Şanlıurfa
Ancient Edessa, a city of mosques around the sacred fish pools. Its museum keeps the Urfa Man, and the oldest monuments on earth are on the hills outside town.
What to see from here
Distances are straight lines from the town centre.
- in townEdessa (Şanlıurfa)
Şanlıurfa, the city tradition makes the birthplace of Abraham. Allow about half a day.
- 14 kmGöbekli Tepe
Round enclosures of carved T-shaped pillars, built from about 9600 BC by people who had not yet taken up farming. Allow about 2 hours.
- 39 kmHarran
An ancient city on the plain near the Syrian border, with conical beehive houses, the ruins of one of the oldest mosques in Anatolia and a tradition linking it to Abraham. Allow about 2 hours.
- 46 kmKarahan Tepe
Göbekli Tepe’s neighbour and contemporary, with a chamber of pillars cut out of the bedrock and a carved human head looking out from the wall. Allow about 1 hour.
Museums in Şanlıurfa
- museumHaleplibahçe Mosaic Museum
Amazon queens mosaic
- museumŞanlıurfa Archaeology Museum
Urfa Man, Neolithic finds