Why visit Tatvan
Townapedia lists 4 parks and trails, 48 places to eat and 10 places to stay in and around town.
Weather in Tatvan
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Tatvan
Tatvan (Kurdish: Tetwan; Armenian: Դատվան, romanized: Datvan) is a city on the western shore of Lake Van, in Bitlis Province in eastern Turkey. It is the seat of Tatvan District. Its population is 79,214 (2021), making it the most populated municipality of the province. The current mayor is Mümin Erol (DEM Party).
From the Wikipedia article Tatvan (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Travel tips from other travellers: Tatvan on Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Parks, trails and playgrounds4
Restaurants and cafes48
Coffemania
Cafe · Burger, Ice Cream, Grill, Cake, Coffee Shop, Pasta, Noodles, Pizza, Arab, Chicken, Mexican, Turkish, Oriental, Breakfast, Local · 0.8 km
8 Cumhuriyet Caddesi
Mo-Su 09:00-00:00
Kahve Deryası Sahil
Cafe · Coffee Shop · 1.0 km
Göl Caddesi, Bitlis
Mo-Su 07:00-22:00
36 more on the map.
Where to stay10
Otel Karaman (👍)
Motel and hotel
2022: 180/280/380 TL single/double/triple (i.e. €12/17/24)
6 Yeni Çarsi
Churches and places of worship10
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History
The citadel of Eski Tatvan possibly dates back to the Urartian period. It was used at least until the 17th century. Sayf al-Dawla, the Arab Hamdanid emir of Aleppo, visited Tatvan in 939/40. While he was there, he received the submission of the Armenian prince Ashot III of Taron. The town was historically an important place on the route from Van to Bitlis. By the 20th century, though, Tatvan had dwindled to a mere village, little more than "a cluster of houses by a jetty". It only developed back into a town when transport links improved around mid-century, with the construction of the railway in the 1950s and the improvement of the road to Van in 1964. In the 1980s, T.A. Sinclair wrote that the Denizcilik Bankası (Shipping Company) ran a good hotel on the south side of town, which was often full. The other hotels at the time, he wrote, were in the town centre and were not good.
From the History section of Tatvan on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Shopping32
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries11
Healthcare23
Map of Tatvan
139 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Muş Sultan Alparslan Havaalanı (MSR) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 61 km away.
- Yumurtatepe 7 km north, about 7 min by car
- Değirmenaltı 12 km southwest, about 12 min by car
- Bitlis 18 km southwest, about 18 min by car
- Bölükyazı 21 km southwest, about 21 min by car
- Reşadiye 22 km east, about 22 min by car
- Taşharman 24 km north, about 24 min by car
- Güroymak 25 km west, about 25 min by car
- Hizan 32 km south, about 32 min by car
- Ahlat 33 km northeast, about 33 min by car
- Siirt 69 km southwest, about 1 h 15 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB.
Reviews, tips and questions
Loading what members have shared...
Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- Mapillary (see each image): photos
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Tatvan (view from Nemrut), EvgenyGenkin, CC BY 2.5
- 07.10.26 Tatvan DE22071, Phil Richards, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Tatvan Railway Station, NicholasNCE, CC BY-SA 4.0
- ISS054-E-41627 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS065-E-391930 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS054-E-41628 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS031-E-158744 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS065-E-396504 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS065-E-391931 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS054-E-40719 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS054-E-40718 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- ISS054-E-40720 - View of Earth, Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center, Public domain
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, boracasli, CC BY-SA 4.0
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