Hotel El Ruha

Feed the sacred fish in the...

by maykal

Feed the sacred fish in the pool surrounded by mosques. As the story tells it, Abraham was on the mountain (where the castle now stands) cursing the Pagan gods, when the god Nimrod hurled him into a large fire, but as he landed, the fire turned into a pool of water thus saving him, and the burning coals became the fish which now feed on all sorts of rubbish given to them by the many visitors who flock here. You can buy bags of chickpeas to feed the fish from sellers around the pool, but don't try to catch one of them, or you'll turn blind!

elazig:
a city in deep deep...

by fabrice

elazig:
a city in deep deep east central turkey where I slept,I had almost no money left and went to an awful hostel (according to me);because I met a guy in a bank who told me that my hotel was nice and expensive.We went with his girlfriend to eat sweet cakes before a theater programme

Golbasi- The Sacred Pool

by suvanki

This large rectangular pool is known as Abadur Rahman Havuzu, and contains hundreds of 'sacred' carp.

It is claimed to have dated back to Abraham, or to have been built by King Abhar 1X.

Legend has it that anyone who eats the fish will go blind! This has resulted in an over population of the fish , which are now believed to be cannibalistic!

According to Christian legend, Abraham was busy destroying pagan gods in ancient Urfa- Nimrod (the local king) was a bit put out by this, and hence decided to end Abrahams activities by burning him on a traditional funeral pyre! However, God decided to spare Abraham, by turning the fire into Water, and the burning coals into fish! Thereby, providing this pleasant carp filled pool!

Islamic legend tells a similar story, but with the added twist, that the sadistic Nemrut catapults Abraham from a giant sling shot situated high on the citadel, into the burning fire. The sling is represented by the 2 corinthian columns at the entrance to the kale!

biblical and holy city....with a touch of orient

by cbeaujean

"don't imagine you are the first to visit the town!"

one of the oldest cities over world and history!
abraham,job,st george stayed here.

later "edesse" was occupied by seleucides,byzantines,persians,turks,arabs,crusaders

moreover, a holy city,where turks come in pilgrimage.

urfa,became sanliurfa,(sanli means "brave") for resisting to french army after 1st world war.

nowadays,huge ataturk dam ,irrigating mesopotamia,is changing and improving its economic life!

maykal's new Sanli Urfa Page

by maykal

Sanli Urfa was the first town I visited in Turkey. It was also the only town that i was planning to visit, during a short unexpected holiday from my language school in Syria, until my "itinerary" was hijacked by a mad female Turk, who decided that we would try and cram 8 cities into 7 days...tiring, but I don't think it would have been the same without her...she was a good travelling companion and an expert translator, if a little kamikaze at times (trying to climb Nemrut Dagi in the snow was verging on the ridiculous!).
I'd love to return to this city, as I didn't really take much of it in, just having suffered a nightmare overnight journey from Damascus...I'd like to see it without having to yawn continuously, and I'm sure it would be doubly more interesting now that I've studied some Turkish!

My God, this page needs an update...I have so much more to say about this city, and more pictures...The travelogue about Harran has moved to its new home, hidden away on my Harran Page.

For more info about my trips to Turkey, click HERE!