Located in the rural Örencik neighborhood of Şanlıurfa's Haliliye district, 18 kilometers from the city center, Göbeklitepe was first noticed during surface surveys in 1963. The most concrete findings emerged in 1986, when a farmer plowing his field discovered a statue.
With permission from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, excavations began in 1995 and uncovered Neolithic-era T-shaped pillars standing 3 to 6 meters tall and weighing 40 to 60 tons, featuring carvings of wild animals.
Gaining increasing fame with its Neolithic-era artifacts, Göbeklitepe was added to the UNESCO Tentative List in 2011 and became a World Heritage Site in 2018.
