The Lake Van
People prepare their bags, crowd into the cars and go to the “sea” on weekends; because that lake seeming endless when you sit on the shore is like a sea for the dwellers of Van. And maybe it’s a sea, not “like” a sea! And this feeling has a solid basis. The area of the Lake Van measures 3 thousand 317 sqm. The length is 120 km and the width is 80 km. In other words, when you sit on one shore, you cannot sea the opposite shore. The waters extend as far as the eye can reach.
The ferryboats running between Tatvan and Van enhance this feeling. The four islands on the east side of the lake complete the picture. Nothing is missing to describe a sea.
The Lake Van goes beyond the perception of a sea and adds the most important tourism resort of the Aegean region to its portfolio; because the dwellers of Van call the Adır Island on the river “Kuşadası” because of sea gulls always present on the island. The local people take the small boats on the shore and go to Kuşadası to have picnic on weekends. On the other hand, the most important island on the lake is certainly Akdamar or “Ahtamar” Island, as named in the past, the source of the legends as well. The church built in early 900s by the King Gagik was restored and offered to the tourism after thousands-year-long loneliness. Today, the church hosts the local and foreign guests arriving to the island by taxi boats and guides them to the historical church drawing attention with its exceptional stonework.
Rallways in the lake!
The “traffic” on the lake is not limited by that; because the rallways Istanbul-Tehran from Turkey to Iran, interestingly, crosses through the lake! At one side of the lake, the train passengers arriving to Tatvan get off their wagons and get on the ferryboats. They are taken to the other side of the lake, to Van by ferryboats. There, they get on the wagons waiting for them. Thus, the travel to Tehran continues after a lake break. Though the dwellers of Van compare the lake to a sea, they don’t prefer in general to swim there! The main reason for this attitude is that the water contains soda and causes sometimes serious damages to the skin of those who swim inside. The soda percentage in the water is so high that the local people wash their laundry in the water easily frothing up. But this feature of the lake has destructive effects for the natural life; it doesn’t let the creatures live there. Only one sort of fish, “pearl mullet” lives there. The mullets emerge from the eggs in the soft water of the rivers and then arrive to the lake.
Monster!
In recent years, the dwellers of Van tell a funny story and according to this story, a “monster” lives in the lake. Since 1993 to our days, hundreds of people told that they saw a monster in the lake. Furthermore, this event has been subject to “scientific research” upon the huge interest of the media. The reports, scientific studies extending up to Britain didn’t produce any result. But the local people of Van kept hanging on the monster. Many stories are produced on it. They didn’t stop there and they organised competitions to find a name for the monster. They even built 4 meters high “Van Lake Monster Monument” in Geveş.
The sun sets down in the lake
With its monster, islands and legends the Lake Van is candidate to be one of the most interesting stops of the tourism. “The sea not available to swim” waits with several interesting surprises. However, those who visited there know that the biggest surprise is the sunset. Nowhere in the world, the sun sets down like at the Lake Van. The bright red sun swallowed by the lake offers an unforgettable view to the spectators.
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