holy and inviolable carps. The legend tells that the prophet Abraham, thrown into a fire, he escaped by turning fire into water, and burning logs into carps. There is also a second sacred lake. It is likely that in pre-Christian times the fish lakes were a cult place of worship for the goddess Tarata.
According to the Christian faith, the Apostle Thomas, one of the disciples of Christ, was the founder of the Syrian church in Edessa. Therefore, his remains were brought here after his death from Parthia or India and buried in this church.

Sights
Modern Sanliurfa is a sharp contrast between its old and new parts. The old city is full of narrow crooked streets, often too narrow for cars, blind fences surrounding cozy houses, colorful bazaars, local residents dressed in traditional Arabic and Kurdish costumes. Some residents of the city are so poor that they still live in cave houses dug into the side of the mountain.
New districts, on the contrary, have modern houses and hotels, restaurants and shops.
- Sanliurfa Museum
The idea to open a museum in Sanliurfa first appeared in 1948. Prior to this, the existing exhibits were stored in the primary school named after Ataturk. In 1956, they were transferred to another elementary school, but over time there was an acute shortage of space, and in 1969 the Şanlıurfa Museum was opened.
Since 1987, archaeological excavations have been carried out under the Ataturk reservoir. Since 1995, the museum has been taking part in excavations on the Göbekli Tepe hill.
However, the museum was not enough for all the exhibits, another building was built. It now houses three archeology halls, an ethnography hall, administration, exhibition and conference rooms, and a library. The basement contains a vault, a research lab, and a photo lab.
- The cave where the prophet Abraham was born
- Lake Balyk with sacred carps
The lake is located in the courtyard of the Khalil-Raman Mosque, built in 1211. A huge number of fat carps, fattened by visitors throwing them bread, are not a very pleasant sight, unlike the gardens surrounding the mosque. However, there is a belief that one who sees a white carp among the carps will go to heaven.
- Lake Ain Zeliha
The second sacred lake, named according to legend, in honor of the daughter of Nimrod Zeliha, who jumped into the fire after Abraham.
- Great Mosque of Urfa
Built in 1170 on the site of a Christian church, called by the Arabs "red".
- Firuz Bay Fountain
A fountain installed on the wall of the Job Theological School in the eastern part of the Grand Mosque. Built by Firuz Beyem in 1781. Only the inscription of 1191 remained from the theological school, which is considered the date of foundation of the school.
- The ruins of the Urfa fortress and the "throne of Nimrod"
- Eight Turkish baths from the Ottoman Empire
Jinjikli, Vezir, Shaban, Velibey, Eski Aras, Serche and Sultan's public bath.
- Traditional houses of Urfa
Usually they consist of two sections: harem (for the family itself) and villages (for guests). One of these houses, open to visitors, is the House of Haji Hafizlar in the urban area of ​​Kara Meydan, not far from the post office. This house was built in 1888, then restored by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and transformed into a state art gallery.
- Nevaly-Chori
Стоянка времен эпохи неолита, датируемая около 8000 года до н.e.. Сейчас находится на дне водохранилища Ататюрка.
- Göbekli Tepe
Самые древние в мире развалины каменных храмов (около 11500 года до н. e.)

Kitchen
The cuisine is typical of the southeast of Turkey. The basis is bread and meat: kebabs, danars or shawarma with a lot of eggplant, tomatoes and red pepper (especially the local variety "Isot"), and coffee.