Harran Beehive Houses, the First Islamic University, Bazda Caves and Soğmatar

Forty-four kilometres south of Şanlıurfa across the flat cotton and wheat fields of the Mesopotamian plain lies Harran (ancient Carrhae), one of the oldest continuously inhabited spots on earth, mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the place where Abraham and his father Terah lived for years after leaving Ur on their way to Canaan, and the site where Roman triumvir Crassus was defeated by the Parthians in 53 BC.

1. The Conical Mudbrick "Beehive Houses" of Harran (Kümbet Evleri)

Because the treeless Mesopotamian plain had zero timber for flat roof beams, residents of Harran built unique conical adobe houses (kümbet evler), a building technique used across northern Syria and Mesopotamia for over 3,000 years. Each 5-metre-high dome is constructed from 30 to 40 concentric rings of sun-dried mudbricks that narrow toward a central ventilation hole at the apex. Step inside the restored Harran Culture House (Harran Kültür Evi): thanks to the natural chimney effect where hot air escapes through the top vent while cool air stays at floor level, the interconnectable domes stay a cool 24°C when the August plain outside hits 44°C.

2. The Ruins of Harran University & Harran Castle

Five hundred metres from the beehive houses (Museum Pass Turkey valid) stands the 33-metre-high square stone tower and monumental eastern arch of the Umayyad Grand Mosque and the famed Harran School / University, where 8th- to 12th-century Sabian and Islamic scholars like the great astronomer Al-Battani and alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan translated Greek philosophy and astronomy into Arabic, alongside the 11-sided basalt fortress of Harran Castle (İçkale).

3. Adding Han el-Ba'rur, the Giant Bazda Caves & Soğmatar (30 Mins East)

If you have a car or taxi, do not turn straight back to Urfa from Harran. Drive 20 kilometres east into the Tek Tek Mountains to visit the 1229 Ayyubid Silk Road caravanserai of Han el-Ba'rur, and five minutes further to the astonishing Bazda Caves (Bazda Mağaraları): a pair of colossal subterranean two-storey stone quarries carved over hundreds of years to supply the building blocks of Harran and Edessa, supported by dozens of 15-metre-high square rock pillars and open galleries that look like an underground cathedral of Moria. Continue 15 minutes north to Soğmatar, the 2nd-century AD sacred centre of the ancient Pagan Moon-and-Planet cult of the Moon God Sin (Marilaha).