CULTURAL HERITAGES IN

TURKEYLET ME KNOW YOU: UNITED IN DIVERSITY

• There are 11 cultural heritage sites in Turkey known as «World Heritage List»• One of them is in our city (Adıyaman) borders

Sites in World Heritage List in Turkey• Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia (1985)• Great (Ulu) Mosque and Hospital (Darüssifa) of Divrigi in Sivas (1985)• Historic Areas of Istanbul (1985)• Hattusha (Bogazköy) - Hittite Capital (1986)• Nemrut Mountain in Adiyaman (1987)• Hierapolis - Pamukkale (1988)• Xanthos - Letoon near Antalya (1988)• City of Safranbolu (1994)• Archaeological Site of Troy (1998)• Selimiye Mosque Complex in Edirne (2011)• Neolithic Site of Catalhoyuk in Konya (2012)

1. NEMRUT MOUNTAIN (Adıyaman)

1. NEMRUT MOUNTAIN (Adıyaman)• Nemrut Dağı (Mount Nimrod) is one of Turkey's most astounding sights: an

artifical mountaintop framed by two great temples littered with colossal statues.• Lost to memory for 2000 years, the mountaintop south of Malatya and north

of Adıyaman and Kahta(map), was rediscovered by a geologist in 1881.• On it are two hierothesiums, open-air shrines to the gods, with huge limestone

statues of Apollo, Fortuna, Zeus, Heracles, and Antiochus I Epiphanes, King of Commagene.

• His kingdom was no more than a minor buffer statebetween the Roman and Persian empires, but Antiochus believed he was definitely big-league stuff, so he had his own huge statue seated with "his equals," the gods.

• Between the hierothesiums is the artificial mountain peak of crushed stone, beneath which may be theactual tomb of Antiochus. We don't know, and we may never know.

2. GOREME NATIONAL PARK-CAPPADOCIA

2. GOREME NATIONAL PARK-CAPPADOCIA

• The Cappadocian Region located in the center of the Anatolian Region of Turkey, with its valley, canyon, hills and unusual rock formation created as a result of the eroding rains and winds of thousands of years of the level, lava-covered plain located between the volcanic mountains Erciyes, Melendiz and Hasan as well as its troglodyte dwellings carved out of the rock and cities dug out into underground, presents an otherworldly appearance. The eruptions of these mountains which were active volcanoes in geological times lasted until 2 million years ago. A soft tuff layer was formed, 150 m in thickness, by the issuing lavas in the valley surrounded by mountains. The rivers, flood water running down the hillsides of valleys and strong winds eroded the geological formations consisting of tuff on the plateau formed with tuff layers, thus creating bizarre shapes called fairy Chimneys. These take on the names of mushroom shaped, pinnacled, capped and conic shaped formations. 

3. HATTUSAS –HITIT CAPITAL

3. HATTUSAS –HITIT CAPITAL

• Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. It was found to be located near modern Boğazkale,Turkey

• The landscape surrounding the city included rich agricultural fields and hill lands for pasture as well as woods. Smaller woods are still found outside the city, but in ancient times, they were far more widespread. This meant the inhabitants had an excellent supply of timber when building their houses and other structures. The fields provided the people with a subsistence crop of wheat, barley and lentils. Flax was also harvested, but their primary source for clothing was wool from sheep. They also hunted deer in the forest, but this was probably only a luxury reserved for the nobility. The source for meat was domesticated animals. There were several other settlements in the vicinity, such as the rock shrine atYazılıkaya and the town at Alacahöyük. Since the rivers in the area are too small and unsuitable for major ships, all transport to and from Hattusa had to go by land.

4. HIERAPOLIS-PAMUKKALE

4. HIERAPOLIS-PAMUKKALE

• Hierapolis (Greek: Ἱεράπολις 'sacred city') was an ancient Greco-Roman city in Phrygia located on hot springs in southwest Anatolia. Its ruins are adjacent to modernPamukkale, Turkey.

• Hierapolis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hot springs there have been used as a spa since the 2nd century BCE, and people came to soothe their ailments, with many of them retiring or dying here. The large necropolis is filled with sarcophagi, including the Sarcophagus of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos.

• The great baths were constructed with huge stone blocks without the use of cement, and consisted of various closed or open sections linked together. There are deep niches in the inner section of the bath, library, gymnasium and other closed or open locations. The complex, which was constructed in the 2nd century BCE, constitutes a good example of vault type architecture. The complex is now an archaeological museum.

5-TROY-ÇANAKKALE

5-TROY-ÇANAKKALE

• Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, south of the southwest end of the Dardanelles / Hellespont and northwest of Mount Ida. It is best known for being the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. Metrical evidence from theIliad and the Odyssey seems to show that the name Ἴλιον (Ilion) formerly began with a digamma: Ϝίλιον (Wilion). This was later supported by the Hittite form Wilusa.• A new city called Ilium was founded on the site in the reign of the 

Roman Emperor Augustus. It flourished until the establishment of Constantinople and declined gradually during the Byzantine era.

6-ÇATALHOYÜK-KONYA

6-ÇATALHOYÜK-KONYA

• Two hills form the 37 ha site on the Southern Anatolian Plateau. The taller eastern mound contains eighteen levels of Neolithic occupation between 7400 bc and 6200 bc, including wall paintings, reliefs, sculptures and other symbolic and artistic features. Together they testify to the evolution of social organization and cultural practices as humans adapted to a sedentary life. The western mound shows the evolution of cultural practices in the Chalcolithic period, from 6200 bc to 5200 bc. Çatalhöyük provides important evidence of the transition from settled villages to urban agglomeration, which was maintained in the same location for over 2,000 years. It features a unique streetless settlement of houses clustered back to back with roof access into the buildings.

7-Xanthos-Letoon-Antalya

7-Xanthos-Letoon-Antalya

• Xanthos was the name of a city in ancient Lycia, the site of present day Kınık, Antalya Province, Turkey, and of the river on which the city is situated. The ruins of Xanthus are on the south slopes of a hill, the ancient acropolis, located on the northern outskirts of the modern city, on the left bank of the Xanthus, which flows beneath the hill. A single road, Xantos yolu, encircles the hill and runs through the ruins.

• Xanthos is the Greek appellation of Arñna, a city originally speaking the Lycian language. The Hittite and Luwian name of the city is given in inscriptions as Arinna (not to be confused with the Arinna near Hattusa). Xanthos is a Greek name, acquired during its Hellenization. The Romans called the city Xanthus, as all the Greek -os suffixes were changed to -us in Latin. Xanthos was a center of culture and commerce for the Lycians, and later for the Persians, Greeks, including Macedonians, and Romans who in turn conquered the city and occupied the adjacent territory. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century, the region became Turkish. The ancient city had long since been abandoned.

OTHER HERITAGES

• Great (Ulu) Mosque and Hospital (Darüssifa) of Divrigi in Sivas • Historic Areas of Istanbul • City of Safranbolu • Selimiye Mosque Complex in Edirne