Ahlat Selçuklu Mezarlığı is, as the locals will proudly tell you, the largest Islamic cemetery in Turkey and the fourth-largest in the world. Sandwiched between Lake Van to the south, Mount Suphan to the east, and Mount Nemrut towering to the west, the setting is stunning. But the decorated gravestones are the real attraction; standing an average of six feet (two meters) tall and carved from red basalt, they have a small protrusion at the top unknown in Western gravestones. The rust-colored stone is the perfect material for the carved…
