2 Days in Şanlıurfa: Day-by-Day Itinerary

Historic & Cultural

Şanlıurfa Castle

Şanlıurfa Castle, or Urfa Castle in short, is a castle overlooking the city center of Şanlıurfa, Turkey. The castle was built by the Osroene in antiquity and the current walls were constructed by the Abbasids in 814 AD. Today, the castle functions as an open-air museum.

Museums

Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum

Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museums or Şanlıurfa Museum are located in the south-eastern city of Şanlıurfa, Turkey. The museums contain remains of Şanlıurfa, Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Harran, findings from the Southeastern Anatolia Project and ruins found in the hydroelectric dam reservoirs of Atatürk Dam, Birecik Dam and Karkamış Dam. Both museums are located at Haleplibahçe Mahallesi 2372, Sok Eyyübiye/Şanlıurfa.

Museums

Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum

Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum; is an archaeology museum located in the Eyyübiye district of Şanlıurfa.

Plan 1 hour

Historic & Cultural

Gumruk Han

Gumruk Han is a historic caravanserai located in the Eyyübiye district of Şanlıurfa, built in 1563 by Urfa Sanjak-bey Halhallı Behram Pasha during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. This two-story inn is constructed with cut Urfa stone, and water from Balıklıgöl flows through its courtyard. Today, Gumruk Han serves as a lively hub where locals socialize, enjoy tea and menengiç coffee, and where visitors can find prayer bead shops and tailor workshops. Şanlıurfa Castle (481 m), Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum (624 m), and Balıklıgöl (445 m) are within walking distance.

Historic & Cultural

Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe is a Neolithic archaeological site in Upper Mesopotamia (al-Jazira) in modern-day Turkey. The settlement was inhabited from around 9500 BCE to at least 8000 BCE, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It is known for its large circular structures that contain large stone pillars – among the world's oldest known megaliths. Many of these pillars are decorated with anthropomorphic details, clothing, and sculptural reliefs of wild animals, providing archaeologists insights into prehistoric religion and the iconography of the period. The 15 m (50 ft) high, 8 ha (20-acre) tell is covered with ancient domestic structures and other small buildings, quarries, and stone-cut cisterns from the Neolithic, as well as some traces of activity from later periods.

Plan 2 hours

Historic & Cultural

Göbeklitepe

Located in Haliliye, Şanlıurfa, Göbeklitepe is the world's oldest known temple complex, dating back to approximately 9600 BCE. This Neolithic archaeological site is notable for its monumental T-shaped stone pillars and animal reliefs. Göbeklitepe was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018 and has reshaped significant understandings of human history.

Museums

İbrahim Tatlıses Müzik Müzesi

The İbrahim Tatlıses Music Museum, located in Eyyübiye, Şanlıurfa, opened on September 25, 2011. The museum is housed in the historical Yasin'in Kahvesi, which was restored by the Şanlıurfa Municipality. It exhibits wax sculptures of artists from Şanlıurfa, musical instruments, photographs, and texts detailing their lives. The museum is within walking distance of Şanlıurfa Castle (701 m) and Gümrük Han (580 m).

Museums

Şanlıurfa Müzesi

Şanlıurfa Museum is a museum located in the Haliliye district. It was first opened to visitors in 1969, but due to its inadequacy in exhibiting the rich archaeological and cultural values of the region, it was moved to a new and larger building in 2015. The museum houses 73,800 archaeological and ethnographic artifacts from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages. It displays the Balıklıgöl Statue, known as the world's oldest statue, and artifacts from Göbeklitepe and Nevali Çori. Additionally, a mosaic museum exhibiting mosaics found in Haleplibahçe is also part of the complex.

Historic & Cultural

Kazane Höyuk

Kazane Höyük is a mound located approximately 4 km southeast of the city of Şanlıurfa. According to research on organic remains in the soil in the region, it is understood that there was dense vegetation in the plain in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, rich in reeds, rushes, and grass species. The climate must have been a wetter climate. The surrounding hills were probably forested.