Damal, formerly Petereke, is a town and district of Ardahan Province

Ardahan Province

Ardahan Province is a province in the far north-east of Turkey, at the very end of the country, where Turkey borders with Georgia . The provincial capital is the city of Ardahan.- Geography :...

 of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, on the road from Kars

Kars

Kars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...

 to Posof

Posof

Posof is a district of Ardahan Province of Turkey, in the far east of the country, 75 km from the city of Ardahan. It has a border crossing with neigboring Georgia at Türkgözü...

.

History

Damal
is on a route across the traditional Silk Road

Silk Road

The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...

, connecting the Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

 from Europe to Central Asia and has changed hands many times throughout history, between Medes

Medes

The MedesThe Medes...

, Persians, Ancient Romans, Byzantines

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 and finally the Ottoman Turks. The region was briefly controlled by Imperial Russia but later restored to Turkey after World War One.

Geography

This is a rural area in high mountain, a collection of villages rather than a district built around a central town, watered by mountain springs, the district was created in order to bring more public buildings and government jobs and thus stem the drift of people away from the area. This part of a Turkey has a cold, hard climate, temperatures drop to -38°C(36,4°F) in winter.

The rag dolls of Damal are renowned and have won prizes in craftrwork festivals.

At a certain time of the year Damal mountain throws a shadow that is a very lifelike silhouette of Atatürk

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....

. There is an annual gathering to watch this event, although there are many who believe that Atatürk should be remembered for his life and works and not for this shadow. For a picture see.