Second largest of the four islands in Lake Van, in eastern Turkey

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akdamar Island</span>

Akdamar Island

<p><b>Akdamar Island</b> (<a href="/en/Turkish_language" title="Turkish language" class="wl">Turkish</a><span>: </span><i lang="tr">Akdamar Adası</i>, <a href="/en/Kurdish_language" title="Kurdish language" class="mw-redirect wl">Kurdish</a><span>: </span><span dir="rtl">Girava Axtamarê</span>), also known as <b>Aghtamar</b><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> (<a href="/en/Armenian_language" title="Armenian language" class="wl">Armenian</a><span>: </span><span>Աղթամար</span><span>, </span><small about="#mwt22"><a href="/en/Romanization_of_Armenian" title="Romanization of Armenian" class="wl">romanized</a>:<span>&nbsp;</span></small><span><i lang="hy-Latn">Aġt’amar</i></span>)<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span> or <b>Akhtamar</b><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[4]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="#cite_note-5" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 5;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[5]</span></a></span> (<a href="/en/Armenian_language" title="Armenian language" class="wl">Armenian</a><span>: </span><span>Ախթամար</span><span>, </span><small about="#mwt23"><a href="/en/Romanization_of_Armenian" title="Romanization of Armenian" class="wl">romanized</a>:<span>&nbsp;</span></small><span><i lang="hy-Latn">Axt’amar</i></span>),<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="#cite_note-6" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 6;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[6]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a href="#cite_note-7" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 7;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[7]</span></a></span> is the second largest of the four islands in <a href="/en/Lake_Van" title="Lake Van" class="wl">Lake Van</a>, in eastern <a href="/en/Turkey" title="Turkey" class="wl">Turkey</a>. About 0.7 km² in size, it is situated approximately 3 km from the shoreline. At the western end of the island, a hard, grey, limestone cliff rises 80 m above the lake's level (1,912 m above sea level). The island declines to the east to a level site where a spring provides ample water.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Second largest of the four islands in Lake Van, in eastern Turkey</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129712854" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .ib-islands-title-embed{background-color:#efefef;font-weight:bold;padding:0.3em 0}.mw-parser-output .ib-islands-nick,.mw-parser-output .ib-islands-native{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .ib-islands-native>div{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .ib-islands .infobox-header{background-color:#efefef}.mw-parser-output .ib-islands-country{border-top:1px solid black;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .ib-islands-country2{font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .ib-islands .infobox-below{text-align:left;border-top:#aaa 1px solid}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Geography, Location, Coordinates, Total islan...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox ib-islands vcard mobile-collapse-element"><caption class="infobox-title fn org">Akdamar Island</caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span><a href="/en/File:Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG/300px-Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG" decoding="async" data-file-width="3305" data-file-height="1346" data-file-type="bitmap" height="122" width="300" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG/450px-Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG/600px-Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG 2x" alt="Akdamar_Island_From_Near_Gevas.JPG"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Akdamar Island seen from the south shore of Lake Van, near the town of <a href="/en/Gevaş" title="Gevaş" class="wl">Gevaş</a></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r997900035" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .locmap .od{position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .id{position:absolute;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .locmap .l0{font-size:0;position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv{line-height:110%;position:absolute;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv>div{display:inline;padding:1px}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:left}</style><div class="center"><div class="locmap" style="width:260px;float:none;clear:both;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"><div style="width:260px;padding:0"><div style="position:relative;width:260px"><span class="notpageimage"><a href="/en/File:Turkey_adm_location_map.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" title="Akdamar Island is located in Turkey" data-hash="File:Turkey_adm_location_map.svg"><img loading="lazy"alt="Akdamar Island is located in Turkey" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Turkey_adm_location_map.svg/260px-Turkey_adm_location_map.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1578" data-file-height="721" data-file-type="drawing" height="119" width="260" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Turkey_adm_location_map.svg/390px-Turkey_adm_location_map.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Turkey_adm_location_map.svg/520px-Turkey_adm_location_map.svg.png 2x"></a></span><div class="od" style="top:59.405%;left:89.976%"><div class="id" style="left:-4px;top:-4px"><span class="notpageimage"><span><img loading="lazy"alt="Akdamar Island" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/8px-Red_pog.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="64" data-file-height="64" data-file-type="drawing" height="8" width="8" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/12px-Red_pog.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/16px-Red_pog.svg.png 2x"></span></span></div><div class="pl" style="font-size:91%;width:6em;right:5px"><div>Akdamar Island</div></div></div></div><div style="padding-top:0.2em"></div></div></div></div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Geography</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Location</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Lake_Van" title="Lake Van" class="wl">Lake Van</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Coordinates</th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1073938472" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Akdamar_Island&amp;params=38.341667_N_43.035278_E_region:TR_type:isle" class="external text" target="_blank"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms"><span class="latitude">38°20′30″N</span> <span class="longitude">43°02′07″E</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Total islands</th><td class="infobox-data">1</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Area</th><td class="infobox-data">0.7<span>&nbsp;</span>km<sup>2</sup> (0.27<span>&nbsp;</span>sq<span>&nbsp;</span>mi)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Length</th><td class="infobox-data">0.7<span>&nbsp;</span>km (0.43<span>&nbsp;</span>mi)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Width</th><td class="infobox-data">0.6<span>&nbsp;</span>km (0.37<span>&nbsp;</span>mi)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Coastline</th><td class="infobox-data">2<span>&nbsp;</span>km (1.2<span>&nbsp;</span>mi)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Highest<span>&nbsp;</span>elevation</th><td class="infobox-data">1,912<span>&nbsp;</span>m (6273<span>&nbsp;</span>ft)</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Administration</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><div><b><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border"><span><img loading="lazy" alt="Flag_of_Turkey.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Flag_of_Turkey.svg/23px-Flag_of_Turkey.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="800" data-file-type="drawing" height="15" width="23" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Flag_of_Turkey.svg/35px-Flag_of_Turkey.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Flag_of_Turkey.svg/45px-Flag_of_Turkey.svg.png 2x"></span></span><span>&nbsp;</span></span><a href="/en/Turkey" title="Turkey" class="wl">Turkey</a></b></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Provinces_of_Turkey" title="Provinces of Turkey" class="wl">Province</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Van_Province" title="Van Province" class="wl">Van</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">District</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Gevaş" title="Gevaş" class="wl">Gevaş</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>

<p>It is home to the 10th century Armenian <a href="/en/Armenian_Cathedral_of_the_Holy_Cross" title="Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross" class="mw-redirect wl">Holy Cross Cathedral</a>, which was the seat of the <a href="/en/Armenian_Apostolic_Church" title="Armenian Apostolic Church" class="wl">Armenian Apostolic</a> <a href="/en/Catholicosate_of_Aghtamar" title="Catholicosate of Aghtamar" class="wl">Catholicosate of Aghtamar</a> from 1116 to 1895.</p>



Akdamar Island , also known as Aghtamar is the second largest of the four islands in Lake Van, in eastern Turkey. About 0.7 km² in size, it is situated approximately 3 km from the shoreline. At the western end of the island, a hard, grey, limestone cliff rises 80 m above the lake's level . The island declines to the east to a level site where a spring provides ample water. It is home to the 10th century Armenian Holy Cross Cathedral, which was the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Catholicosate of Aghtamar from 1116 to 1895. 