Mardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris River that rises steeply over the flat plains. The old town of the city is under the protection of UNESCO, which forbids new constructions to preserve its façade. Its population is split evenly between Arabs and Kurds. Historically, as a rich cultural hub with traces "from Muslim, Syriac, Yakubi, Chaldean, Nesturi, Yezidi, Jewish, Kurdish, Arab, Chechen, and Armenian influences", Mardin has been promoted as an "open-air museum".
