On 1 November 2019 we left Adıyaman at mid-day to go to Mount Nemrut (Nemrut Dağ).  It takes about 70 km to get there (best way is to go by car but there are also organised tours available from Malatya, Adıyaman or Kahta, or further afield from Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa).  The region was part of the Kommagene kingdom (163 BC - 72 AD).  On the way a good number of monuments can be visited from that era - they are situated in the Mount Nemrut National Park and are all well signposted.  Several of them now being touristically upgraded with financial support from the EU.  The first stop is at the Karakuş Tumulus ("Black Bird" in Turkish).  It is a burial site of the women of the royal family of Kommagene.  A column with an eagle sculpture on top and the tumulus itself can be seen from away and it is easy to get there - about 10 km from Kahta - it is just off the main road, not fenced off and there is no admission fee.  Nemrut Dağ can be seen in the distance.   A small kiosk nearby offers drinks.  

Just around the corner the Septimus Severus Bridge stretches across the Cendere (Kabinas) River, built in in the second century AD. It is one of the most impressive Roman infrastructure monuments in Anatolia; it carried the traffic until the 1990s when a new bridge was built further downstream.  On the eastern side of the bridge a small coffee shop offers refreshments and souvenirs.  

Across the valley and up in the hills sits Yeni Kale (the New Castle), originally a Kommagene palace but in its latest form dating from the Mameluke period (13th century), now under restoration.  At the time of our visit work was still going on and it was expected that the place would be opened to tourists in Spring 2020. 

Further up in the hills you find the summer palace of the Kommagene family, the ruins of Arsameia on the Nymphaios River.  Here is where they came when it was too hot in summer down in the Euphrates valley, in the capital Samosata, now disappeared in the Ataturk Lake.  At the entrance (no admission fee) to the site a tea house offers refreshments - we were there during the pomegranate season and got wonderfully fresh and fragrant fruit to taste.  There are three places to visit at the site: a bit further down from the entrance and parking lot we find the stele of Apollo/Mithras, further westwards a cave that as some say served as cold storage for the palace while others think it was a temple or burial site - a few meters into the cave it is closed off by a metal fence.  The highlight of the site is a bit further up on a zig-zag path but not too far, a tunnel, 160 m long but steep and very dark - it was apparently a place to rid oneself of sins before ascending to Mount Nemrut.  At its entrance you see the longest Greek inscription in Anatolia from that period and the larger than life-size relief of a handshake exchanged between King Mithridates and Heracles; here the King making sure he is seen as equal to the gods.  There is nothing much left of the Summer Place but those three spots are worth the trip, not to mention the breathtaking view into the valley, full of lush oak trees.

From here onwards to Nemrut Dağ on a good road through valleys flanked by steep slopes.  Cows and donkeys are using the road too - so drive carefully.  The road ends at the Nemrut visitors centre (entrance fee, currently 20TL).  From there a shuttle bus will take you another 1km to a now dilapidated ticket office from where you walk up to the summit (at 2150 m).  It takes about 30 minutes depending on your speed but you walk on stairs made of stone slabs.  You have choice between the paths to the East or West Terraces.  My recommendation would be to go up to the East Terrace - the ascend is less steep.  But it also depends on the time of the day: it is better to visit the Eastern Terrace first when you go in the evening - you then can admire the full spectacle of the sunset from the Western terrace.  And the other way round if you choose to go up for sunrise.  On the day of our visit in early November the weather was spectacularly beautiful: dark blue sky, clear view across the Euphrates valley with the Ataturk lake glistering in the distance, but it was cold - around 0°C, with the wind factor even less.  So don’t get mistaken by the warm temperature down in the valley.  

Nemrut Dağ is one of the most spectacular sites in Turkey, not only the monument itself, the hierothesion, which is witness to a religious syncretism that combined Greek, Persian and Armenian influences but also its setting in the Eastern Taurus mountains with breathtaking views across the Euphrates Valley and deep into Mesopotamia.   

On the East Terrace you are greeted by the huge heads of lions, eagles, gods and King Antiochus.  Their heads rest on the ground in front of their seated statues.  An elevated platform used to be the altar of this burial site.  Behind the statues rises the 50m high and 150m diameter tumulus made of stone chips.  Rumours have it that the undiscovered burial chamber lays under the gravel.  When you walk around the summit you can see earlier attempts to dig into the tumulus.  On the Western side again heads of the king, gods, lions and eagles in front of seated statues.  At the back a well preserved Greek inscription describing the purpose of the site in a very sombre tone.  Flanking the row of statues are stone relief slabs with the king and gods.  One interesting stone relief showing a lion horoscope with the astronomical constellation of planets as seen in the year 62 BC has been been removed to a locked shed - the Temporary Restoration Lab, apparently waiting to be removed to a museum and like some of the sculptures and other reliefs to be replaced by copies.  From the Western Terrace the sun set was magnificent.  The horizon turned from pink to dark red to purple.  The colours of the sky turned the place into a romantic site - we witnessed a young guy proposing to his girlfriend under the cheers of the other visitors.  And we got invited to the wedding next year ...