Ardahan

Understand

This chilly mountain town has been fought over, and its inhabitants massacred, with a ferocity out of proportion to its strategic importance. In the 19th century Tsarist Russia gobbled up territory from the Ottoman empire, and captured Ardahan in 1877. In the First World War it went back and forth between Ottoman and Russian control, but was ceded to Turkey in the treaty of 1922. Nearby Georgia and Armenia then became Soviet Socialist Republics, and trade and transport withered. The collapse of the USSR in 1989 means the border with Georgia is easy to cross, but that with Armenia is closed.

Ardahan is now an agricultural town on the high steppes. Summers are mild to warm with frequent afternoon showers, so the land is fertile. Winters are bitter cold, seldom above -10°C.

Get in

Ardahan is by the junction of D955, which runs north-south between the Georgian and Syrian borders, and D010 which runs east-west along the Black Sea coast to the Armenian border. Both highways now bypass town centre.

Dolmuşes from Kars set out in the morning and take 90 min. From Posof / Türkgözü on the Georgian border they take 2 hours.

is the inter-city bus station, on Highway D955 south of the city. It's only 1 km to walk downtown, if the weather's decent and you're not heavily laden.

The old Otogar on Cumhuriyet Cd a block east of the central plaza is still a dolmuş base, so enquire here first about onward transport.

Get around

The town's limited sights are in walking distance. You need your own vehicle for Lake Çıldır.

See

thumb | 300px | Russian assault of 1877 is the leafy central plaza, with the obligatory statue of Atatürk. Town Hall is on its north flank, Atatürk Cd west and İnönü Cd east. Town centre is bland and modern. Central Mosque (Merkez Cami) is on Cumhuriyet Cd a block south of the central plaza. Derviş Bey Mosque built in 1868 is adjacent, dwarfed by the newer mosque. at Meydan Cd 19 is now the city's main mosque, completed in 2021 in retro baroque Ottoman style. at Kongre Cd 62 hosted the Ardahan Congresses. It's a mansion furnished to that period. Hours erratic. sits on the bluff north of the river. The present structure is from Seljuk times, 12th century, but was patched up and used as a garrison through the Ottoman era into the Republic. Now only the perimeter walls remain around an empty compound. It's free to enter M-F 08:00-18:00, Sa Su 09:00-18:00. Mevlüt Efendi Mosque is 100 m west of the castle, built in 1701. Müderris İbrahim Efendi Mosque is 100 m north of the castle, built in 1771.