Adilcevaz

Adilcevaz (also known as Elcevaz) is a town and district capital of the same-named district within Bitlis Province of Turkey. The city is on the shore of Lake Van. The ancient name of the city is "Artske" or "Artsike," which is in the Armenian language. Its mayor is Necati Gürsoy (AKP).

Because of numerous civilizations which have had settlements in Adilcevaz, the city has many ruins and historical artifacts from different eras. Urartians, Persians, Assyrians, Macedonians, Arabs, Byzantines, Armenians have lived in Adilcevaz in different periods. Today, contrary to the traditionally Armenian population which once lived in the east of Turkey, there are almost exclusively Turkish people here, due to deportations in the 1900s.

The famous Kef castle built by the Seljuk Turks lies 10km west of Adilcevaz on a mountain. Monastery of the Miracles, also known as Monastery of Ardzgue (Armenian: Սքանչելագործ վանք), is 2.18 miles northwest of Adilcevaz in the hills to the north of Lake Van.