Guide
The Seljuk cemetery at Gevaş is at Hiset in the Karşıyaka quarter and is registered as a first-degree archaeological site. The building that draws visitors is the Halime Hatun tomb tower on its eastern side. According to the inscription over its door it was built in 1335 by Melik İzzeddin for his daughter Halime Hatun, and the master who built it was Esed, son of Pehlivan of Ahlat.
The tomb has two levels. The burial chamber below is square, reached down a stair to its door on the east. Above, a twelve-sided body rises from a square base with chamfered corners, covered by a pyramidal cap, built of regular cut stone. The portal is on the north face of the body and windows open on the other three sides, with triangular niches enlivening the surfaces between them. Every face carries decoration — plant motifs, geometry and inscriptions, arranged in bands and in medallions. Minibuses and public buses towards Gevaş and Akdamar leave from the Van intercity bus station.
