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.