Potbelly Hill (Göbeklitepe in Turkish), located near the Örencik Village, attracted attention of the world since unearthing the monumental structures. Due to its monumental architecture, the Göbekli Tepe archaeological site has been widely featured in the world media in recent years. It’s believed that the most significant archaeological discovery of the 21st century is the Potbelly Hill. It’s 4 thousand years older than the pyramids and 7 thousand years older than the Stonehenge, so Potbelly Hill is the oldest temple of the time.
Potbelly Hill Temple is even older than the human transition to settled life; therefore, contrary to the widely held view, it proves existence of religious beliefs prior to the establishment of the first cities.
The site is also remarkable with the first patriarchal thought, the first terrazzo flooring and the first statues and reliefs of the Neolithic Age.
The architectural revolution realized by the people of the Neolithic Period has changed all previous conceptions of the Neothlithic humans. After Göbeklitepe it was proved that the Neothlithic human had more developed handiwork skill than previously thought and had architectual and mathematical intelligence. The architectual findings and the imagery on these findings are the result of a rich inner world, detailed mathematical calculations and advanced technigues.
The Göbeklitepe Archaeological Site is located near the Örencik Village, 18 kilometers northeast of the city center of Şanlıurfa.
How to get to Göbeklitepe?
To go to Göbeklitepe you must first go to Şanlıurfa by plane or bus. There are scheduled flights from Ankara, İstanbul, and İzmir to the Şanlıurfa GAP Airport by Turkish Airlines.
After arriving at the GAP airport, you can rent a car at the airport to go to Göbeklitepe. If you don’t want to rent a car, you might want to take a cab. There are also special tours to the Göbeklitepe region from the airport.
Finally, the Municipality of Sanliurfa Göbeklitepe began to organize bus services. You can reach Göbeklitepe by taking bus number 100 from Abide station in Şanlıurfa city center. Buses go to Göbeklitepe at 10.00 and 16.00, than at 12.00 and 18.00 from Göbeklitepe and reach the city center.