North Kurdistan · Bakur · Medieval & Islamic
Hasankeyf (Heskîf)
A medieval capital on cliffs above the Tigris, with cave dwellings, a great bridge and minarets — largely lost under a dam lake in 2020.
- Period
- 12th–15th century, on a far older site
- Place
- On the Tigris, Êlih (Batman) province
- Region
- North Kurdistan · Bakur
- Age
- Medieval & Islamic
People lived in the caves of Hasankeyf for thousands of years. In the 12th century it became a capital of the Artuqids, who built a bridge across the Tigris with one of the widest stone arches of its time; later the Ayyubids added mosques and the tall El Rizk minaret, and the Aq Qoyunlu the tiled tomb of Zeynel Bey.
In 2020 the waters of the Ilısu Dam covered most of the old town. Some monuments were moved to a new site before the flooding. Hasankeyf is remembered here as a loss, and as a reason to protect what remains.
Chosen and introduced by Aram Mizuri, architect in Erbil