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SANLIURFA
On
the great plain of High Mesopotamia, Sanliurfa, known
in ancient times first as Ur and later as Edessa, proudly
exhibits the legacy of all the civilizations that have
prospered in this region. In the second millennium
B.C.; it was a city of a Hurrite state. Tradition
relates that Abraham was born in a cave near the area
where the Mevlid Halil Mosque now stands. Today the
cave is a pilgrimage site and flocks of pigeons don't
seem to disturb the elderly me n praying around the
entrance. The remains of a castle with two lone
Corinthian columns rising above the ruined walls,
stands atop a small crest. At the foot of the hills,
the lovely Halil Rahman Mosque is built around a quiet
pool in which sacred car swim. The 17th century
Ottoman Ridvaniye Mosque and the Firfirli Mosque,
formerly the Church of the Apostles, are worth a
detour. The archaeology and ethnography museum, one of
the best in Turkey, houses important Neolithic and
Chalcolithic finds from the Lower Firat region. To
capture the spirit of Sanliurfa, wander through the
vaulted eastern bazaar and linger in the courtyards of
the old hans (inns); try to find Gumruk Hani and
Barutgu Hani - they are the the most interesting.
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