KILLIT VILLAGE: Three Sects, Three Churches and One Mosque

According to the written and oral information transmitted from the past to the present, when you look at the history of Mardin, it is noticeable that it has a district that is quite similar to it. Savur district, which has a settlement and history approximately 1000 years older than the city of Mardin, is like a fairy tale city lying at the intersection of two valleys.

We think that one of the most important factors that created this city is trade. The valley between Savur and Mardin also constitutes the Mardin-Midyat highway. The city, which preserved its population thanks to this road, lost its importance and started to migrate after the change of the Mardin-Midyat road route. In the past, Savur, the largest producer of vegetables, fruits and lumber in the region, even hired seasonal workers from outside. But today, with the change of the road, it is experiencing perhaps one of the most silent periods in its history.

The existence of trade routes enriched both Savur and all other places on its routes and paved the way for their development. One of the best examples of these, of course, is Kıllıt or Dereiçi Village with its new name. The multi-identity structure of this village, which is far from the intense turmoil of life in the inner parts of the mountains, is remarkable. Here, not only different peoples such as Assyrians, Muslims, Turks, Arabs, Kurds and Armenians, but also different sects of the same religion have been able to live in great harmony. The fact that there are places of worship of three Christian sects, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant, in this small Assyrian village surprises everyone who sees it, and makes them happy because differences can find living space even in a very narrow area. In other words, this wealth that you would expect from a metropolitan city comes across you in a village place in this ancient land.

The magnificent sight that awaits you when you go to Kıllıt Village is three churches belonging to three different sects and a mosque, which are still standing, although the village has been largely evacuated. The village of Kıllıt, which had more than 300 primary school students until the 1980s, became empty when its inhabitants started migrating to the west, especially to European countries. When the Assyrian population in the village decreased, some Muslim families started to migrate to the village and built a mosque for their own worship. In Killit Village, which is thought to have a population of more than 20,000 spread around the world, prayers for the same God from four different places, including three bell towers and a minaret, are still ascending to the sky.