The carved facades
Bible stories, vines and hunting scenes cut into reddish stone, unmatched anywhere in Türkiye.
W. Bulach — CC BY-SA 4.0 · loiez Deniel — CC BY 2.0 · Rotadefterim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rotadefterim — CC BY-SA 4.0
Eleven centuries ago a king had the outside of his palace church carved from top to bottom like the pages of a stone book: Jonah tipped to the whale, David squaring up to Goliath, Adam and Eve under the tree, and between them vines, lions, gazelles and hunting scenes from the court of Gagik I of Vaspurakan. The monk-architect Manuel built it between 915 and 921 on a small island in Lake Van; it then served for nearly eight centuries as the seat of an Armenian catholicosate, and in 1951 demolition had actually begun before the writer Yaşar Kemal raised the alarm and had it stopped. It was restored in 2005-07 and reopened as a museum. One liturgy a year is still permitted, usually in early September. Know this before you go: the exterior is the whole point. Inside, the church is small (roughly 15 by 11 metres) and what survives of the frescoes is faded, so nobody should expect Hagia Sophia. But the carved reddish volcanic stone outside has no real rival in Türkiye and deserves two slow laps, one to read the stories and one to take in the setting, with water shading from blue to turquoise around you and peaks that keep their snow into May. Then climb the island's hill: the view of the lake and mountains from the top is worth half the ticket on its own. Getting there is part of the pleasure. Akdamar pier sits on the shore road south of the lake, about 45 km from Van city, roughly 50 minutes by car; the dolmuş minibuses bound for Gevaş and Tatvan stop there too. Boats cross in about 20 minutes and leave when full; the fare is paid separately in cash in lira, and the museum ticket is bought on the island. In practice it is a comfortable half day, two to three hours including the crossing, with fish restaurants along the shore by the pier. It works well for families: the crossing is short and usually calm, there are lawns and a small cafe around the church, but shade is scarce and August sun at 1,640 metres bites, so take the first boats of the morning and bring water and hats. A pushchair manages the flat ground; the hill is steps and dirt paths. The best months are April, when the island's almond trees blossom, early summer, and September-October; in winter boats run only when the weather allows and you may wait a long while for one to fill. There is no mosque on the island; the nearest are on the road towards Gevaş.
Bible stories, vines and hunting scenes cut into reddish stone, unmatched anywhere in Türkiye.
A short climb opens up the turquoise lake and snowy peaks above the church.
Twenty minutes on the water from the pier turn a museum visit into a proper outing.
Akdamar Adası, Gevaş, Van 65700 (pier on the Van-Tatvan shore road)
Yes, and it is the best day out from Van: the boat is short and fun for kids, and there are lawns and a cafe by the church. What is not worth it is the pier queue on summer holidays, so go with the first boats of the morning, and do not expect much from the interior; the carved exterior and the view are the prize.
You can, since the lake never freezes, but boats run only when the weather allows and leave when full, so on a quiet day you may wait an hour or more. If time is tight ask at the pier about hiring a whole boat; otherwise spring and autumn are far more reliable.