The
ruins are in the village of Oğuz,
30 km to the southeast of Mardin
city center. Once one of the
most important cities in antique
Mesopotamia, the site now hosts
a tiny village.
It is also the location
of the battle between Alexander
the Great and Dara. The antique
city was founded by Darayovasi,
a Persian Ruler and later
changed hands between the
Persians and Romans. It was then
captured firstly by the Emevid
towards the end of the 7th
century, by the Abbasid
afterwards and by the Turks in
the 15th century.
Considering that the remains of
the city include large cut
stones and coins, it is possible
to say that the city of Dara
used to be a quite rich
settlement with its large
buildings and treasures.
The remains of the
antique city of Dara extends
over an area with a diameter of
8-10 km. There are also cave
houses in this area. Rock graves
to the east of these caves reach
Kuruçay as a border.
The core of the city was
protected by walls making 4 km
in length. There are two gates
opening to north and south. The
citadel is at the top of a 50
meters high hill to the north of
the city. One can still
recognize the remains of a
church, palace, bazaar, storages,
dungeon and a water set.
To the north of the
settlement, a fascinating water
barrier was constructed by
carving rocks that slope down
southwards. There is still water
running in this canal. Many
other cultural properties come
to light in the course of time
as a result of natural events.
Surrounding the
settlement there are 6-7 cave
houses which date back to late
Roman and early Byzantine times.
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