Göbekli Tepe is a hill 15 kilometres from Şanlıurfa where, around 9600 BC, groups of hunters who did not yet farm or live in towns raised circles of T-shaped stone pillars, some more than five metres tall and weighing several tonnes, carved with foxes, wild boar, cranes, scorpions and snakes. It is the oldest monumental complex known anywhere, and it overturned what we thought we knew about the origins of civilisation: first came the temple, then the village.
You visit it under a protective roof, from raised walkways, in about two hours, and it makes far more sense if you stop at the museum in Şanlıurfa first. Here is how to plan it.
A little history
The hill had been known since the 1960s as a mound scattered with worked stone, but the slabs were taken for medieval graves. In 1994 the German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt recognised what lay beneath, and from 1995 he led the excavations until his death in 2014. They uncovered several circular enclosures, each with T-shaped pillars set around two taller central ones. After centuries of use the enclosures were filled in, apparently on purpose by the people who built them, and that is what preserved them.
The builders were hunter-gatherers of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic: there was no pottery, no metal and no domesticated animals. Göbekli Tepe has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018, and since then other sites of the same culture have been excavated across the region under the Taş Tepeler ("Stone Hills") project, with Karahantepe the most spectacular of them.
What to see at Göbekli Tepe
The visitor centre
The visitor centre at the entrance has a film, scale models and panels that explain how the site was dated and excavated. From here a shuttle bus takes you up the hill in five minutes.
The enclosures under the roof
A large roof of timber and membrane shelters the main area, with walkways all the way round. You look down on Enclosures A, B, C and D: circular walls with T-shaped pillars built into them and, in the middle, pairs of large pillars carved with arms and hands, belts and loincloths of fox pelts, which represent human or divine beings. Enclosure D, whose two central pillars stand more than five metres tall, is the best preserved.
The reliefs
When the sun is low, the animals come out of the stone: a fox on a central pillar, wild boar, cranes, a scorpion, a row of snakes, a vulture with a disc. Dangerous animals dominate; there are no hunting scenes and nothing from daily life.
The viewpoint and the smaller roof
From the top of the hill you can see across the Harran plain towards Syria, and you understand why they chose this spot, visible from every direction. A second, smaller roof protects an enclosure excavated more recently.
The Şanlıurfa museum and Karahantepe
The Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum, in the city, holds the finds: the Urfa Man, the oldest known life-size statue of a human being, original pillars and a full-scale replica of Enclosure D that, unlike the real one, you can walk into. Karahantepe, 45 minutes away and included in the same ticket, has a rock-cut pit with eleven phallic pillars and a carved human head emerging from the rock.
Tips for your visit
Allow two hours at the site, or half a day with the museum. The walkways are easy going, with the odd flight of steps; the hilltop is windy and exposed to the sun.
- Museum first, site second: the reliefs are much easier to read when you know what to look for.
- Go first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon: the low, raking light brings out the reliefs, and in summer the Urfa heat is fierce.
- Bring a hat, water and sturdy closed-toe shoes; there is a café at the visitor centre.
- With children, the museum and its walk-in replica of the enclosure work better than the site itself.
Tickets and prices
At the time of writing (2026), entry costs €22 at the official 2027 rate and includes Karahantepe; the visitor centre is €5 extra. Prices for foreign visitors are revised every year, so check the official Turkish museums website (muze.gov.tr) before you go. On my tours, tickets are either included or I take care of them for you.
Where it is and how to get there
Göbekli Tepe lies 15 kilometres north-east of Şanlıurfa and is signposted from the Mardin road; it is a 25-minute drive by car or taxi. Şanlıurfa has an airport with flights from Istanbul and Ankara. If you don't have a car, visit on a tour or book a taxi in advance.
Visiting it on my tours
It is the centrepiece of the first day of my Göbekli Tepe and Mardin tour, together with the Şanlıurfa bazaar and the Pool of Abraham (Balıklıgöl) and its sacred fish, and one of the stages of Secret Türkiye. For the rest of the city, read what to see in Şanlıurfa; and to see where it fits among the country's other archaeological sites, read about the ancient cities of Anatolia.
If the Neolithic is what fascinates you, tell me when you plan your tailor-made trip and I'll put together a Taş Tepeler route for you.