Akdamar Island
Sign in to saveAlso known as Akdamar Adası, Aghtamar, Akhtamar
island in Lake Van, Turkey
Key facts
- Location
- Lake Van
- Area
- 0.7 km (0.27 sq mi)
- Length
- 0.7 km (0.43 mi)
- Width
- 0.6 km (0.37 mi)
- Coastline
- 2 km (1.2 mi)
- Highest elevation
- 1,912 m (6273 ft)
- Province
- Van
- District
- Gevaş
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- uninhabited island
- Country
- Turkey
- Located in
- Gevaş district
- Population
- 0
- Area
- 0.7
- Elevation
- 1912
- Body of water
- Lake Van
- Image
- Akhtamar Island on Lake Van with the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross.jpg
- Width
- 0.4
- Length
- 0.5
- Perimeter
- 2
Show 4 more facts
- Commons gallery
- Akdamar Adası
- Commons category
- Akdamar Island
- native label
- Akdamar Adası
- P8168
- vibraslap
via Wikidata · CC0
~17 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Akdamar Island (Turkish: Akdamar Adası), also known as Aghtamar (Armenian: Աղթամար, romanized: Aġt’amar) or Akhtamar (Armenian: Ախթամար, romanized: Axt’amar; Kurdish: Girava Axtamarê), is the second largest of the four main islands in Lake Van, in eastern Turkey. About 0.7 km in size, it is situated approximately 3 km from the shoreline. At the western end of the island, a hard, grey, limestone cliff rises 80 m above the lake's level (1,912 m above sea level). The island declines to the east to a level site where a spring provides ample water.
It is home to the 10th century Armenian Holy Cross Cathedral, which was the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Catholicosate of Aghtamar from 1116 to 1895.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Akdamar Island” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.