Yesemek

Yesemek quarry and workshop complex is truly a unique place on a global scale. In the old days, it served as a quarry and a workshop of monumental sculptures that decorated the Hittite sanctuaries in the south-eastern Anatolia. Today, it is the largest place of its kind, known to researchers of the Middle East. The travellers who arrive there can admire hundreds of Hittite sculptures in various stages of completion.

Yesemek
Yesemek

Cleopatra's Gate in Tarsus

Tarsus is a city with a very long history, and numerous famous individuals have strolled down its streets. The first meeting of Mark Antony and Cleopatra is undoubtedly one of the most colourful episodes in the history of Tarsus. It is often said that it took place at one of the massive gates of the city. This particular gate is now called the Cleopatra's Gate at the memory of that event.

Cleopatra's Gate in Tarsus
Cleopatra's Gate in Tarsus

Laodicea on the Lycus

Laodicea on the Lycus, located at the crossroads of important trade routes, was once a prosperous city, famous for its black wool, banking services, and medical achievements. In the times of late antiquity, it had a large Jewish community and a significant congregation of Christians. St. John mentioned Laodicea as one of the Seven Churches of Asia in the Book of Revelation

Temple A in Laodicea on the Lycus
Temple A in Laodicea on the Lycus

Tarsus Museum

Tarsus Museum is an attractive venue that combines, as it often happens in Turkish museums, archaeological and ethnographic sections. The museum boasts more than 35,000 exhibits in its collections, of which the vast majority are antique coins. In addition, the museum collections contain more than 5,000 archaeological artifacts, 1.5 thousand ethnographic objects, and six historical manuscripts. Moreover, Tarsus Museum supervises ten archaeological sites, five nature reserves and conservation areas, and more than two hundred historical buildings, of religious, military, and civilian character. The most famous of them is probably the St. Paul's Well, located in the centre of Tarsus.

Quran manuscripts - Tarsus Museum
Quran manuscripts - Tarsus Museum

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