Çaldıran (, ) is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Van Province Van Province (, , Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. Its area is 20,921 km2, and its population is 1,128,749 (2022). ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its area is 1,478 km², and its population is 58,635 (2022). As mayor Leyla Atsak from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was elected in the local elections of March 2019. However Leyla Atsak was barred from holding office by the Supreme Election Board (YSK), despite being approved as a candidate by the YSK before the elections due to have being dismissed from public office in the past. Şefık Ensari from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) who came in second in the elections was given the mayorship instead. Hasan Hüsnü Türker became the

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

in August 2021. The town is in an earthquake prone area; 3,840 people were killed by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in 1976. In the district was found an archaeological site of a former building on a hill 2000 m above sea level. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chaldiran

Archaeology

In June 2022, Turkish-Mongolian archaeologists led by Ersel Çağlıtütuncigil announced the discovery of the ruins of a summer palace (

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

) thought to have been constructed by the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

State ruler

Hulagu Khan Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu; ; ; ; ( 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Western Asia. As a son of Tolui and the Keraite princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of ...

and decorated with

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

or "

tamga A tamga or tamgha (from ) was an abstract seal or brand used by Eurasian nomads initially as a livestock branding, and by cultures influenced by them. The tamga was used as a livestock branding for a particular tribe, clan or family. They wer ...

" shaped roof tiles in the 1260s.

Ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

s, tricolor-glazed ceramics,

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s, glazed roof tiles,

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

were also among the finds.

Composition

There are 70

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Çaldıran District: * Akbaşak * Alakaya * Alikelle * Altıyol * Aşağı Çanak * Aşağı Dikme * Aşağı Gülderen * Aşağı Kuyucak * Aşağı Mutlu * Aşağı Yanıktaş * Avcıbaşı * Ayrancılar * Başeğmez * Baydoğan * Beyazıt * Bezirhane * Buğulukaynak * Burçakalan * Çayırköy * Çubuklu * Cumhuriyet * Demircik * Direkli * Doyumalan * Erginler * Evciler * Fatih * Gülyolu * Güngören * Hangediği * Hanköy * İncealan * İsmailbaba * Kalkandelen * Karadulda * Kaşım * Kılavuz * Kilimli * Koçovası * Kurtoğlan * Kuskunkıran * Osmanlı * Recep Tayip Erdoğan * Salhane * Sarıçimen * Sarıharman * Şehit Jandarma Binbaşı Kıvanç Cesur * Sellik * Serpmetaş * Soğuksu * Sungur * Tekindere * Temrenli * Toprakseven * Umuttepe * Yağıbasan * Yassıtepe * Yavuzselim * Yaykılıç * Yeniyaka * Yücelen * Yukarı Çanak * Yukarı Dikme * Yukarı Gülderen * Yukarı Kuyucak * Yukarı Mutlu * Yukarı Sağmallı * Yukarı Yanıktaş * Yuvacık * Zülfibulak

Climate

At above sea level, Çaldıran has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, with

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

influences (''Dsb'', according to the Köppen climate classification). Summers are mild and dry and winters are cold and snowy, with very low temperatures, due to its elevation. The lowest temperature recorded in Çaldıran is -46.4 °C on 9 January 1990 and It is also the lowest temperature recorded in Turkey.

Archaeology

Composition

Climate

References

See also