Göbekli Tepe

I visited Göbekli Tepe back in March 2025. As mentioned, you can take the bus from the stop outside the archeology museum. The archeology museum itself is a must-see; but you need to budget at least a couple hours for it. It's giant and covers a wide range of history in the region -- including, of course, Göbekli Tepe. Once you finish the museum, you can head outside for the bus, which leaves on the 45 of the hour (sharp, too, so don't get outside at 9:47 or you'll miss it!). The bus only takes contactless credit card or Urfa Kart, so don't bring cash. It's about 1 USD. If you're coming from the airport, the bus also stops on the hour at the Havas shuttle bus stop -- you come from the airport with the havas bus, and then wait here for the Göbekli Tepe bus. Ask the bus driver when they plan to leave to go back to the city after you arrive (google translate will come in handy here).

At Göbekli Tepe, you can easily spend an hour. There's a small museum (again, I would recommend the archeology museum over this one) that gives some context to the site and its importance. The rock carvings are easy to spot and you can circumnavigate them under the big tent. The only thing I wished for was more explanation on what I was seeing at times! I eavesdropped on a couple guided tours to better understand a …

Göbekli Tepe, located on a hill east of Urfa, is considered one of the earliest sites of human worship and settlement. Excavations began in the 1960s and continue to this day with less than 10% excavated so far.

The initial assumption by the first archaeologist on site was that this was a temple for hunter-gatherers, not a permanent settlement. They would congregate in regular intervals here for worship and community. However, more recent excavations have uncovered evidence of permanent village life.

Like many prehistoric sites, Göbekli Tepe requires some imagination to fully appreciate. Personally, I found the site quite tangible given its age (>10.000 years). I also felt lucky to arrive on a foggy winter day as it added to the mythical aura of the place. Interestingly, it seems that the hill was considered sacred by locals till modern times.

The site’s facilities have been updated, with the main component now covered by a modern tent. They manage to strike a good balance between preserving the site’s holy spirit and protecting the remains from the elements. If a Maltese like Clyde compliments you on tents, you are doing something right; Malta with its Megalithic Temples being at the forefront of tents for world heritage sites.

While a shuttle bus is available to cover the 500m distance from the entrance to the site, I recommend walking. Following in our ancestors’ footsteps and taking in the views along the trail truly enhances the experience.

Getting There

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I visited Gobeklitepe in Spring 2021 after Nemrut Dagi WHS on the way to Sanliurfa TWHS. Gobeklitepe is the world's first known temple and notwithstanding its old age, the preserved T-shaped posts at the site are intricately decorated with figures of snakes, foxes, cranes, lions, bulls, boars, gazelles, bears, rams, spiders and scorpions.

Gobeklitepe is located about 22 kilometres from Sanliurfa, Harran and the Euphrates plateau. The Taurus Mountains and Karacadag Mountain not far from the Syrian border are visible too from here. Its geographical location together with the readily accessible nearbu stone quarries must have played a crucial role in the decision to build Gobeklitepe here. Gobeklitepe was discovered in 1963, however the true significance of the site was only realised as late as 1994, i.e. the transition from hunter-gatherer to food-producing communities, also known as the Neolithic Revolution.

I'm not a big fan of modern tents on ancient sites but the one at Gobeklitepe is one of the best worldwide and still allows some sunlight through. Nowadays, the only way to experience the T-shaped posts under a starry night sky (as had been first photographed by National Geographic for the first documentaries), is by viewing the audiovisual experience mainly geared to entertain children. After parking your vehicle, you can either walk for 5 minutes on a plain paved road or wait for a free shuttle bus to fill up. Since there was almost nobody around when we visited, we gladly walked the few metres in the …

Visited April 2018. After one year and a half the site is open now to the public. The new visitors centre, ticket booth and a parking guard booth have been built (not without a controversy), as well as a road/path leading to the site itself which was covered with a some kind of roof. When I was there, no entry or parking fee was collected. The site is pretty small – just four circle temples one next to the other. You can walk around them and look from above – it won’t take more than one hour. Recently they started new research close by but not open to the public yet and won’t be open for a longer while. Probably you will meet Mahmut Yildiz, who “discovered” the temple 23 years ago together with his father. He was helping prof. Schmidt and now works there as a security guard. For now there is no local guide there who can explain you what you’re looking at. To better experience the site you should read Schmidt’s book and what videos available in internet (suggested by Solivagant). Or you can hire a guide from new Archaeology Museum in Sanliurfa – the visit to the museum is a must, because most artefacts found in Gobekli Tepe are displayed there; admit at least two hours to see museum exhibitions.

The site is very well signposted while coming from Sanliurfa (on Tentative list). No public transportation.

The publication in 2001 by Prof Klaus Schmidt (KS) of a preliminary report of his excavations at Gobeklitepe following the site’s discovery in 1995 turned the archaeological theories about the Neolithic Age upside down. He dated the site at c11600ybp (6000 years before Stonehenge and 7000 before the Egyptian Pyramids) and concluded that “Based on the ostensible fact that only “wild” or non-domesticated plant remains and animal bones had been found – … it was constructed by hunter-gatherers who must have periodically come together for ritual reasons. (he) then suggest(ed) that ritual or religion spurred the domestication of plant-animals and caused the Neolithic Revolution” or, as KS more succinctly put it, “First came the temple and then the city”!

Gobekiltepe “consists of several sanctuaries in the form of round megalithic enclosures…….. The excavation has revealed no residential buildings. Göbekli Tepe seems to have been a regional centre where communities met to engage in complex rites. ..the general function of the enclosures remains mysterious; but it is clear that the pillar statues in the centre of these enclosures represented very powerful beings. If gods existed in the minds of Early Neolithic people, there is an overwhelming probability that the T-shape is the first known monumental depiction of gods.”

Such theories are not yet fully accepted and are being developed as digging takes place. KS died in July 2014 aged only 51 but the location continues to be a focus of World wide archaeological attention. Indeed …

My wife Jan and I visited Gobeklitepe about five years ago. It was just at the end of the dig season so there weren't many people (or tourists) at the site. We were guided through and around the site by a young man who was very familiar with all that had gone on. Unfortunately he spoke no English so my Turkish had to suffice. Overall it is a spectacular site and one we would really like to revisit.

The museum in Urfa had a wonderful display of articles found at the site. I can only imagine the additions they have been able to make since our visit. I hope that our health will permit us to make another visit.

As with many of the other places we have visited in Turkiye we highly recommend it to our friends.

We flew to Urfa from Istanbul, an easy connection and a very enjoyable flight.