Mardin

Below the main street, stepped lanes branch off past smithies, saddlers and spice sellers. The alleys are so narrow, with so many stairs, that donkeys still haul away household rubbish. Shutters are down by late afternoon, so go round before noon.

A theological school founded in 1385 by the Artuqid Sultan Isa, its twin domes part of the skyline. From the roof the plain stretches away without end between the domes. The portal's stone carving is fine enough to hold you gazing up before you enter.

A theological school finished in the early 16th century below the old town, a channel crossing its courtyard. Water leaves a small spout, runs the length and drops into a pool: a human life, guides explain. It is far from the centre; many take a taxi.

A 12th-century Artuqid great mosque whose ribbed dome and carved minaret rise above the bazaar. The entrance is down steps deep inside the market lanes, so even having spotted it from above, finding the way in is tricky. Stay out during Friday prayers.

A Syriac Orthodox monastery about 6 kilometres east of Mardin, seat of the patriarchate until 1932. Monks still live and worship here, so visits go in guided groups at set times. Beneath it lies the site of an older temple to the sun.

Founded in the late 4th century on the Tur Abdin plateau near Midyat, one of the oldest monasteries still lived in. Doors open only at fixed daytime hours and shut over lunch. Shoulders and knees must be covered to be let in.

A town of stone mansions about an hour east of Mardin, with several Syriac Orthodox bell towers rising over its rooftops. Telkari shops, twisting silver wire into filigree, crowd the main street. A few old mansions open as museums and hotels.

A 6th-century Byzantine fortress city built to hold the Persian frontier, 30 kilometres southeast of Mardin. Rock-cut underground cisterns and cliff tombs survive, the cisterns as lofty as a church inside. A lived-in village is built over the ruins.

Finds from the region fill a stone building raised in the 1890s as the Syriac Catholic patriarch's residence. The building is a sight in itself, and some come in just for the arched galleries and courtyard. It is small; an hour is ample.

Built in the 6th century and still used for worship by the Syriac Orthodox community. The name comes from forty soldiers martyred in Roman times. If the door is locked, ask the caretaker in the yard; on many days he will open up.

Opened in 2009 in a converted stone cavalry barracks, it shows how Mardin people dressed, worked and married. Downstairs, a separate art gallery shares the building. Find it on the main road where the old town ends eastward.

Savur, sixty minutes east by road, stacks its stone houses up a valley side. A few old family mansions now take guests and cook home food for them. Much sleepier than Mardin, it has gardens strung along the river.