Day1: IST-Gaziantep (Domestic flight early in the morning)
Meeting with your guide and driver at
Gaziantep airport and let the tour begin.
Driving for Gaziantep city center.
Visiting Gaziantep castle, walking around old bazaars and hans. Visiting
gastronomy center. Lunch break at a local restaurant and then visiting mosaic
museum of Gaziantep. Overnight in Gaziantep. Options are:
Day2: Visit Adiyaman mt Nemrut at sunset.
Check out and leaving hotel early in the
morning. Then driving for Adiyaman Nemrut mt.for sunset.
En route we may see Zeugma ancient city
and Ataturk Dam (the biggest dam of Turkiye)
Lunch break at Adıyaman city center.
After lunch ;
Visit the ruins of the Artemia, Roman bridge of Cendere and Tumulus Tomb of
Karakus on the way to tumulus of Nemrud.
Watch the beautiful sunset on top of
Mt.Nemrut, and learn about the Commagene Kingdom.
After sunset we will accomodate at Kahta
Karadut village.
Day3 : Sanliurfa the city of Prophets
After breakfast, check out and depart
for Sanliurfa and Gobeklitepe.
Discover the ongoing archaeological dig
at Gobekli Tepe, the oldest known temple in the world, pre-dating Stonehenge by
6000 years.
Driving for city center and a lunch
break at local places.
After lunch visiting the Archaeology and
Mosaic Museum of Urfa which is the largest museum complex in Turkey. Here, you
can see life-size replicas of the megaliths.
End of tour. Back to hotel. The night is
yours. Optionally we can organise a dinner at a local place called "Urfa sıra gecesi". Overnight in Urfa.
Day4: Sanlıurfa and its surroundings
After breakfast, Proceed to Abraham's Cave and the Pools
of Holy Carp surrounding the cave.
Walk around the oriental-covered bazaar
and lunch break at Urfa. Overnight in Urfa.
Day5: Visit Harran& Karahantepe archeological site
Leave the hotel at 8 am and start your
day tour.
Drive to Harran, a village of
spellbinding mud-brick "beehive" houses, as mentioned in the book of
Genesis, where Abraham spent the last years of his life. Visit the ruins of
Harran, including the city walls, the oldest Islamic university and the castle
dating back to the 18th century. Take a lunch break en route.
Make your way to Karahantepe excavations
for 1 hr drive away. W emay visit 2 more villages en route in permittance of
time.
Reach to Mardin around the evening and
have a coffee break while learning about the Sahmaran legend of Mardin.
Retire to the hotel at Viransehir or Mardin for
overnight stay.
Day6 : Mardin city tour
Do a walking tour (panoramic) of the old
town such as back streets and passages of Mardin, Old post office building, Old
bazaars, Great mosque of Mardin, Zinciriye Madrasa, Archaeology Museum and
Kirklar Church. Lunch break.
Visitng the most popular Deyrulzafaran
monastery.
Overnight in Mardin.
Day7 : Check out and visiting Midyat town which is popular for its
chriatianity (Assuryan) history and
monasteries. There, we visit Mar Gabriel monastery, a working community of
Syrian Orthodox nuns and monks who will be happy to share with you information
about the area’s 2,000-year old Christian past. Back to Mardin to your hotel. End of our services. (At this point you can arrange your return flight at late evening or you can stay one more night and fly back to istanbul on the next day. We will arrange your airport transfer which is included in the package price.)
