SARIKAMIS AND AROUND

The attraction of Sarikamis mostly lies in its natural beauty and skiing facilities. It is on a 2200-2900 meter high plateau 54 kilometers southwest of Kars. It snows here an average of 56 days a year, and is covered with snow for 142 days. The region is famous for its large crystalline snowflakes, but its skiing facilities have yet to be discovered. The forests of Sarikamis are famous for their scotch pine trees. A kind of mountain trout with red scales lives in the Kizil Cubuk and Keklik streams that flow through its forests.

Skiing in Sarikamis
Sarikamis offers many advantages to skiers: it boasts one of the longest ski slopes in the world, and the quality of its crystalline snow has been compared with the Alps. This kind of snow is highly suitable for skiing. A Turkish skiing tournament is held here every year. Skiing can be done at the Sarikamis ski center from December to April and the surface is generally covered with one meter of snow. It is suitable for both downhill and cross-country skiing. There are also pistes for sledges.

Sarikamis Saricam Skiing Facilities. Photograph: Yildirim Ozturkkan

Sarikamis Skiing Center is in fact the largest skiing center in Turkey with a computerized chairlift system and a capacity of 2,400 people per hour. The pistes are divided into two sections, the first 2400 meter high and the second is 2630 meters. The total piste length is 17 kilometers and there are eight pistes altogether. Five of them go from the peak to the first base, and the other three from the peak to the hotel area.

Also, five kilometers of the piste are registered by the International Skiing Federation (FIS) as Cross Country Piste. Sarikamis has the potential to create a skiing area of up to 50 kilometers.

Tsar’s Hunting Pavilion
This pavilion was built inside the forest on the northwest of the town between 1890 and 1914 during the Russian period for the rehabilitation of Tsar Nikola the Second’s sick son Aleksi, and to be used as a hunting house for the family. But for some reason it was ascribed to Katerina and came to be known as Katerina’s Hunting Pavilion.

It is made of wood without using a nail. There are double columns at the entrance door. The inner space consists of one central room and rooms opening up to this central area. The Tsar used to stay overnight at the pavilion during hunting parties. It has two parts; one is known as the main pavilion and the other the hunting pavilion. The heating pipes that pass inside the concrete columns are known as the pec system.

Kazim Karabekir Mosque (Burnt Cinema – Russian Garrison Church)
This church, which was built in 1907 by Tsar Nicholas II, is across from the main post office. After the departure of the Russians in 1917, it was used in turn as an office store, community center and cinema. It experienced a devastating fire in 1970 and could not be used for a long time. It became a mosque in 1985. It is a rectangular building with three doors. The two-colored clear-cut stone work on the outer walls is impressive. The building has many similarities with the Kars Aleksandr Nevski Church, the Sarikamis Garrison Church and the Russian Military Church in Oltu.

Micingirt Castle
This is in Inkaya (Micingirt) village, which falls into the provincial boundaries of Erzurum. Only the walls of this castle from the Urartu period survive. There are also Urartu rock graves inside the castle. It was used during the Byzantine, Seljuk, Saltuk and Ottoman periods but later was damaged because of lack of use and maintenance. The Kumbet, a large tomb with a domeshaped roof is behind the castle.

Apart from these there are Visan Koroglu, Zivin and Keklikdere Girl Castles in town. The impressive obsidian beds are also characteristic of the town.