Savur

Savur rises around a hilltop castle northeast of Mardin, among the valleys of the Tur Abdin country. Its old mosque bears inscriptions from several successive Islamic dynasties, reflecting the town's close ties to Mardin. In the fifteenth century the Kara Koyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu fought for the district: Savur's castle passed to Kara Yusuf and was taken by his rival Kara Yülük Osman in 1432.

The Ottomans gained the fortress without a battle in 1516, with the help of local Kurdish rulers. A register of 1526 places Savur under the sancak of Mardin, where it was one of the principal settlements. Its dependent villages included both Muslim and Christian communities. The fortress above the town and the inscriptions of its mosque record a history of changing rulers in a region whose settlements remained closely connected to Mardin.