Palandöken

Evliya Çelebi tells a famous story about the Erzurum winter: a cat trying to leap from one rooftop to the next froze solid in midair… Those who know Evliya’s fondness for exaggeration read these lines with a smile, of course; but anyone who has seen an Erzurum winter can’t help pausing to think once the smile fades. So where does this winter come from? Just turn your head to the south of the city; there, its ridges topping three thousand meters, rises Palandöken.