Welcoming spring with colorful blossoms on Akdamar Island

There are some places the season of spring suits the most. Akdamar Island, one of the four islands on Lake Van in eastern Anatolia, is one of those places. The newly blossoming almond trees color the island in pink and white, creating an unearthly atmosphere for locals and visitors. Situated in the middle of turquoise blue Lake Van and surrounded by the snowy mountains and blossoming almond trees, Akdamar Island offers an admirable view that visitors coming to the island can't get enough of. However, the natural beauty that sprouts from the island is not why Akdamar is on the must-visit list of many people around the world. Armenian Orthodox church, Akdamar Church – also known as the Church of the Holy Cross – is the real star of the island. The island and its surrounding provinces were once ruled by the Kingdom of Vaspurakan as a vassal of the Abbasids in the Middle Ages. In the 10th century, between 915 and 921, Armenian king Gagik I Ardzruni tasked Bishop Manuel, one of the greatest Armenian architects in history, to build a church on the island, which is believed to house a piece of the True Cross, the actual cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on. What sets Akdamar Church apart from other Armenian Orthodox churches are the frescoes that decorate the interior. The frescoes depict the Story of Creation and scenes from the life of Christ. On top of its architectural features, Akdamar Church also stands out with its cultural attributions that led it to be added to UNESCO's Tentative List of World Heritage in 2015. Although the church is one of the most important religious buildings in the region, after 1915 incidents during World War I, when hundreds of thousands of Armenians and Turks were killed, the church was abandoned. Due to earthquakes and neglect, the building was almost lost to history until the Culture and Tourism Ministry began restorations of the building in 2005 and approved a TL 4 billion budget for the project, which lasted two years and included several architects, engineers and archaeologists. Prior to the massive restoration, however, the Turkish government conducted minor restorations to make the church ready for its first service in 95 years in 2010. The services started once again in 2018 with the participation of Armenians from Turkey as well as Armenia and around the world and are expected to be held annually from now on. Visitors touring the region's historical and touristic places rarely miss the chance to see Akdamar Island on Lake Van. Akdamar Island is especially popular with photographers in spring, when it takes on a surreal beauty with the blossoming almond trees.