Kars Walking Tour: the Castle, Kümbet Mosque and the Russian-Era Town

In short: central Kars is easy to explore on foot. Below the basalt castle lie the old stone bridge and Kümbet Mosque, a 10th-century church with twelve carved figures on its drum. South of the river spreads the grid-plan town built during Russian rule (1878–1918), with its dark basalt “Baltic-style” buildings.

Last checked: 11 November 2026. Opening hours: check before you go. We don’t list prices.

1. Kars Castle

• History: rebuilt in 1153 under the Saltukid ruler Melik İzzeddin, destroyed by Timur in 1386, and rebuilt by the Ottomans in 1579 under Lala Mustafa Paşa.
• Walls: basalt walls about 3.5 km long, with seven surviving towers and bastions.
• Celal Baba: the tomb of Celal Baba, who died in the Mongol attack in the 13th century, stands inside the castle.
• Views: from the top there are wide views over the city.

2. The stone bridge (Taş Köprü)

Below the castle, a basalt bridge crosses the Kars river. It was rebuilt in about 1725.

3. Kümbet Mosque (Church of the Holy Apostles)

• Built in the 930s under the Bagratid King Abas I, when Kars was the capital.
• A domed building with four apses, with twelve low-relief figures around the drum, usually read as the Apostles.
• The Russians used it as a church and added its porches. Today it is a mosque.

4. Evliya Mosque and the tomb of Harakani

A 16th-century mosque built to honour the 11th-century Sufi Ebu’l Hasan Harakani, whose domed tomb beside it is visited by pilgrims.

5. The Russian-era town

• During Russian rule (1878–1918), a new grid-plan town was laid out in the Yusufpaşa, Ortakapı and Cumhuriyet neighbourhoods, built of basalt in what is often called the Baltic style.
• Look for the Governor’s Mansion, City Hall, the Tax Office, the Customs Office and the “German House”. Buildings like these are unique in Türkiye, and the town appears in Orhan Pamuk’s novel Snow.
• Fethiye Mosque: built as a Russian church in the late 19th or early 20th century, later used as a sports hall, and converted into a mosque in the 1980s.

Plan your visit

• Next: the ghost city of Ani, about 42 km away, and the frozen Lake Çıldır in winter.
• Getting here: see our Kars guide and the Touristic Eastern Express.

Sources we checked (November 2026): Go Türkiye: Kars · Go Türkiye: 3 days in Kars · Wikipedia: Castle of Kars · Wikipedia: Cathedral of Kars (Kümbet Mosque) · Wikipedia: Kars · Lonely Planet: Kars Castle · Lonely Planet: Kümbet Mosque · Lonely Planet: Fethiye Mosque · Lonely Planet: Evliya Mosque · Courtauld Institute: Church of the Holy Apostles · Hürriyet Daily News: Baltic architecture

Kars walk: questions

Header photo: Kars Castle. Photo: Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).