Photos

I took this photo BalikliGol area in Urfa during my visit to Eastern Turkey and Syria.
During my Eastern Turkey trip safety reason I did not carry and use my Canon DSLR instead I borrowed a cheap point and shoot HP R707!So,sorry in Advence for low quality:( This is my first photo from this trip and I hope you like my Eastern Turkey photo Series:)
Cheers,
CT of Chicago

Şanlıurfa (also Urfa, formerly Edessa) is a city in eastern Turkey, and the provincial capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The modern city of Urfa is situated about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. It has a population of 385,588 (2000 census).

The city has been known by many names. In Syriac it is ܐܘܪܗܝ, Orhāy. In Kurdish it is Riha. In Arabic it is الروها, Ar-Ruha. In Greek it was Ορρα, Orrha. Although it is often best known by the name given it by the Seleucids, Edessa.
According to Muslim tradition it is the location of Ur, and the birthplace of Abraham is said to be at a mosque in the city. The Great Mosque at Urfa was built in 1170, on the site of a Christian church the Arabs called the "red church," probably incorporating some Roman masonry. Contemporary tradition at the site identifies the well of the mosque as that into which the towel (mendil) of the prophet Jesus was thrown (see Image of Edessa). Under the Ottomans it was a centre of trade in cotton, leather, and jewellery.

It still has ruins of its ancient walls and of an Arab castle. There were three Christian communities: Syrian, Armenian, and Latin. The last Syrian Christians left in 1924 and went to Aleppo (where they settled down in a place that later got called Hay Al Suryan "The Syrian Quarter").


The skyline of Urfa as viewed from the Castle which dominates the City Centre.The official name of the city was changed into Sanliurfa (Şanlıurfa in Turkish spelling) in 1984 which was Urfa until this date. 'Şanlı' means great, glorious, dignified in Turkish, a reference to the city's role in the Turkish War of Independence.

Modern Urfa presents stark contrasts between its old and new quarters. The old town is one of the most evocative and romantic in Turkey, with an ancient bazaar still visited by local people to buy fruit and vegetables, where traditionally dressed Arab and Kurdish villagers arrive in the early morning to sell their produce. Much of the old town consists of traditional Middle Eastern houses built around courtyards, invisible from the dusty streets, many of which are impassible to motor vehicles.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urfa