Batman: Oil City on the Tigris and Gateway to Hasankeyf

On this page

1. What is Batman?
2. How do you get to Batman?
3. Where should you stay in Batman?
4. What type of climate does Batman have?
5. When is the best time to visit Batman?
6. What is the history of Batman?
7. What is Batman famous for?
8. What are the historical places of Batman?
9. What are the best things to do in Batman?
10. What are the best places to visit in Batman?
11. Frequently asked questions about Batman
12. What do the official records say about Batman?

What is Batman?

Batman is a province in southeastern Türkiye and the name of its capital, a modern city on a flat plain near the point where the Batman River joins the Tigris. Until the 1950s it was a village of a few thousand people called Iluh (Êlih in Kurdish). The discovery of oil turned it into an industrial city, and it became the capital of a new province, carved out of Siirt, in 1990.

Most travellers come for Hasankeyf, in the south of the province. For centuries it was a medieval town of mosques, palaces and cave dwellings on the cliffs above the Tigris. Since 2020 the old town has been under the reservoir of the Ilısu Dam. A small number of its monuments, including the Zeynel Bey Tomb, were moved to a new site before the flooding, and finds from the rescue excavations are shown in the Batman Museum.

The 2002 provincial inventory describes Batman and its ancient town of Hasankeyf, on lands watered by the Tigris, as a natural wonder with more than a thousand caves and historic monuments. Much of what it describes in Hasankeyf can no longer be seen in place, and this guide says so where it applies.

Places to visit in Batman

Hasankeyf

Hasankeyf today: the medieval Tigris town flooded by the Ilısu Dam in…

Zeynel Bey Tomb

Zeynel Bey Tomb: the 15th-century Akkoyunlu tomb with turquoise tile bands, moved…

Batman Museum

Batman Museum: about 500 finds from the Ilısu Dam rescue excavations and…

How do you get to Batman?

By air: Batman Airport (BAL) began as a military airfield; the inventory notes that it was enlarged and opened to civil aviation. Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul Airport, AJet from Ankara and Sabiha Gökçen, and Pegasus from Sabiha Gökçen. Diyarbakır Airport, with more routes, is an alternative.

By road: Intercity coaches reach Batman from all over Türkiye. Minibuses connect it with Diyarbakır, Mardin, Siirt and Hasankeyf.

By rail: Batman is on the railway from Ankara through Diyarbakır to Kurtalan in Siirt province.

Getting around: Hasankeyf and the province’s other sites are spread out, so a car or taxi is the practical choice. Malabadi Bridge, on the Diyarbakır border, is easiest to reach by car.

Where should you stay in Batman?

Batman city has the province’s hotels, mostly modern business hotels used by oil-industry and government visitors. Many travellers instead see Hasankeyf as a day trip from Mardin or Diyarbakır, which have a wider choice of hotels in historic buildings. If you are driving a loop through the region, a night in Batman makes it easier to combine Hasankeyf, Malabadi Bridge and Siirt.

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What type of climate does Batman have?

The 2002 inventory describes a continental climate: summers hot and dry, winters cold and rainy, with little snow. Batman’s summers are among the hottest in Türkiye: the July average is about 31°C, and the city’s record high is 48.8°C. Winters are cool and wet, with occasional snow and frosty nights. Floods on the Iluh stream, which runs through the city, usually come between March and May.

When is the best time to visit Batman?

April, May, October and early November. Spring is green and mild; autumn is dry and comfortable after the summer heat. Avoid July and August if you can, or plan outdoor visits for early morning and evening. Winter is quiet and generally mild in the Tigris valley, but days are short.

What is the history of Batman?

The 2002 inventory notes that the oldest information on Batman’s past comes from folk tales, myths and Herodotus. It recounts a tradition that after the Persian victory over the Medes in the 6th century BC, a Median nobleman withdrew to this area of thorn scrub, reeds and marsh and built an artificial islet in its middle, which he called Elekhan, meaning a khan’s encampment. The tradition says Elekhan lived independently for nearly two centuries until the coming of Alexander the Great, after which the area passed through the hands of the Seleucids, Persians, Romans, Sasanians and Byzantines, then the Artuqids, Mongols, Ilkhanids, Kara Koyunlu, Akkoyunlu and, around 1500, the Safavids.

According to the inventory, the name changed in everyday speech from Elekhan to Elah and, in time, to İluh. İluh was recorded as a village and remained part of the Elmedin district of Siirt province.

Before the 20th century the area was also home to Syriac Orthodox Christians and Armenians; Syriac monasteries such as Mor Kiryakus in Beşiri district date from late antiquity. Oil changed everything. Oil was found southeast of the village on 20 April 1940, at a depth of 1,048 m on the Raman field. Commercial production began in 1947, refineries were built in 1947, 1948 and 1955, and workers arrived from across Türkiye. The village was renamed Batman in 1957 and given city status, and in 1990 it became the capital of Batman province.

The history of Hasankeyf is much older and is covered on its own page: a Byzantine frontier fortress, then an Artuqid and Ayyubid capital, declared a protected site in its entirety in 1981 and flooded by the Ilısu Dam in 2020.

What is Batman famous for?

Hasankeyf. One of the best-known historic towns in Türkiye, and the subject of a long debate about the Ilısu Dam before it was flooded.

Oil. The Raman and Batı Raman fields east of the city made Batman the centre of Türkiye’s onshore oil industry, and the refinery shaped the modern city.

Caves. The inventory says the region has more than 4,000 caves, a natural wonder with few equals in the world. Many were in the cliffs of Hasankeyf.

Raman Mountain. East of the province rises Raman Dağı, 1,288 m high, where oil is produced, with the Southeastern Taurus beyond.

What are the historical places of Batman?

Hasankeyf. The medieval town on the Tigris, now largely under water. The citadel rock, the relocated monuments and the history of the site are described in our Hasankeyf guide.

Zeynel Bey Tomb. The tiled 15th-century Akkoyunlu tomb that was moved out of the reservoir area in 2017. See our Zeynel Bey Tomb guide.

Batman Museum and Museum Park. Finds from the Ilısu rescue excavations, with galleries for the Palaeolithic and Neolithic, Ilısu and Hasankeyf. See our Batman Museum guide.

Mor Kiryakus Monastery. In Ayrancı village, Beşiri district, on the eastern slope of Kıra Mountain overlooking the northern Mesopotamian plain. The provincial culture and tourism directorate dates it most likely to around 457 and notes that it stayed in use until the 1940s, when its last congregation left. Its bell, manuscripts and Gospels were moved to Mor Gabriel Monastery near Midyat for safekeeping, and much of the building is now in ruins.

Castles. The directorate lists several castle sites in the province, including Kozluk (Hezo), Rabat, Kandil, Beksi, Bozikân and Pertükân castles.

Hallan Çemi mound. A prehistoric settlement mound listed by the directorate among the province’s archaeological sites; the province’s mounds were the focus of the rescue excavations before the dams were built.

Malabadi Bridge. The great Artuqid bridge of 1147 over the Batman River stands on the provincial border, on the Diyarbakır side. See our Malabadi Bridge guide.

What are the best things to do in Batman?

• See Hasankeyf as it is today. Look out over the reservoir to the citadel rock, then walk through the relocated monuments.
• Visit the Museum Park. The open-air section of the Batman Museum recreates prehistoric houses and burials from excavated mounds, and has hands-on excavation areas for children.
• Cross Malabadi Bridge. A short drive from Batman city, on the Diyarbakır side of the river.
• Drive on to Siirt. The 2002 Batman inventory lists the shrine of Veysel Karani and the tomb of İbrahim Hakkı among the places local people most often visit; both are now in Siirt province, an easy drive east.

What are the best places to visit in Batman?

Hasankeyf was the Artuqid and Ayyubid town on the Tigris. Its old centre is now under the Ilısu reservoir, but the top of the citadel rock still rises from the water and several monuments survive at a new site.

Zeynel Bey Tomb is the cylindrical brick tomb of an Akkoyunlu prince, with bands of turquoise and navy tiles, moved in one piece to the Hasankeyf Cultural Park in 2017.

Batman Museum shows about 500 objects from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages, many from mounds that are now under the reservoir, and has an open-air museum park.

Also worth your time: Mor Kiryakus Monastery in Beşiri, and Malabadi Bridge on the Diyarbakır border.

Frequently asked questions about Batman

What do the official records say about Batman?

Batman, which preserves a rich historical past on the lands where the Tigris flows, and its ancient town of Hasankeyf, with more than a thousand caves and historical monuments, are a natural wonder. The provincial centre is settled on flat land in the Batman River basin. To the east of the province are Raman Mountain, 1,288 m high, where oil is produced, and the Southeastern Taurus. This region, with more than 4,000 caves, is a natural wonder with few equals in the world.

A continental climate prevails in Batman. In the region summers are hot and dry, and winters cold and rainy. Snowfall is rare. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Batman Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)