The twin tomb towers at Ahlat stand side by side, and unlike most of the group of tombs here the people buried in them are named. Inscriptions on their southern and western faces give the date as 1280. They are called twins because two people are buried in each.
The larger, eastern tower belongs to Bugatay Aka of the Akkoyunlu and to Şirin Hatun. It is built of Ahlat cut stone, and its burial chamber is square in plan, entered from the east down a flight of steps and through a pointed-arched door; the chamber is covered by a pointed barrel vault and ventilated by chimney-like slit windows on its east and west sides. The tower has two levels and is covered by a conical cap decorated with Bursa arches.
The smaller tomb belongs to Hüseyin Timur and Esentekin Hatun. Its square base also forms the burial chamber, which is reached down six steps, covered by a mirror vault, and has a large pointed-arched niche in the middle of its south side; three slit windows light it. This building too has two levels and ends in a conical cap.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Bitlis as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from -4.2 °C in January to 23.1 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in March (196 mm) and lightest in August (7 mm). Long-term means for 2011-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
