Trip to Şanlıurfa.

Keeping up with our project's goals of discovering Turkish traditions and culture we went quite spontaneous to a city located 140 Km away from Gaziantep, in the Eastern direction. 

Modern Şanlıurfa presents stark contrasts between its old and new quarters. The old town is one of the most evocative and romantic in Turkey, with an ancient bazaar still visited by local people to buy fruit and vegetables, where traditionally dressed and scarfed Arab and Turkish villagers arrive in the early morning to sell their produce. Much of the old town consists of traditional Middle Eastern houses built around courtyards, invisible from the dusty streets, many of which are impassable to motor vehicles. In the narrow streets of the bazaar people scurry to and from carrying trays of food, which is eaten on newspapers spread on low tables in a corner of the little shops, many people drinking water from the same cup. This very oriental atmosphere is bewitching but below the surface parts of the old city are very poor indeed, with people still living in cave houses (built into the side of the rock).




Şanlıurfa's newer districts are a sprawl of modern concrete apartment blocks, with many surprisingly tidy leafy avenues, containing modern restaurants, sports facilities and other amenities with air-conditioning.
Wikipedia description.

I quite liked the city and the stories associated with it, and just by chance we were in the city when theis soccer team won a place in the first Turkish league, so every one was celebrating :)

Mosque of Halil-ur-Rahman 

An awesome place 

The legendary Pool of Sacred Fish (Balıklıgöl) where Abraham was thrown into the fire by Nimrod. The pool is in the courtyard of the mosque of Halil-ur-Rahman, built by the Ayyubids in 1211 and now surrounded by attractive gardens designed by architect Merih Karaaslan. The courtyard is where the fishes thrive. A local legend says seeing a white fish will open the door to the heavens.

And some more images from the city :

Hope you get a chance to visit it !

Take care, Dan !