UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey enthral foreign and local visitors with their natural and historical beauties

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey have been attracting millions of local and foreign visitors thanks to their natural and historical beauties. Göbeklitepe Findings of researchers at Göbeklitepe shows that a religious class existed even at such early ages, division of society into social classes took place well before the widely assumed dates and perhaps the first agricultural activity may have been conducted in the region. On the merits of its contribution to the human history, Göbeklitepe was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018. The Historic Areas of İstanbul, situated on a peninsula surrounded by the Sea of Marmara, Boğaziçi (Bosphorus), and Haliç (Golden Horn), were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985. The Historic Areas of İstanbul are represented by four main areas: Sultanahmet Archaeological Park, Süleymaniye Conservation Area, Zeyrek Conservation Area and Land Walls Conservation Area. The Ancient City of Troy, famous for being the site of Trojan War that Homer described in his epic poem The Iliad, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998. With its history dating back to 3000 BC, it is one of the most famous archaeological sites of the world. Göreme National Park and Cappadocia were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1985 as 7 parts: Göreme National Park, Derinkuyu Underground City, Kaymaklı Underground City, Karlık Church, Theodore Church, Karain Columbaries and Soğanlı Archaeological Site. The most significant feature of Göreme National Park and Rock Cut Cappadocia Region is the existence of a plenty of fairy-chimneys, formed by the wind and the rain water. Having been founded around 1650 BC, Hattusha was the capital of the Hittite Empire and became the focus of the arts and architecture of that time. It has been on the World Heritage List as a cultural asset since 1986. Situated in the Kahta county of Adıyaman province and described as the sacred place of Commagene Kingdom with its enchanting statues standing ten metres high and inscriptions that are several metres long, Nemrut Mountain was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural asset in 1987. Nemrut Mountain houses the most majestic places of worship belonging to the Hellenistic Era in ancient Anatolia. Located within what was once the estuary of the River Kaystros, Ephesus comprises successive Hellenistic and Roman settlements founded on new locations, which followed the coastline as it retreated westward. Excavations have revealed grand monuments of the Roman Imperial period including the Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre. The first Turkish buildings inscribed on the World Heritage List are the Ulu (Great) Mosque and Hospital of Divriği. Renowned for its monumental architecture and traditional stone carving decorations of Anatolia, this masterpiece, with its two-domed mosque, hospital and tomb, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985. Xanthos, which was the capital of Lycian dating back to 3000s BC, is known to be the largest administrative centre of Lycia during antiquity. Letoon, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List together with Xanthos in 1988, was one of the most prominent religious centres in antiquity. The sacred Hierapolis of Phrygia, one of the antique cities of the Aegean, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988. The ancient city of Hierapolis is believed to have been founded by Eumenies II, the King of Pergamum, in the 2nd century BC, and to have been named after Hiera, the beautiful wife of Telephos, the legendary founder of Pergamon. Safranbolu, a unique Anatolian city that brings history to life through its mosques, market, neighbourhoods, streets and historic houses, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. The city is represented as three parts in the World Heritage List; Çukur, Kıranköy and Bağlar. The Selimiye Mosque and Complex are located in Edirne, the capital of Ottoman Empire before the conquest of İstanbul, and were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011. With its monumental dome and four slender minarets, the mosque was designed and built by Mimar Sinan, the world renowned royal architect. Çatalhöyük has been renowned as one of the earliest settlements of the Neolithic Era, and sheds light on the dawn of human settlement with unique examples of the earliest domestic architecture and landscape painting as well as the sacred objects of mother-goddess cult. The Neolithic 'city' of Çatalhöyük was renowned for its extraordinary arts and crafts, and the earliest finds were from 7,400 BC. 'Pergamon and Its Multi-layered Cultural Landscape', the only capital city from the Hellenistic period, inholding the layers of Hellenistic, Roman, Eastern Roman and Ottoman periods have been inscribed to the World Heritage List of UNESCO in 2014. The Areas, insribed to the World Heritage List consist of nine components; Pergamon City (multi-layered city), Kybele Sanctuary, Ilyas Tepe, Yigma Tepe, İkili Tumuli, Tavşan Tepe, X Tepe, A Tepe and Maltepe Tumulus. Bursa, as the first capital of Ottoman Empire located on the north-western slopes of Uludağ Mountain and Cumalıkızık founded as a waqf village during the same period have been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014. The World Heritage Site of 'Bursa and Cumalıkızık: The Birth of Otoman Empire' consists of six components including Khans Area involving Orhan Ghazi Kulliye and its environs, Hüdavendigar (Murad I) Kulliye, Yıldırım (Bayezid I) Kulliye, Yeşil (Mehmed I) Kulliye, Muradiye ( Murad II) Kulliye and Cumalıkızık Village. Located on an escarpment of the Upper Tigres River Basin that is part of the so-called Fertile Crescent, the fortified city of Diyarbakır and the landscape around has been an important centre since the Hellenistic period, through the Roman, Sassanid, Byzantine, Islamic and Ottoman times to the present. The site encompasses the Amida Mound, known as İçkale (inner castle), the 5.8 km-long city walls of Diyarbakır with their numerous towers, gates, butresses, and 63 inscriptions from different periods, as well as Hevsel Gardens, a green link between the city and the Tigris that supplied the city with food and water. Archaeological Site of Ani Archaeological Site of Ani was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016. Located in southwestern Turkey, the site consists of two components: the archaeological site of Aphrodisias and the marble quarries northeast of the city. Aphrodisias was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017.