The Mor Hananyo Monastery, known as Deyrülzafaran ("Saffron Monastery") for the yellow lichen that colours its stone walls, is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world. Parts of the complex date to the 4th century CE, and the site itself was a sacred place long before Christianity, originally a sun temple. For nearly 600 years it served as the patriarchal seat of the Syrian Orthodox Church, and its library contains manuscripts in Syriac script dating back more than a thousand years.
Five kilometres from the centre of Mardin along a winding road through scrubby hills, the monastery consists of a church (dated to 495 CE), a domed patriarchal mausoleum, courtyards, and the monks' living quarters. A small community of monks and nuns continues to live here. Guided tours (in Turkish and sometimes English or Arabic) run several times daily and take visitors through the historic church, the catacombs beneath, and the underground hall where pagan worship once took place. The views from the monastery courtyard across the Mesopotamian plain are nearly as good as from Mardin itself.