HASANKEYF
Just a quick drive from Midyat, Hasankeyf offers for a good half-day excursion. This small town has a magic setting, with stone houses on the banks of the Tigris River, counted over by a cliff topped with the relics of an ancient citadel. One of the only places to pass this section of the Tigris is a now-ruined bridge that was built in 1116 by the Artukid ruler Fahreddin Karaaslan, possibly including parts of a Roman bridge. Above it is a beautiful minaret—all that remains of the Artukid Great Mosque, which dropped into the waters. Come, travel, have lunch at a string of casual fish restaurants on the banks of the Tigris (at some you can sit in ankle-deep water and enjoy a fish as its smaller relatives nibble at your toes) then return to Midyat, Diyarbakir, Mardin, or even Lake Van.