Akdamar Church

UNESCO Tentative ListArmenian (10th c.)34 km from Van

A 10th-century Armenian church on an island in Lake Van, its outer walls carved with scenes from the Bible. Boats cross from the shore near Gevaş.

Plan the visit Its place in history

Plan your visit

Time to allow

About 2 hours with the boat

For a first visit at an easy pace.

Stay in

Van

34 km away as the crow flies, so allow more on the road.

On a trip

Lake Van to Ani

Day 1 of 3.

Hours and tickets

Check before you go

Opening hours and prices change: see muze.gov.tr (opens in a new tab).

Times are our estimates. Distances are straight lines.

Its place in history

Read the chapter before you go.

AD 330–1453Byzantine and ArmenianConstantine made Byzantium his capital, Constantinople, and Justinian built Hagia Sophia there.

From here

Sleep nearby

Van

34 km. The Urartian capital, Çavuştepe and Akdamar.

Next on the trip · Day 1

Çavuştepe

About 37 km as the crow flies. An Urartian fortress-palace on a ridge south-east of Van, with temple foundations, storerooms and inscriptions in Urartian cuneiform.

The whole trip

Lake Van to Ani

3 days, 5 places, Van to Kars.

Open in OpenStreetMap (opens in a new tab) · Directions to Akdamar Church (opens in a new tab)

Also nearby

32 km
Tushpa (Van Fortress)
Fortress / capital, Urartian
37 km
Çavuştepe
Fortress, Urartian
museum
Van Museum
Urartian metalwork

Location approximate · whc.unesco.org