As the plane begins to descend to the land, Van's extraordinary landscape of snow-covered rugged mountains welcomes its visitors located in eastern Anatolia, drawing strength from ancient roots that date back millennia, recounting tales of empires and civilizations that have indelibly marked its streets.

After exploring so many stories and history as if wandering in a living impressionist painting, also narrated by our local tour guide Murat Beyaz, gathering these stories felt like a debt to me. Because the city of Van truly enchants visitors in every aspect and maybe even becomes such an impressive place that one might not want to leave. Drawing you into its essence and stories with its silence and tranquility, it makes you feel as if time has stopped.

We can say there are quite a lot of things that could be called unique to this place. One of them is the pearl mullet, or as locals call it, the Van fish, which inhabits Lake Van. The lake hosts a tale of the "Lake Van Monster." Overlooking the entire city stands the fortress erected by the Urartians, observing every moment from sunrise to sunset. The silver craftsmanship "savat" (niello work) draws the shapes from Urartian symbols. Van is a city of historical significance and deep-rooted myths, where every moment, from sunrise to sunset, unfolds as a separate scenic marvel.

Van Castle

Van Castle, overlooking the ancient city from the hilltop, was constructed during the Urartian period, which flourished between the ninth and sixth centuries B.C. in the Armenian Highlands. It is accompanied by an Ottoman mosque and a cemetery on its slopes.

The Urartians, known for their advanced civilization and strategic military prowess, chose this elevated location to establish a stronghold that not only provided defensive advantages but also served as a symbol of their power and authority over the surrounding region.

Also, they worshipped Haldi, the chief deity of the Urartian pantheon. As the god of thunder, lightning and fertility, Haldi was venerated by the Urartians as the supreme ruler of the universe, wielding power over both the natural world and the affairs of mortals. Depicted in various forms, Haldi is often portrayed as a formidable figure, exuding strength and authority. One of the most iconic representations shows him crushing the head of a lion, symbolizing his dominion over the forces of nature and his ability to subdue chaos and disorder.

As an important historical landmark of the city, naturally, there have been some rumors circulating among the locals about this castle as well.

Rumor has it, that to appease this deity, a certain number of animal sacrifices were required annually. Thus, deeply rooted in the tradition of sacrificial offerings, this civilization constructed various channels within the fortress to ensure the regular flow of blood from the altar.

Furthermore, among the locals, there exists a superstition that affixing a stone to the wall of the tomb at the foot of the mountain would lead to encountering good fortune and receiving a marriage proposal. It is believed that one must slide down from a certain point of the mountain and perform this act on a Thursday.

Directly opposite the fortress stands the Van Museum, which narrates the entire history of the city.

Tariria

Rumour has it that the 51-kilometer-long (31.69-mile-long) Menua Irrigation Canal, a wonder of Anatolian and world water engineering, was built by King Menua to immortalize his love for his wife, Tariria. The canal was used between 700 and 800 B.C. to meet the freshwater needs of the Urartian Kingdom and to irrigate the Van Plain. The surroundings of the water canal, some sections of which are still in operation today, were also adorned with artificial terraces and vineyards. When designing the gardens around the canal, the king was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Therefore, the Tariria gardens are filled with both myths and symbolic narratives, making it quite an iconic place for the city. At the same time, being situated directly across from Lake Van, the area offers a breathtaking view.

To preserve this historical fabric, Homage Hospitality, based in Istanbul, initiated the Tariria project, named after this legend, Kadem-bastı, where the historical canal is located, meaning "the place where one steps with good luck."

The Tariria project, inspired by a legendary love story dating 2,800 years ago in the lands of Van, encompasses culture, art and gastronomy, and prepares to revive Van’s rich heritage with a modern perspective. Aiming to make the region a national and international destination through tourism, culture and gastronomy activities, the project appears as a new reference center that will lead to sustainable local development.

Bekir Kaya, the co-founder of Tariria, states that they aim to provide gastronomy education opportunities to young people in the region through this multifaceted project with an investment budget of approximately $10 million (TL 308.69 million) and plan to create employment opportunities for the local community.

It also carries out works to preserve Van’s endangered local fruits and vegetables, such as the Erciş black grape, local melon and walnut varieties; to conserve species, such as the Norduz sheep – nourished by the unique nature of Van; and to introduce regional gastronomic values, including Van’s herb cheese – a product of the culture of collecting herbs from the mountains, the Van honey collected from the spring flowers of lush meadows, and the endemic pearl mullet of Lake Van.

Also attractive with its unique architectural design, offers visitors a visual feast with its entirely glass-covered and column-free steel structure. The most significant feature of the building is that it has been constructed without cutting down a single tree, demonstrating an environmentally friendly approach by the architect Kay Ngee, who prepared a design in line with the "pavilion in the garden" school of thought for the project, highlighting Tariria’s design that pays tribute to the historical and cultural richness of Van.

Akdamar Church

The Holy Cross Church on Akdamar Island was built by the architect Bishop Manuel between the years of 915 and 921 by the order of King Gagik I to house a part of the Holy Cross, which is narrated to have been brought to the Van region in the seventh century after it was smuggled from Jerusalem to Iran. Built in the southeast of the island, the church is considered to be one of the most brilliant works of medieval Armenian art in terms of architecture. The exterior of the church is built of red andesite and adorned with rich plant and animal motifs in basso-relievo style and scenes from the Old Testament and New Testament.

These parables include the story of Prophet Jonas, being thrown into the sea and swallowed by a fish, the fish leaving the Prophet Jonas on the shore, the scene of Prophet Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac and the ram dropping out of the sky, Moses and the Ten Commandments, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, Adam and Eve, John the Baptist's encounter with Jesus Christ and many more.

Interestingly, prominent Turkish writer and Van enthusiast Yaşar Kemal played a significant role in ensuring the survival of the church until today. Along with many other Armenian monuments in the east, the demolition of Akdamar Church was decided by the government in 1951. The demolition work, which began on June 25, 1951, was halted by the intervention of Yaşar Kemal, who was a young journalist at the time and happened to be aware of the incident by chance. Yaşar Kemal is so in love with this geography that he speaks of it as follows:

"In the world, there is no lake, no sea, no water that can match the blueness of Lake Van. It's azure ... a maddening blue. Such a blue doesn't exist in the sky or anywhere else. Only one blue resonates with this blue: the blue of the flowers in the Diyarbakır plain. And if you break a piece of glass and look at its cross-section, that's the blue."

Love to nowhere

There is one poignant, impossible love story associated with Akdamar Island that can be found in almost every city in Türkiye.

Legend has it that within the church erected by King Gogik I of the Vaspurakan dynasty, a prominent monk bore a daughter of extraordinary beauty named Tamara. She found herself enamored with a young shepherd dwelling in a village along the nearby coast of the island. Despite their affection, a barrier stood between them: the shepherd was of the Muslim faith.

Tamara's father, the head monk, discovered this forbidden romance and their clandestine meetings were illuminated by a faint lantern's glow. Upon a stormy night, he resolved to extinguish this affection. He cast deceptive lights across the waters by boarding a boat with a lantern in hand. The shepherd, guided by the shifting glow, swam tirelessly in pursuit of his beloved. Yet, as exhaustion overcame him, he cried out with his final breaths, "Tamara! Ah, Tamara!" It's said that the name "Akdamar," born from the whispers of this tragedy, stems from the anguished plea of the doomed lover: "Ah, Tamara!"

Lake Van monster

In the geographies where lakes are present, the existence of a feared creature is often found in the folklore of many cultures. I believe this is mostly related to people's inability to cope with natural forces. And perhaps the feeling that nature, which appears sublime to them, must have a supernatural aspect. Similarly, Lake Van, which adorns the landscape, especially at sunset like a living impressionist painting, has had its share of this.

At one point, this myth was quite popular in Türkiye in the 2000s. Almost every year, someone claimed to have seen this creature, and journalists would come here to shoot documentaries. Even an article in the Ottoman newspaper Saadet dated April 29, 1889, recounted that a creature had dragged a man into Lake Van. Following reports of the incident, the Ottoman government sent an official scientific survey group to the lake which failed to spot the creature.

This myth takes its origins from Armenian mythology. Resembling Leviathan, this creature, called vishap, according to the myth, lives on the top of Mount Ağrı, which is highly sacred to Armenians, and occasionally attacks the settlers. However, after a while, the frequency of these attacks increased so much that people, tired of it, prayed to the reaper of vishaps, the god Vahagn, to get rid of it. Vahagn is so angry with the vishap that he catches it with his fire and burns it up to the level of the sun, after which the creature turns into ashes. Legend has it that all the ashes of the vishap fall into Lake Van and unite there, resurrecting it once again.

It should also be noted that Türkiye's prime minister between 1925–2006, Bülent Ecevit, wrote a poem called "Lake Van Monster" which goes as:

"Even if the know-it-alls don't believe; I live in Lake Van,

Sometimes I withdraw into its depths; Other times I overflow from its shores,

...

In the depths of the lake; a mysterious monster lives,

With the breath it takes from you; But as long as the lake is calm,

Sleeps silently in its depths; Even if you encounter it in a dream

You won't notice it."