Erzurum, Turkey — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Erzurum known for?

Two things carry Erzurum's name: deep snow and old stone. Its capital city sits higher than almost any other in Turkey, and the Palandöken Mountains that rise straight above it hold one of the country's longest ski seasons. Down in the streets stand the twin fluted minarets of the Çifte Minareli Medrese, a Seljuk theological school of the 13th century.

Cağ kebabı was born here, lamb turned on a horizontal spit rather than a vertical one. Jewellers still carve the black jet called Oltu stone. It is a province of altitude.

Where is Erzurum?

Erzurum fills a broad upland in the Eastern Anatolia Region, the high heart of eastern Turkey. Most of the province is plateau, tilted around 2,000 metres above sea level, and the ranges that wall it in climb higher still. The Palandöken Mountains close off the south, rising to Büyük Ejder at 3,176 metres.

To the north stand the Mescit and Kargapazarı ranges, part of the second rank of the North Anatolian mountains. Between them the land opens into treeless steppe, grazed rather than ploughed. The wide Erzurum plain carries the capital and most of the province's towns.

Few Turkish provinces cover more ground. Water leaves Erzurum in three directions. Eastern districts drain into the Aras, which flows on toward the Caspian Sea.

The west belongs to the Karasu, the northern headstream of the Euphrates, while the far north tips into the Çoruh on its way to the Black Sea. At the centre sits the provincial capital, near 1,900 metres, among the highest cities of any size in Turkey. Kars Province lies east, and the peaks keep going. It is a country of watersheds.

What is Erzurum like?

Life in Erzurum is shaped by the cold and the height. Winter runs long here, and the city has built an identity around snow rather than in spite of it. Palandöken's pistes drop almost to the edge of town, and Erzurum staged the 2011 Winter Universiade on them, ski jumps and all.

Turkish is the everyday language, and the province keeps a religious, conservative cast common to the eastern highlands. The old medreses are more than sights. Locals treat the Seljuk Çifte Minareli Medrese and the Ilkhanid Yakutiye Medrese as the emblems of the place, stamped on everything from seals to shopfronts.

The table is distinctive. Cağ kebabı is the signature dish, lamb marinated and turned on a horizontal spit, then cut onto skewers to order, a form that spread from Oltu to the rest of the country. Sweet kadayıf dolması, folded pastry in syrup, closes the meal.

Craft runs to the black Oltu stone, a soft jet carved into prayer beads and rings in small workshops. Students give the streets their pulse, drawn to Atatürk University, one of Turkey's larger campuses. It is a highland culture, plain and durable.

What is the history of Erzurum?

The city began as Theodosiopolis, a Byzantine border fort raised in the 5th century and named for the emperor Theodosius II. Its castle guarded the eastern frontier for centuries. After the Seljuk victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the plateau passed to the Turks, and Erzurum entered its great age of building.

Ottoman rule followed. In 1919 the town returned to the centre of Turkish history, when the Erzurum Congress, chaired by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, helped set the course of the War of Independence. Frontier and fortress, over and over.

What is the climate of Erzurum?

Here the plateau's height dictates the climate. Erzurum holds a severe continental climate, with the longest, hardest winters of any major city in Turkey. Snow lies deep on the plateau from late autumn well into spring, and mountain passes close for weeks at a stretch.

That same snow keeps the Palandöken ski season running from December into April. Summers are short and dry, warm by day and cool once the sun drops behind the ranges. Cold is the province's signature.

How do you get to Erzurum?

Flying in is the usual choice. Erzurum Airport sits just outside the city and takes daily flights from Istanbul and Ankara, the quickest way in by far. The slow, storied alternative is the Eastern Express, the overnight train that climbs east from Ankara through Sivas and Erzincan onto the plateau.

Long-distance coaches run the same corridor by road, along the highway that threads Eastern Anatolia toward Kars and the Caucasus. In deep winter, snow can shut the high passes for days. From the airport, the slopes are a short transfer south.