Bayazıt

Bayazid lies beneath Mount Ararat on a route between eastern Anatolia and the Iranian plateau. The old town and its fortress occupied a commanding position above the plain. Its frontier setting brought both travellers and armies through the passes, making it a coveted place in the wars between the Ottoman and Safavid states.

In 1514 the fortress submitted to Sultan Selim I as his army advanced toward Chaldiran. Bayazid subsequently came under Ottoman rule, though the frontier continued to be contested. In the eighteenth century Ishak Pasha built a splendid stone palace complex on a hill overlooking the town. Its mosque, baths, residential apartments and other buildings gave the local governor a residence worthy of his position on this important frontier.