels) and the Kur'an. In the story, a flood lasting 40 days and nights wipes out all living things except those in a boat or ark built, on orders of God, to survive The Deluge. In the ark are male and female representatives of each species, including Noah, his wife and family. Recent marine archeological research in the chill, deep waters of the Black Sea has revealed sunken cities on the underwater slopes along the Turkish coast. Geological evidence supports the theory that in ancient times the northern end of the Bosphorus was blocked by earth and rock. Were there characters like Noah who saw the flood coming and built boats to survive? We may never know. Posted by Blog Assistant.
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