What is Qamishli famous for?
Qamishli is known as a city built in 1926 by Assyrian and Armenian refugees: its Syriac name was Bet-Zalin, house of reeds, and its present name is the same words in Turkish. Its eleven churches, its schools and its hospital were largely paid for between the 1920s and the 1940s by Asfar and Najjar, a firm that grew rich on the wheat trade. Qamishli is also known for its processions: the Christmas parade in December, Newroz in March and the Assyrian new year of Kha b-Nisan in April. The city is pressed against the Turkish border, and its streets end in the streets of Nusaybin.
Highlights
- Eleven churches of seven congregations gathered into a few central streets
- The Christmas parade in December, Newroz in March, Kha b-Nisan in April
- The palace of Tupkish at Urkesh under its conservation covers, 24 kilometres west
- The straight street from gate to temple terrace at Shubat-Enlil, 34 kilometres south-east
- The lone pointed arch standing over the Tigris plain at Ain Diwar, 112 kilometres east
What to see
- Qamishli · 3rd–2nd millennium BC
Tell Mohammed Diyab
A large mound 7 kilometres south-east of Tell Leilan, dug by a French team from 1987: a town of the land of Apum, a stop for Assyrian merchants, four settlements.
- Al-Malikiyah · reservoir
Safan Reservoir and Hayaka Nature Reserve
The reservoir on the Safan River west of Al-Malikiyah and its Hayaka reserve: 48-49 million cubic metres of water, poplar woods, the border 3 km away, and access.
Qamishli · since 1925St Jacob of Nisibis Syriac Orthodox Cathedral, Qamishli
Qamishli's Syriac Orthodox cathedral: a mud-brick church in 1925, the present building in 1947, a centenary in 2025 and a service led by the patriarch in 2026.
- Amuda · 1927-1928
Mor Elias Syriac Orthodox Church, Amuda
Amuda's Syriac Orthodox church opened in 1927-1928, stood shut for over 40 years and reopened in 2017. The feast held every 20 July, and what to know before going.
- Qamishli · al-Malikiyah area
Mount Karachok
The only high ground in the north-east corner of the Jazira plain: a basalt ridge 45 km long and 770 metres high. Its geology, oil history and what to watch for.
- Qamishli · a cathedral since 1954
St Joseph’s Armenian Catholic Cathedral, Qamishli
The Armenian Catholic cathedral of Qamishli since 1954. How a community from Mardin regathered here, where the church stands, what happened in 2019, who remains.
Where to eat
- Qamishli · Kocher cheese from the Derik countryside
Sirik (Kocher garlic cheese)
Fresh spring cheese mixed with chopped green garlic, packed in a hide, buried underground and dug up as winter starts. The cheese of the Kocher villages near Derik.
- Qamishli · Syriac Lenten bread
Rozune (Syriac mid-Lent coin bread)
A sweet tahini and cinnamon bread shaped as rounds or stars, a coin hidden in one piece. Syriac families in the Jazira bake it on 9 March, halfway through Lent.
- Qamishli · Kurdish wheat and yoghurt soup
Mehîr
Husked wheat cooked in ayran, the thinned yoghurt drink, with garlic added once it cools. A Kurdish spoon dish of Qamishli and Derik, and an Armenian Easter plate.
Ready-made routes
By car · 1 dayA day from Qamishli to Amuda: two cathedrals, Urkesh, Mor Elias and Chagar Bazar
A 104-kilometre day from Qamishli: two city cathedrals, Urkesh, holy city of the Hurrians, Mor Elias in Amuda, reopened in 2017, and Mallowan's mound, Chagar Bazar.
By car · 1 dayAgatha Christie’s Khabur: Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak and Tell Barri from Qamishli
In the footsteps of Max Mallowan and Agatha Christie's digs of 1935-1937: Chagar Bazar, Tell Hazna, Tell Brak and Tell Barri on a 144-kilometre day from Qamishli.
- By car · 1 day
Urkesh and Shubat-Enlil: a day out of Qamishli
West in the morning to Urkesh, the holy city of the Hurrians, south-east in the afternoon to Shamshi-Adad's capital. 114 kilometres, an unhurried day.
Transparency
- How this was chosen
- The answer on this page is written by hand. The lists are built from published records tied to this city and grow on their own as records are added.
- Facts checked
- September 2026
- Last updated
- September 15, 2026