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If you like apricots,
you'll love Malatya, the apricot
capital of Turkey.
Malatya's farmers produce huge harvests
of excellent apricots and cherries which,
fresh or dried, are shipped throughout
the world. The city, on the north side
of Nemrut
Dağı (map),
is a base for visiting the mountain
(although some prefer the south approach
from Kahta).
There has been a town here for at
least 3000 years, known in Hittite times
as Milidia, in Roman times
as Melitene, today as Malatya (mah-LAHT-yah,
alt. 964 m, 3163 ft.; pop. 400,000).
Ismet Inönü, Kemal
Atatürk's comrade-in-arms
and second president of the Turkish
Republic, was born in Malatya.
Good hotels include the Anemon
Hotel Malatya and the Grand
Hotel Sinan.
If use Malatya as a base for your
ascent of Nemrut
Dağı (instead of Adıyaman or Kahta),
it will take you longer to reach
the top, but you can stay
overnight in a hotel and thus
easily witness both sunset and sunrise at
the summit.
Turkish
Airlines flies daily nonstop
between Malatya, Ankara and Istanbul,
which is a lot more air
service than to Adıyaman,
so if you need to fly in and fly
out quickly, Malatya is a better
choice.
You could conceivably fly
from Istanbul or Ankara to Malatya, rent
a car, drive up Nemrut
Dağı, explore the summit, drive
back down, and be back in Istanbul
or Ankara the next day.
Daily express trains connect
Malatya with Ankara, Istanbul, Kayseri, Sivas,
Elazığ and Diyarbakır,
but the bus is
faster and usually more comfortable.
You can walk from the
north (Malatya) side of the summit
to the south (Kahta)
side, or vice-versa, but there is no
scheduled transportation from either
side. Have all your luggage with you
(which is a hassle), walk to the other
side and ask to see if there's an empty
seat in a car or minibus descending
that side.
Distances & Travel Times
Adıyaman: 185
km (115 miles), 3 hours
Diyarbakır: 252
km (157 miles), 4 hours
Erzurum: 421
km (262 miles), 7 hours
Gaziantep: 247
km (154 miles), 3.75 hours
Istanbul: 1124
km (698 miles), 18 hours
Kahramanmaraş: 223
miles (139 miles), 4 hours
Kahta: 225
km (140 miles) N, 3.5 hours
Kayseri: 354
km (220 miles), 6 hours
Nemrut
Dağı (Summit, North): 72
km (45 miles), 3.5 hours
Sivas: 247
km (154 miles), 3.75 hours
Tatvan: 263
km (163 miles), 4.5 hours
Eastern
Turkey
Central
Anatolia
Southeastern
Turkey
TTP
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