The modern city of Urfa is situated about eighty kilometers east of the Euphrates River. It has a rapidly growing population.
Urfa has many excellent old buildings and plenty of connections with Christianity and Islamic tradition. The general atmosphere and feel of the city is absolutely Middle Eastern, with all those traditional yellow stone, arched architecture, people (ladies and gentlemen alike) in Middle-East dresses, and so on… When coming from West, you’ll certainly feel like you are entering the Eastern world right in this place. People are extremely friendly, and the bazaar is great.
The modern city of Urfa is situated about eighty kilometers east of the Euphrates River. It has a rapidly growing population.
Urfa has many excellent old buildings and plenty of connections with Christianity and Islamic tradition. The general atmosphere and feel of the city is absolutely Middle Eastern, with all those traditional yellow stone, arched architecture, people (ladies and gentlemen alike) in Middle-East dresses, and so on… When coming from West, you’ll certainly feel like you are entering the Eastern world right in this place. People are extremely friendly, and the bazaar is great.
About 12 km 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.”
