Battlefield town Population: 15,250
The setting, in the winter of 1914-15, for a truly terrible military disaster in which some 60,000-80,000 men lost their lives, Sarıkamış in the far northeast of the country never seems to have been able to rise above its sad past. Today it’s a small, rather grim little town with little to attract visitors although the surrounding mountain and forest scenery is superb. Wild bears still inhabit these forests and have been known to venture into town to rummage in the rubbish bins.
The statue of a skier hints at its one real advantage which is the Kayak Merkezi (ski resort) a little apart from the main town.
But just as you think all is lost you spot a sign pointing to the Katerina Av Köşkü (Catherine’s Hunting Lodge), a half-hour walk out into the pastoral outskirts across the road from what look like fortified buildings but are actually the ruins of an old brick factory.
The low-slung wooden lodge, commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II in 1896 and designed in the Baltic style, is best viewed from afar when it makes a fetching picture against a backdrop of fir trees. Close up, all is dereliction, the interior decoration long since stripped out and the walls papered with graffiti. Regardless, this is a popular picnic site with cows ambling past the front door. Little definite is known about the building although it’s possible that it was built for the tsar’s sickly son, Alexis. as a place of recuperation.
Battle of Sarıkamış At the end of the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-78 Sarıkamıs, like Kars, became part of a province of Russia. At the end of 1914 the Young Turk leader Enver Paşa determined to recover the town for the Ottoman Empire and led an invasion from Armenia against the advice of the German military advisor, Liman von Sanders. The Russian General Yudenich determined to stand his ground. Enver’s troops attacked the town from 29 December to 4 January when they were forced to retreat. In the depths of winter 60,000 to 80,000 of the 90,000-strong retreating Ottoman army perished, as did an estimated 35,000 Russian troops.
Sarıkamış Kayak Merkezi (ski resort)
As an eastern alternative to Palandöken, you can ski at Sarıkamış. The simple resort, boasting some of Turkey’s longest runs, sits amid pine forest at 2,362m.
Sleeping
Çamkar Hotel. Tel: 0474-413 6565
Hotel Aras Tel: 0474-413 8080
Transport info
Frequent dolmuşes run between Sarıkamış and the old bus station in Kars (45 mins).
