City
Monuments & temples · Şanlıurfa

Edessa (Şanlıurfa)

UNESCO Tentative ListHellenistic–Islamicin Şanlıurfa

Şanlıurfa, the city tradition makes the birthplace of Abraham. The pools of sacred carp at Balıklıgöl lie below the citadel, and Urfa Man, found nearby in 1993, stands in the Archaeology Museum.

Plan the visitIts place in history

Plan your visit

Time to allow
About half a day

For a first visit at an easy pace.

Stay in
Şanlıurfa

The place is in town.

On a trip
Where it began

Day 1 of 5.

Hours and tickets
Check before you go

Opening hours and prices change: see muze.gov.tr (opens in a new tab).

Times are our estimates. Distances are straight lines.

Its place in history

Read the chapter before you go.

AD 330–1453Byzantine and ArmenianConstantine made Byzantium his capital, Constantinople, and Justinian built Hagia Sophia there.1071–1922Seljuk and OttomanAfter the battle of Manzikert in 1071 the Seljuks settled Anatolia and made Konya their capital, with caravanserais along the trade roads.

Where its treasures are now

In Türkiye

Urfa Man (Balıklıgöl statue)

c. 9500 BC. About 1.8 m tall and over 11,500 years old; regarded as the oldest known life-size naturalistic human statue. Found at Balıklıgöl in Şanlıurfa in 1993.

Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum, Şanlıurfa
In Türkiye

Haleplibahçe Amazon queens mosaics

late 5th – early 6th century AD. Hunting Amazon queens such as Penthesilea and Hippolyta and scenes from Achilles' life, found under a planned amusement park in 2006.

Şanlıurfa Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum, Şanlıurfa
Back in Türkiye

Orpheus mosaic

Returned December 2012

Returned from the Dallas Museum of Art, Şanlıurfa
first

Oldest known life-size naturalistic human statue. Urfa Man (Balıklıgöl statue), c. 9500 BC. Confirmed How sure we are →

From here

Open in OpenStreetMap (opens in a new tab) · Directions to Edessa (opens in a new tab)

Also nearby

  • 15 km
    Göbekli Tepe

    Neolithic sanctuary, Pre-Pottery Neolithic (c. 9600–8000 BC)

  • 38 km
    Harran

    City / beehive houses, Bronze Age–Islamic

  • museum
    Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum

    Amazon queens mosaic

  • museum
    Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum

    Urfa Man, Neolithic finds

Location precise · Source (opens in a new tab)