Located directly beside the Ottoman-era Rizvanize Mosque, Balikli Gol (Pool of the Sacred Fish) is home to a thriving population of carp that, according to legend, were transformed from fiery brands to fish by Allah to save the prophet Abraham from death. Visitors drawn by the story of prophet as well as the graceful arches and lush greenery surrounding the pool, may feed and admire the sacred carp, but do not dare touch them. It is rumoured that the carp are protected by a terrible curse that afflicts any who touch them or try to catch them with blindness.

This has been the site of a citadel since antiquity, however it was rebuilt in 814 C. E. under the Abbasids. Located in the southwest of city in the foothills of the Damlacik Mountain, the citadel is surrounded by deep moats. Known for its distinctive twin columns, which are popularly known as the catapult, the citadel affords breathtaking views of all of Sanliurfa.

Protruding above rugged outcroppings on a vast alluvial plain, Gobekli Tepe, which literally means  “Potbelly Hill”, is 12,000 year-old Neolithic wonder. Long believed to be the site of a Byzantine cemty, recent excavations have unearthed towering megaliths and mystic stone reliefs of animals and humans, some of which clearly represent gods.

This is an excellent place to discover Sanliurfa's rich history and archaeological finds. Built in 1967, the museum is located in the historic centre of the city. With one ethnographic and three archaeological exhibits in the museum, housing over 74,000 artefacts there is plenty to learn about the Sanliurfa region's past and its people.

Harran, located 44 km (24 miles) southeast of Sanliurfa, dates back to the Bronze Age and was founded in the third millennium BCE, making it one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements. Noteworthy for its mud-brick beehive houses, a style of architecture almost as old as the site itself, Harran first became an important trading centre as early as the 19th century BCE and enjoyed its prime during the Assyrian period. Today, one of the most dramatic of the ruins at the site is that of the University at Harran, an 8th and 9th century centre of learning that was the Islamic world’s first university. The Harran Castle, which remains largely intact, is also worth inspecting and dates to at least the period of the Crusades.

According to local tradition the Prophet Abraham was born in a grotto not far from the Pool of the Sacred Fish, which today is commemorated with a mosque, as well as a sacred spring. Today, the site is a major place of pilgrimage that attracts the curious and the faithful alike, not only from Turkey but throughout the region and around the world.