15 sites in Turkey on the UNESCO World Heritage List
To get to know the 15 sites in Turkey that have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, we recommend reading this article.
After Turkey’s success last year in listing the city of Ephes in Izmir province as a UNESCO World Heritage List, the number of Turkish sites included in the list of 15 sites.
Turkey joined the World Heritage List for the first time in 1985 with five sites: Goreme National Park, Cappadocia Rocky Sites, Grand Mosque and Diurgy Hospital, and historical districts in Istanbul, and then entered the eleven sites in the following years.
1- The Grand Mosque and the Diyurji Hospital (Divriği Ulu Camii ve Darüşşifası)
It was founded by Prince Ahmed Shah Bin Sulaiman Shah Mingogilli in the year 626 AH, 1229 AD. The mosque and the adjacent hospital from the south occupy a rectangular area of 64 x 32 meters.
This royal style mosque can be accessed through the two entrances, one from the north, and the other from the west. There is a loophole in the southern end of the eastern façade that is currently using a window, while it was originally an entrance to the Sultan’s shrine, and there is a huge pillar built in the Ottoman era to support the cylindrical minaret standing in the northwest corner.
The prayer hall consists of five wings formed by four rows of arches (arches) that extend perpendicular to the wall of the mihrab, and in each row there are four bridges connected to each other, and also connected to the walls from east to west, there are 25 spaces formed by 16 pillars, and these spaces are covered With domes and arches.
The space in front of the mihrab is crowned by a 12-piece dome and the central space covered with an oval dome is provided with an ice tub.
Most of the eight cellars above the eastern sides are star-shaped, and the upper part of the building, as well as the western façade, were subject to collapse due to an earthquake at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and therefore it is believed that the current oval domes have replaced the original.
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The walls, minaret and upper sections are built with decorated stone blocks of various sizes, and the mihrab and window shutters are occupied by wood.
The entrances, the minbar, the mihrab, and the buttresses are decorated with flowery motifs. The northern entrance, also called the Baroque entrance, is remarkable due to the architectural ornaments, arabesques, and broad decorative hoops of the various leaves of the plant, while the western entrance, also called the textile entrance, contains floral ornament, geometric figures, and birds images.
The eastern entrance, which was later converted into a window, is famous for its geometric and floral motifs, while the wooden mihrab is covered with floral, geometric and written motifs with techniques that include kondikari art, deep sculpting with rounded surfaces and perforations.
The area of Dar Shifa, the property of Turan, is 32 x 24 square meters. It was built in the width of the mosque itself. It is located next to the mosque from the south, entering the Dar Al-Shifa from the western side.
It was followed by the design of the Anatolian School with three iwans and a covered patio. The building consists of two floors, the entrance of which is decorated with geometric and floral decoration on a prominent relief and deep moldings reminiscent of the characteristics of Gothic art.
The Grand Mosque with the Diurgi Hospital is a rare architectural monument, and its decorations are different from the traditional art design and style of the Anatolian Seljuks, and perhaps Christian architects and teachers worked side by side with Muslim architects in this building, which was included in the UNESCO list in 1985.
2- Goreme National Park and Cappadocia Rocky Sites (Göreme Milli Parkı ve Kapadokya)
Goreme is located in the area of Nevshehir, in central Anatolia, with a population of 2550 people. It embraces the Goreme Valley and the suburb of mausoleums carved into the rock that constitute an unparalleled witness to Byzantine art in the post-breaking of religious symbols.
In addition to residences and villages for cave dwellers, and remaining subterranean cities from a traditional human habitat dating back to the fourth century. Goreme National Park joined UNESCO list in 1985.
3- Historic districts of Istanbul (İstanbul’un Tarihî Alanları)
Istanbul’s historical districts are located on a peninsula surrounded by the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus Strait and the Golden Horn. These areas include the Byzantine Horse Race Square now known as Sultanahmet Square, the Hagia Sophia Museum which is the most important architectural masterpiece in the history of the Middle East, and the Suleiman the Magnificent Mosque.
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4- Hatosha is the capital of the Hittites (HATTUŞA: HİTİT BAŞKENTİ)
Hatosha is the capital of the Hittite Empire that was covering most of contemporary Turkey, which was uncovered under the ruins of the Bogaz Koy site north of central Anatolia on the Black Sea, the city is located in a mountainous region interspersed with various heights, the most important of which is the Buyuk Castle and Buyuk Kaya.
The city was surrounded by a first defensive wall, followed by a second wall of 8 meters thick, topped by towers, and penetrated by three major gates, guarded by statues of the “Sphinx” at the southern gate and “lions” at the western gate and “warriors” at the eastern gate, and leading into the city a stone tunnel Secret 71m long, covered in stone tiles.
5- Mount Nimrod (Nemrut Dağ)
Mount Nemrud is one of the most attractive tourist places in Turkey, with a height of 2000 meters, and the ruins of the Kingdom of Kokajin are located on its summit, and strength was derived from it in the first century BC, and the mountain is located 40 km north of Kahta near the city of Adi Yaman, and Mount Nemrud is part From the mountain bull ring on the bank of the Euphrates, the mountain joined the list of UNESCO in 1987.
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6- Hierapolis. Pamukkale Springs( Hierapolis-Pamukkale)
The warm springs of Pamukkale in Turkey, which appear in the form of white terraces are among the most famous tourist attractions in the country. These limestone terraces were formed over millions of years, but they were subjected to human tampering in earlier periods, which lost them their bright white luster.
But the Turkish authorities have taken some measures to preserve the Pamukkale springs which mean in the Turkish language “Cotton Castle”, such as demolishing hotels surrounding the area and banning showers in these warm springs, which led to the restoration of part of its former splendor as the “Cotton Castle” wears a white dress. Even during the night.
Pamukkale is considered the second most famous tourist attraction in Turkey, because, in addition to those springs, it has many archaeological sites for the city of Hierapolis, such as the recently restored amphitheater, a large cemetery, a temple to the god Apollo and the city gate.
7- Historic Leyton (Xanthos-Letoon)
It is reported that the city was constructed in the seventh century B.C., and it bore the title “Leto” the woman who gave birth to “Zeus” who was considered by the Greeks as the god of the gods in their belief, and ancient accounts indicate that Leto decided to escape from the wrath of “Hera”, the former wife of Zeus, after she had given birth Her twins, Artemis and Apollon, settled in this place. Excavations in the area indicate that the artifacts found date from the seventh century BC. The city joined the UNESCO list in 1988.
8- The city of Safranbolu (Safranbolu)
From the eighth century until the emergence of the railway at the beginning of the twentieth century, Safranbolu formed an important station for caravans on the main commercial road between East and West. Urban planning for much of the Ottoman Empire. The city joined the UNESCO list in 1994.
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9-Troy (Truva veya Troya)
The city of Troy or Troy is an ancient historical maritime city located in Asia Minor, specifically in the region of Anatolia, and it was known for its immunity, richness and prosperity. According to legend, the city gained its wealth and strength from the fact that the god Poseidon, the god of the sea, built it, and with him Apollo the god of art and poetry. The city joined the UNESCO list in 1998.
10- Selimiye Mosque “Sultan Selim II Mosque” within its complex in Edirne (Selimiye Camii)
The Selimiye Mosque is a model for the well-known and rich architecture of the famous Turkish architect Mimar Sinan. Sinan reached the summit in the world of building and construction in the Selimiye Mosque, which is considered the greatest of what was built according to the opinion of architectural experts.
He built it on the order of Sultan Selim II, who succeeded his father Suleiman the Magnificent in the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and the complex is a mosque, a school, a home for readers and a house for speaking.
Sinan chose the highest hill in Edirne to be built by the mosque so that it can be seen from all over the city, and Sinan started building it in the year “976 – 1568 AD”, and he was then eighty-four years old, and he finished it after six years.
Sinan covered the whole place in the mosque with one dome 31.5 meters in diameter without resorting to the half-domes that he had previously used in the Shahzada and Sulaymaniyah Mosque.
The mosque has four minarets with a height of 70.81 meters each, which is a slender minute, and it is one of the highest minarets in the world, and each of them is located in one of the four corners of the mosque, and each of them has three balconies. The stairs are independent, while the other two minarets each have one staircase. The minbar of the mosque and its ablution are made of marble, and its lines were written by al-Mawlawi Hasan bin Qarah Hasari.
With this spaciousness and greatness in creating the dome and minarets, the mosque was internally cared for in its six-meter-old mihrab, and with a low height dome and a pulpit carved from a single piece of stone, to bear witness to the craftsmanship of the craftsmen of that period.
In addition to the ceramic tiles covering the tribal walls, and the Sultan’s Forum north of the mihrab, below it is a small fountain to drink water, and the dome is decorated with Qur’anic inscriptions by Mawlawi Hasan bin Qarah Hasari.
Surrounded by a courtyard covered with domes covered with domes, and in the middle of the marble Shazrawan, and thus the Selimiye Mosque is an integrated work in all structural, architectural, artistic and aesthetic aspects.
11- Chatel-Hoyok (Çatalhöyük)
One of the oldest known cities is the city of Chatel Hoyok in Anatolia in Turkey, where it dates back to before 6000 years BC, and is currently located near the city of Konya in central Turkey. The city joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012.
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12- Jumali Kizik Village (Cumalıkızık)
Jumali Kezik village is located east of the city of Bursa on the way to the Turkish capital, Ankara, and is 13 km from the city of Bursa, and it is one of the five villages located on the edge of “Uludag”, and the village is linked to the region (Osman Ghazi).
The history of this village dates back to 700 years ago and is one of the rare villages that managed to preserve the architectural building dating back to the Ottoman era and which still maintains the traditional style of life. The village joined the World Heritage List in 2014.
13- The city of Pergamon (Pergamon)
The ancient ancient city of Pergamon is located near the present-day city of Bergama. The Persians and the Greeks successively took over the rule of this city in ancient times. Then the city reached its climax when it became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period under the rule of the rulers between 281-233 BC. The city joined a list World Heritage 2014.
14- Diyarbakir Fences Hossal Gardens (Diyarbakır Kalesi ve Hevsel Bahçeleri)
Diyarbakir, located in the southeast of Turkey, is one of the oldest ancient cities in Turkey. It is surrounded by a large wall, which is the second largest wall in the world after the Great Wall of China, with a length of 5500 meters.
This wall was built with the city and the castle that contains several towers. The walls were built on steep rocks from the eastern side, surrounded on the other side by water trenches 6 meters deep and 15 meters wide. It is now filled with dirt. The height of the main wall ranges between 8 meters and 12 meters, and its width ranges between 4 and 5 meters. The walls are reinforced by 78 towers.
There is a gate in each of the four main directions: the Tigris Gate from the east, the Harput Gate or the mountain from the north, the Urfa Gate or Anatolia from the west, and the Mardin Gate or the Gate of the Hill from the south.
As for the inner fort, it includes a hidden main gate, the “secret gate” that leads to the bank of the Tigris River.
There are three huge towers to which the decoration was added in the Turkish era, and most of its parts have remained in good condition so far. Most of the fortress walls were built of stone cut from basalt with edges of limestone.
15- Ephesus (Efes)
The city of Ephesus or Ephesus is one of the wonders of the ancient world founded by the city of Rome in the era of the ancient Greek state and its population reached 255 thousand and centuries before the birth, and it has qualified it to become one of the largest cities in the ancient world where Turkey was considered one of the most important countries of the ancient world in Asia Micro.
One of the most important landmarks of the city is its main temple, which was erected on a ruined shrine, and is considered a favorite place for tourists when they visit the city, as is the Ephesus complex, which is one of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation, in the Bible, and it joined the World Heritage List last year.
