Şanlıurfa - Abraham City

The breakfast at the Western hotel was so huge that we didn't even have to stop for lunch on our 90km stage to Şanlıurfa where Abraham was born according to some sources. We cycled through a dry, rocky landscape with only few tiny and very basic villages.
As we arrived early, we had some time to explore the city which was really cool. It has an old centre whoch feels very Arabic with its maze-like streets and stone buildings. Most writings on the doors are in Arabic, too. There's countless mosques, a castle, Kervansarays and markets all around, so you can probably spend weeks in the city without getting bored.
The most important site here is Baliklıgölü, basically a fishpond and an important place for pilgrims. According to the legend, when Abraham was going to get burned at the stake, the fire turned into water and the embers into fish. So now the fish in the pond are holy and don't get eaten. Therefore, even in Corona times, it was very busy at the pond and the surrounding sites.Read more