woensdag 9 december 2015

Come with me to Şanlıurfa in Turkey

Good morning, in 2011 I went to south-eastern Turkey ( Southeastern Anatolia) and visited the town of Sanliurfa. Şanlıurfa or Urfa (also written separately as Şanlı Urfa Turkish: Şanlı = " glorious ", Kurdish: Riha, in ancient times Edessa, or Antioch on the Callirrhoë) is a city in southeast Turkey, with an estimated population of more than 390,000 inhabitants. 

The city is seen as the most Arab and the most romantic city of Turkey. Urfa, according to the tradition from Jews, Christians and Muslims, is the city of Ur in Chaldea, where Abraham made his journey to Canaan. Once Şanlıurfa called Edesssa, was a thriving cultural center of the Christians. Edessa is sometimes also called the city of the apostle Thomas.


Urfa Citadel


The main attraction of Urfa is its ancient citadel, situated on one of the hills above the city. What the healing waters of the French Lourdes for Dutch Catholics, which is the pond with the sacred fish in Şanlıurfa Turkish Muslims.





Balikligöl  'The Lake with Fishes' - Pond of Abraham


Pond with holy (untouchable ) carps at the Halil Rahman Mosque. The mosque stands on the site where, according to legend, patriarch Abraham.

According to local Islamic tradition, Abraham hit in Şanlıurfa idols in pieces, because they were pagan idolatry. He raised it the ire of King Nimrod. The Assyrian (Azerbaijan) king Nimrod let it ignite a fire at the foot of a hill and left Abraham throw from the hill into the flames. But God turned the fire into water, the glowing coals in carp, and made ​​sure that the prophet unharmed landed in a bed of roses.




The Gölbaşi Park

Inside the citywalls and before you walk to the castle and mosque, you will walk through a beautiful park with a pond in the middle. Surrounding the pond there are lots of restaurants and you can also rent a boat to sail through the canals. Everywhere there were small bridges and everywhere you could see people feed the fishes.










The Turkish Coffee

In all restaurants the Turkish coffee served in the old traditional cups. You could also eat there, but I've decided to eat less because the kilos came very quick within one week. The food in that area was in fact TOO nice and delicious.



Şanlıurfa was a  great experience. The drive from Gaziantep to this town has caused me so much sweat because I thought we were in the Middle of Nowhere. The landscape is dry and barren in that period and we drove over hills and I thought there was no end. Once arrived in the town there was a lot of green trees and very busy in the streets. Of course there were souvenir shops while only a few tourists where walking around. There are two large bazaars where you can rummage around for trinkets.

Have you ever been in Sanliurfa ? Share your experience by writing your comment below this blogpost.

Greetings Paula

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