Diyarbakır is a city populated by people as strong and resilient as the large basalt walls that surround the old city that was built to protect this ancient trading hub, which served as an essential stop on the silk road. The walls are a great wonder in themselves, which make this city (said to be one of the oldest cities in existence) a fantastic destination for the curious. The River Tigris (dicle) runs alongside the old city and nurtures a wealth of agriculture in the surrounding planes, which brings a yearly watermelon festival, among other things. The lush green gardens along the banks of the Tigris are a perfect place to stop and relax, and the ten-eyed bridge is a master of design from hundreds of years ago. The old city still shows its ancient Roman town plan and is packed with amazing sites, representing the many civilisations that came, traded, and passed through the ancient city.

The pride of the residents is the blue mosque, one of the oldest in the world, and is built out of the characteristic basalt stone that typifies this city. Also, there are a number of old Assyrian and Armenian churches that are looked after to this day and a bustling network of souks and markets, where you can pick up anything from the locally made copper (Diyarbakir literally means city of copper), to the handmade cotton, and locally harvested tuutuun (tobacco).