BAYAZID, a border fortress of Asiatic Turkey, chief town of a vilayet of the same name, situated close to the frontiers of Russia and Persia, and looking across a marshy plain to the great cone of Ararat, at a general altitude of 6,000 feet. It occupies a site of great antiquity, as the cuneiform inscriptions on the neighbouring rocks testify; the town stands on the site of the old Armenian town of Pakovan. The great trade route from Trebi zond by Erzerum into north-west Persia crosses the frontier at Kizil Dize a few miles to the south and does not enter the town. A knoll above the town is occupied by the half-ruined fort or palace of former governors, built for Mahmud Pasha by a Persian architect and considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Turkey. 'It contains two churches and a monastery, the Kasa Kilissa, famous for its antiquity and architectural grandeur. The cuneiform inscriptions are on the rock pinnacles above the town, with some rock chambers, indicating a town or fortress of the Vannic period. Pop. (1927), 20,467.