Erciş (pronounced [eɾˈdʒiʃ]; Kurdish: Erdiş;[2] Armenian: Ականց, romanized: Akants, historically Արճեշ, Arčeš) is a municipality and district of Van Province, Turkey.

During Classical Antiquity, the town was known as Arsissa, and Archesh (Arčeš) in Armenian and Arjish in Arabic.

[5] The Byzantines knew it as Arzes (Ἂρζες or Ἀρζές) and the 10th-century emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos wrote in his De administrando imperio (Chapter XLIV) that it was under the rule of the Kaysite emirate of Manzikert.

From 18th century, because of the increase of level of Lake Van the old town (called Archesh) slowly disappeared.

After old Archesh/Erciş was flooded by water, the city was moved to north to a much higher place called Alada in 1841.

To the north of Erciş is a large, steep highland area known as the Ala Dağ (literally "mottled mountain"), which contains the tributaries of the Zilan Dere.

[8] The Ala Dağ's underlying rock is fairly soft and as a result the whole area is eroded into many sharp ridges.

Erciş has a dry-summer continental climate (Köppen: Dsb/Dsa),[12] with hot, dry summers, and cold winters.