Visit fascinating UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey

The Historic Areas of Istanbul, 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. 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 first Turkish buildings inscribed on the World Heritage List are the Ulu (Great) Mosque and Hospital of Divriği. 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, Nemrut Mountain was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural asset in 1987. 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. 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 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. 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. Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük, in the Çumra county of Konya province, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2012. Pergamon and Its Multi-layered Cultural Landscape, the only capital city from the Hellenisticperiod, inholding the layers of Hellenistic, Roman, Eastern Roman and Ottoman periods have been inscribed to the World Heritage List of UNESCO in 2014. 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 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 Ancient City of Ephesus is an outstanding example of a Roman port city, with sea channel and harbour basin, It was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015. Archaeological Site of Ani was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016. Located in southwestern Turkey, Aphrodisias was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017. Göbeklitepe was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018.