Erzurum

I left on a train from Ankara Sunday afternoon, and this same train arrived at Erzurum on Monday around 12:30 p.m. This arrival was close to an hour and a half behind schedule, but by Amtrak standards this is quite good. The train ride was pleasant, although since there was no sleeping car I had to make do with a seat. Nonetheless, the train trip was well worth it. The scenery on the second day in particular, between Sivas and Erzurum, was incredible. The rail line wound its way through numerous canyons and tunnels, following the course of the Eurphrates and then Arash rivers.

Once in Erzurum, I found a hotel my guide recommended, the Polat Hotel. I paid 35 lira for a room (a little expensive perhaps, but I hadn't slept a full night in a few days). Then I proceeded to explore the city proper. One thing that immediately struck me about Erzurum is that it is a much more conservative town than Ankara. Most of the women here wear some type of headscarf, and some even wear the chador, a black garment which leaves only the eyes and hands exposed (made famous through Iran). Additionally, most restaurants do not offer any alcohol, something I found out when I tried to find a place which served beer for lunch.

Erzurum's Byzantine name was Theodosiopolis, named after the emperor Theodosios II (the same emperor who built the second circuit of Istanbul's land walls). The city was of major importance to the Byzantines until it was captured by the Seljuks in the aftermath of the Battle of Mantzikert (1071). Despite the city's importance to the Byzantines, the sole monumental evidence of Byzantine occupation of the site of the present-day city is the kale, or hilltop fortress. This particular kale is quite large, perhaps 200 by 50 meters square, and was still used into the 19th and 20th centuries (the Russians captured Erzurum during World War I). Within the kale is a combination 12th-century Seljuk tomb and small mosque. A large tower, perhaps 50 meters high, stands over the kale. It is also a Seljuk construction, although obviously much improved in modern times.

Leaving the kale behind, I visited the numerous mosques within the city. The most impressive one by far is the Chifte Minareli Medrese. The Medrese is an enormous and imposing building, with two colorful towers, each about 30 meters high, standing over the entrance. The entrance gives way to a roofless courtyard, with a tomb on the other side. This is a strange-looking building, and it bears little resemblance to any other medrese I've ever seen.

Only slightly behind this medrese in architectural fancifulness is the Yakutiye Medressi, an early fourteenth-century Ilkhanid foundation. The exterior of the entrance is carved with stunning lattice work. This lattice work includes two facing lions beneath a double-headed eagle on each side of the entrance. The ubiquity of the double-headed eagle as a symbol throughout Anatolia's history is something I hadn't fully appreciated until this trip.

The other buildings in the city were not nearly as impressive as these two medreses. Having seen most of what there is to see in Erzurum, today I board a train at 11:00 to Kars, and I should arrive there in the early afternoon. I'll tour the monuments of Kars proper later today, and then tomorrow morning I plan to go to Ani (the whole reason I came to eastern Turkey in the first place). I'll update frequently in the coming days.