Site of major Selçuk victory Population: 18,900
Other names: Manavazkert (Armenian), Melezgir (Kurdish)
Festival: 26 August Commemoration of Battle of Manzikert
On 26 August 1071 Malazgirt (Manzikert) was the site of a titanic clash between the Byzantine army under the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes and the Selçuk Turks under Alp Arslan. The Selçuk sultan used Ahlat as his headquarters to steer his army to victory, thereby depriving the Byzantines of control of most of eastern Turkey (although Arslan permitted the defeated emperor to return to Constantinople).
Before all that Malazgirt had been a largely Armenian city that was eventually ruled by the Abbasids between the eighth and 13th centuries. In 968 it was seized by the Byzantine general, Bardas Phokas. The Byzantines managed to hold out against a first Selçuk assault in 1054 but in 1071 Alp Arslan proved too much for them.
Until recently Turkey did not make much of the Battle of Manzikert. However, that is no longer the case, perhaps because it is politically expedient to be able to push back the “Turkish” claim on Anatolia from 1453 to 1071. These days there are celebrations of the victory in Malazkirt itself and in Ahlat on the shores of Lake Van every August, involveing Ottoman mehter bands playing, folk dancing and archery competitions. Symbolically, the minarets of the Çamlıca Cami in İstanbul are said to measure 1,071 metres in honour of the victory.
Malazgirt was fortified right back in Armenian times and the Selçuks rebuilt its basalt walls after partly destroying them. They were, however, largely demolished by the end of the 18th century. The remnants of the walls and castle provide the primary reason for visiting the town now although there is also a Muş Malazgirt Museum with more information about the battle too. An equestrian statue of Alp Arslan also adorns the town.
The battlefield itself lay beyond the walls. It is marked by a simple Malazgirt Victory Monument (Malazgirt Zafer Anıtı).
Sleeping
Malazgirt Otel. Tel: 0436-511 4256
Royal Koza Hotel. Tel: 0436-511 2242
Transport info
Infrequent dolmuşes leave from in front of the Ulu Cami in Ahlat for Malazgirt. Buses from Bitlis and Muş also serve the town, equally infrequently.
