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Dara was a Byzantine outpost in Mesopotamia. It’s located between the cities of Mardin and Nusaybin in Southeastern Anatolia.
Introduction to Dara
Dara (Δάρας) was originally a military garrison built by Darius III, the last Achaemenid King of Persian, in the 4th century BC. It remained a small settlement until the early 6th century.
In 363, the Romans were forced to cede the city of Nisibis (now Nusaybin) to the Sassanid Persians. Nisibis had served as a fortress on what was at that time the border of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 505, Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I rebuilt Dara as a refuge for the army and to prevent further Persian incursions. The new city was originally called Anastasioupolis (Ἀναστασιούπολις).
Justinian I strengthened the walls, built a moat, and made extensive repairs. He renamed the city Iustiniana Nova, but it fell to the Sassanids under Khosrau I in 573–574. Khosrau II returned the city to the Romans in 591, and he later took it in 604–05 after a nine-month siege. Byzantine Emperor Heraclius regained it for a short time until it was finally captured by the Arabs in 639. After this, the city declined and was eventually abandoned by the 14th century. It was, however, an important bishopric until the 10th century.
The present village of Dara was founded in the 18th century. It was the site of a massacre during the Armenian genocide in 1915. Some reports state that “the cisterns were filled with the bodies of slaughtered Armenians from Diyarbakır, Mardin, and Erzurum”.
Getting to Dara
If you don’t have your own transportation, you can probably join an organized tour from Mardin, which is the nearest major city. It’s also possible to take a public bus or dolmuş from Mardin and get off in Dara. The ride takes about a half hour.
Where to Eat at Dara
There are a few decent choices for food if you’re in the area. You can choose from full service restaurants to food stands near the entrances to the most important sections.
Dara Kültür Cafe
Dara Kültür Cafe sits next to the entrance to the West Cistern. We stopped in after seeing photos of food on the sign, but unfortunately they had nothing available. We did, however, try one of their supposedly famous mint ayran drinks. It was refreshing.
Darius Pizzeria
Darius Pizzeria is across from the entrance to the necropolis. They have pizza, gözleme, and a few other items on the menu. As unappealing as the pizza may look in the photo below, it was actually not too bad. The gözleme is better. Service is good and prices are reasonable.
Visiting Dara Archaeological Site
The archaeological site of Dara is scattered throughout a village. There’s no admission to visit any part of the site (as of September 2024), and it’s open daily except Mondays.
Dara Necropolis
A good place to start is the Dara Necropolis, which is on the west side of the village. It features tombs cut right into the bedrock. The area was originally used to quarry stone in the beginning of the 6th century. The flat façades of the rock after cutting out stone blocks were later converted to a necropolis.
Three different types of tombs are found in the necropolis. They include rock-cut chamber tombs (6th century), sarcophagi (6th through 8th century), and cist graves (8th through 14th century).
The rock-cut chamber tombs were used in the 6th century. Although they were Christians, the locals buried their dead in the chambers to honor the god Mithras, who was believed to be born from a rock. It’s possible to walk into a few of these chambers.
The sarcophagi were used from the 6th through 8th century and represented a home in the afterlife. As Christianity became more widespread, simple cist graves became more popular.
Large Gallery Grave
At the very end of the necropolis is the Large Gallery Grave. It’s an impressive three-story rock-cut chamber carved completely out of the bedrock.
A monumental entrance sits on the façade of the Large Gallery Grave. The pediment features floral patterns and religious scenes depicting the prophet Ezekiel reanimating the dead. It’s believed to have been added by locals returning from exile in 591 to commemorate those who died during the Sassanid invasion in 573.
The Large Gallery Grave is on a rectangular plan. The upper story contains corridor that runs along the west, south and east sides. It overlooks the lower story, where hundreds of human bones were found during excavations in 2009. The grave also has a ventilation shaft.
West Cistern
Not too far away is the West Cistern, which was built outside the main wall of the city. Archaeologists believe it provided water to caravans sheltering outside the city walls. The cistern has a capacity of 1,500 cubic meters and is covered by a cross vault supported by two stone piers. During excavations carried out by the Mardin Museum, over 12 cubic meters of earth were removed.
Church Cistern
Around the corner to the southeast you’ll find the Church Cistern. It gets its name from the cathedral that once stood on top. Most of the auxiliary structures have yet to be unearthed, and only a portion of the western wall of the cathedral still exists. The original entrance to the cistern was on the eastern façade and there’s a house on top today.
The cavernous cistern is an incredible sight. It’s divided into two sections separated by massive pillars and topped by a barrel vaulted ceiling. It’s capable of holding over 2,000 cubic meters of water.
Agora of Dara
100 meters from the Church Cistern is the Agora. It was an important stop along the Silk Road and a public space where locals and travelers could shop for goods.
The Agora sits along a street leading from the south gate to the city. The street, which is about 5.8 meters wide, is paved with blocks. A portico stood along the western side while there was a river running along the eastern side. About 50 meters of the street have been excavated. The unexcavated portion continues north along the river.
Workshops sat behind the portico. Nine workshops have been excavated along with six private residences connected to them. The workshops were roughly 5 x 5 meters in size.
City Gate
At the south end of Agora Street is the South Gate, which is one of the four main gates of Dara. The gates are called the South, North, East, and West Gate.
The South Gate is flanked by two large towers. The doors were about five meters wide. There was also a water gate to allow the Kordes River to flow out of the city. The water gate is 1.5 meters wide and 3.7 meters deep.
Mill
Just east of the South Gate is a mill built into a bastion of the city walls. The mill sat next to the river and used the flow of water to power a grinding stone. It was probably built in the 18th century after the foundation of the modern village of Dara, and was used until the 1980s.
City Walls
A section of the city walls runs west of the South Gate. The entire system of walls were about 4 kilometers long, of which parts of 2.8 kilometers can still be seen. They were built during the reign of Anastasius I and strengthened under Justinian, who raised the height to 29 meters. The highest level still standing is 15 meters.
There fortifications are made up of inner and outer walls. 28 towers stood along the walls and there was also a moat about 20 meters east of the east wall. The walls were built with cut stone and the average width was 3.75 meters.
You’ll notice some of the towers were converted to mills. You’ll also get a good look at the foundations of structures running along the walls.
Bridge
A bridge spans the riverbed east of Agora Street. There were four bridges in Dara, and this bridge on the south side of the city is the best preserved. It was built with cut stone and three arches are still intact.
Castellum
The final section we visited is the Castellum. It’s a water collection and distribution chamber on the north side of the city and perhaps more impressive than the cisterns.
The Castellum consists of 10 cells carved directly into the bedrock and covered with barrel vaults. Each cell is 50 meters long, 4 meters wide, and 18 meters high with a capacity of 14,500 cubic meters. They held water carried from the hills 4 kilometers to the north. The water was then distributed to the buildings and cisterns of Dara using a system of channels.
The Castellum was critical to the defense of the city, especially due to the hot and dry weather conditions typical of the area. Whenever the Sassanids laid siege to Dara, they expected the soldiers to give up without a fight for fear of dehydration. However, the Byzantines used their ingenuity to ensure a fresh water supply, allowing the citizens to resist sieges for extremely long periods of time.
