Şanlıurfa
Country: Turkey · 1,985,753 inhabitants
Attractions
Wikivoyage
Urfa (also Şanlıurfa, formerly Edessa) is a city in Southeastern Anatolia, and the provincial capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city is about 80 km east of the Euphrates River, and with a population of 600 thousand is smaller than nearby Gaziantep.
Urfa has many excellent old buildings and plenty of connections with the Old Testament and Islamic tradition. The general vibe is absolutely Middle Eastern, with all that traditional yellow stone, arched architecture, people in traditional Middle Eastern attire, and so on. When approaching from the west, the city certainly feels like the gates of the eastern world. People are extremely friendly, and the bazaar is great.
Wikipedia
Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (Turkish pronunciation: [ʃanˈɫɯuɾfa] lit. 'Urfa the Glorious'), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km (50 mi) east of the Euphrates. Its climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters.
About 12 km (7 mi) northeast of the city is the famous Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe, the world's oldest known temple, which was founded in the 10th millennium BC. The area was part of a network of the first human settlements where the agricultural revolution took place. Because of its association with Jewish, Christian, and Islamic history, and a legend according to which it was the hometown of Abraham, Urfa is nicknamed the City of Prophets.
Religion is important in Urfa. The city "has become a center of fundamentalist Islamic beliefs" and "is considered one of the most devoutly religious cities in Turkey".
The city is located 30 miles from the Atatürk Dam, at the heart of the Southeast Anatolia Project, which draws thousands of job-seeking rural villagers to the city every year.