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Urfa
Metropolitan municipality
Şanlıurfa
Urfa skyline
Urfa
Coordinates: 37°09′30″N 38°47′30″E / 37.15833°N 38.79167°E / 37.15833; 38.79167Coordinates: 37°09′30″N 38°47′30″E / 37.15833°N 38.79167°E / 37.15833; 38.79167
Country	Turkey
Province	Şanlıurfa
Government
• Mayor	Nihat Çiftçi (AKP)
• Governor	Abdullah Erin
Area [1]
• District	3,668.76 km2 (1,416.52 sq mi)
Elevation	477 m (1,565 ft)
Population (2018)
• Total	2,031,425
Website	https://www.sanliurfa.bel.tr

Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa (pronounced [ʃanˈlɯuɾfa]; Kurdish: Riha‎) (; Ուռհա Uṙha in Armenian, ܐܘܪܗܝ Ūrhay in Syriac) and known in ancient times as Edessa, is a city with 2.031 million inhabitants^[2] in south-eastern Turkey, and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is a multiethnic city with a Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian and Arab population. Urfa is situated on a plain about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features extremely hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters.

Name

The city has been known by many names in history: Ուռհա Uṙha in Armenian, ܐܘܪܗܝ Urhai in Syriac, الرها Ar-Ruhā in Arabic and Ορρα, Orrha in Greek (also Ορροα, Orrhoa).^{[citation needed]} For a while during the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175 - 164 BCE) it was named Callirrhoe or Antiochia on the Callirhoe (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Καλλιρρόης). During Byzantine rule it was named Justinopolis. Prior to Turkish rule, it was often best known by the name given it by the Seleucids, Ἔδεσσα, Edessa.

Şanlı means "great, glorious, dignified" in Turkish, and Urfa was officially renamed Şanlıurfa (Urfa the Glorious) by the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1984, in recognition of the local resistance in the Turkish War of Independence. The title was achieved following repeated requests by the city's members of parliament, desirous to earn a title similar to those of neighbouring cities 'Gazi' (veteran) Antep and 'Kahraman' (Heroic) Maraş.

History

Costumes of the wealthy women of Urfa in the early 20th century.

According to tradition, Nimrod had Abraham immolated on a funeral pyre, but God turned the fire into water and the burning coals into fish. The pool of sacred fish remains to this day.

Abraham's Pool in Urfa

Old drawing of Abraham's Fountain.

The history of Urfa is recorded from the 4th century BC, but may date back at least to 9000 BC, when there is ample evidence for the surrounding sites at Duru, Harran and Nevali Cori.^[3] Within the further area of the city are three neolithic sites known: Göbekli Tepe, Gürcütepe and the city itself, where the life-sized limestone "Urfa Man" statue was found during an excavation in Balıklıgöl and is now on display at the Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museum.^[4] The city was one of several in the upper Euphrates-Tigris basin, the fertile crescent where agriculture began.

According to Jewish and Muslim tradition, Urfa is Ur Kasdim, the hometown of Abraham. This identification was disputed by Leonard Woolley, the excavator of the Sumerian city of Ur in 1927 and scholars remain divided on the issue. Urfa is also one of several cities that have traditions associated with Job.

For the Armenians, Urfa is considered a holy place since it is believed that the Armenian alphabet was invented there.^[5]

Urfa was conquered repeatedly throughout history, and has been dominated by many civilizations, including the Ebla, Akkadians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Armenians, Hurri-Mitannis, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Ancient Macedonians (under Alexander the Great), Seleucids, Arameans, the Neo-Assyrian Osrhoenes, Romans, Sassanids, Byzantines, and Arabs

City of Edessa

Although the site of Urfa has been inhabited since prehistoric times, the modern city was founded in 304 B.C by Seleucus I Nicator and named after the ancient capital of Macedonia. In the late 2nd century, as the Seleucid dynasty disintegrated, it became the capital of the Arab Nabataean Abgar dynasty, which was successively a Parthian, Armenian, and Roman client state and eventually a Roman province. Its location on the eastern frontier of the Empire meant it was frequently conquered during periods when the Byzantine central government was weak, and for centuries, it was alternately conquered by Arab, Byzantine, Armenian, Turkish rulers. In 1098, the Crusader Baldwin of Boulogne induced the final Armenian ruler to adopt him and then seized power, establishing the first Crusader State known as the County of Edessa and imposing Latin Christianity on the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic majority of the population.

Age of Islam

Islam had first arrived in Urfa around 638 AD, when the region surrendered to the Rashidun army without resisting, and had become a significant presence under the Ayyubids (see: Saladin Ayubbi), Seljuks. In 1144, the Crusader state fell to the Turkish Abassid general Zengui, who had most of the Christian inhabitants slaughtered together with the Latin archbishop (see Siege of Edessa) and the subsequent Second Crusade failed to recapture the city.^[6] Subsequently, Urfa was ruled by Zengids, Ayyubids, Sultanate of Rum, Ilkhanids, Memluks, Akkoyunlu and Safavids before Ottoman conquest in 1516.

Under the Ottomans Urfa was part (Sanjak) of the Aleppo Vilayet. The area became a centre of trade in cotton, leather, and jewellery. There was a small but ancient Jewish community in Urfa,^[7] with a population of about 1,000 by the 19th century.^[8] Most of the Jews emigrated in 1896, fleeing the Hamidian massacres, and settling mainly in Aleppo, Tiberias and Jerusalem. There were three Christian communities: Syriac, Armenian, and Latin. According to Lord Kinross,^[9] 8,000 Armenians were massacred in Urfa in 1895. The last Neo-Aramaic Christians left in 1924 and went to Aleppo (where they settled in a place that was later called Hay al-Suryan "The Syriac Quarter").^[10]

First World War and after

In 1914 Urfa was estimated to have 75,000 inhabitants: 45,000 Muslims, 25,000 Armenians and 5,000 Assyrian Christians. There was also a Jewish presence in the town.^{[citation needed]} During the First World War, Urfa was a site of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides, beginning in August 1915.^[11] By the end of the war, the entire Christian population had been killed, had fled, or was in hiding.

The British occupation of the city of Urfa started de facto on 7 March 1919 and officially de jure as of 24 March 1919, and lasted until 30 October 1919. French forces took over the next day and lasted until 11 April 1920, when they were defeated by local resistance forces before the formal declaration of the Republic of Turkey on 23 April 1920).

The French retreat from the city of Urfa was conducted under an agreement reached between the occupying forces and the representatives of the local forces, commanded by Captain Ali Saip Bey assigned from Ankara. The withdrawal was meant to take place peacefully, but was disrupted by an ambush on the French units by irregular Kuva-yi Milliye Şebeke Pass on the way to Syria, leading to 296 casualties among the French.

The skyline of Urfa as viewed from the Castle which dominates the City Centre.

Modern Urfa presents stark contrasts between its old and new quarters.

Politics

It is a stronghold of the governing Justice and Development Party. However, in the 2009 local elections, the city elected an independent, Ahmet Eşref Fakibaba, as mayor.^[12]

Cuisine

As the city of Urfa is deeply rooted in history, so its unique cuisine is an amalgamation of the cuisines of the many civilizations that have ruled in Urfa . Dishes carry names in Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Syriac, and Turkish, and are often prepared in a spicy manner. It is widely believed that Urfa is the birthplace of many dishes, including Raw Kibbé (Çiğ Köfte), that according to the legend, was crafted by the Prophet Abraham from ingredients he had at hand.^[13] The walnut-stuffed Turkish dessert crepe (called şıllık) is a regional specialty.^[14]

Many vegetables are used in the Urfa cuisine, such as the "'Ecır," the "Kenger," and the "İsot", the legendary local red capsicum that is a smaller and darker cultivar of the Aleppo pepper that takes a purplish black hue when dried and cured.

Unlike most of the Turkish cities that use different versions of regular butter in their regional cuisine, Urfa is, together with Antep, Mardin and Siirt a big user of clarified butter, made exclusively from sheep's milk, called locally "Urfayağı" ("Urfabutter").

Transport

Şanlıurfa GAP Airport is located about 34 km (21 mi) northeast of the city and has direct flights to Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

The first 7.7km section, connecting the city centre with the museum quarter, of a planned 4-route, 78km network of trolleybus lines opened on 16 October 2018. An initial fleet of 10 bi-articulated trolleybuses, together with all fixed equipment, has been supplied by manufacturer Bozankaya.^[15]

Climate

Urfa has a hot summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). Urfa is very hot during the summer months. Temperatures in the height of summer usually reach 39 °C (102 °F). Rainfall is almost non-existent during the summer months. Winters are cool and wet. Frost is common and there is sporadic snowfall. Spring and autumn are mild and also wet.

Places of interest

Main courtyard of the Mevlid-i Halil Mosque

• Urfa castle – built in antiquity, the current walls were constructed by the Abbasids in 814 AD.


• 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 the attractive Gölbaşı-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.


• Rızvaniye Mosque – a more recent (1716) Ottoman mosque, adjoining the Balıkligöl complex.


• 'Ayn Zelîha – A source nearby the historical center, named after Zulaykha, a follower of Abraham.


• The Great Mosque of Urfa was built in 1170, on the site of a Christian church the Arabs called the "Red Church," probably incorporating some Roman masonry. Contemporary tradition at the site identifies the well of the mosque as that into which the towel or burial cloth (mendil) of Jesus was thrown (see Image of Edessa and Shroud of Turin). In the south wall of the medrese adjoining the mosque is the fountain of Firuz Bey (1781).


• Ruins of the ancient city walls.


• Eight Turkish baths built in the Ottoman period.


• The traditional Urfa houses were split into sections for family (harem) and visitors (selâm). There is an example open to the public next to the post office in the district of Kara Meydan.


• 
  The Temple of Nevali Çori – Neolithic settlement dating back to 8000BC, now buried under the waters behind the Atatürk Dam, with some artefacts relocated above the waterline.


• 
  Göbekli Tepe – The world's oldest known temple, dated 10th millennium BC (ca 11,500 years ago).^[18]

Gallery

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  Mevlid-i Halil Mosque, built next to the site where prophet Abraham is believed to have been born.
  

  
  

  
  


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  'Ayn Zelîha Lake
  

  
  

  
  


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  Gölbaşı-Garden
  

  
  

  
  


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  Ruins of Urfa castle
  

  
  

  
  


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  Traditional bazaar of Urfa
  

  
  

  
  


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  Urfa's old town
  

  
  

  
  


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  Surrounding fields of Göbekli Tepe, the site of the oldest temple in the world.^[18]

  
  

  
  

Notable people

• 
  Matthew of Edessa – Historian


• 
  Yusuf Nabi – 17th-century Ottoman poet


• 
  Fuat Necati Öncel - politician


• 
  Aysel Özakın - Turkish-British writer, born 1942


• 
  Corinna Shattuck (1848-1910), American missionary at Urfa


• 
  İbrahim Tatlıses (Ibo) – Kurdish singer


• 
  Seyyal Taner- Turkish pop singer.

See also

• Cilicia War


• Assyrian homeland


• Urfa Resistance


• Chronology of the Turkish War of Independence


• Knanaya


• Cities of the ancient Near East


• Haliliye


• Karaköprü

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Urfa.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Urfa.

• 
  Şanlıurfa Governor's Office (English)^{[permanent dead link]}


• Urfa Haber


• Old and new photos


• Sanliurfa Mayor's Office


• Tourism information is available in English at the Southeastern Anatolian Promotion Project site.


• Photos from Balikli Gol in the old part of Urfa


• Over 1000 pictures of sites in town

v t e Largest cities or towns in Turkey TÜİK's address-based calculation from December, 2017.[1]
	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.
Istanbul Ankara	1	Istanbul	Istanbul	14,744,519	11	Mersin	Mersin	1,005,455	İzmir Bursa
	2	Ankara	Ankara	4,871,884	12	Urfa	Şanlıurfa	921,978
	3	İzmir	İzmir	2,938,546	13	Eskişehir	Eskişehir	752,630
	4	Bursa	Bursa	2,074,799	14	Denizli	Denizli	638,989
	5	Adana	Adana	1,753,337	15	Kahramanmaraş	Kahramanmaraş	632,487
	6	Gaziantep	Gaziantep	1,663,273	16	Samsun	Samsun	625,410
	7	Antalya	Antalya	1,311,471	17	Malatya	Malatya	618,831
	8	Konya	Konya	1,130,222	18	İzmit	Kocaeli	570,077
	9	Kayseri	Kayseri	1,123,611	19	Adapazarı	Sakarya	492,027
	10	Diyarbakır	Diyarbakır	1,047,286	20	Erzurum	Erzurum	422,389