Şanlıurfa
From Freepedia
Şanlıurfa (also Urfa, formerly Edessa) is a city in eastern Turkey, and the provincial capital of Sanliurfa Province. 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, Εδεσσα, Edessa.
The modern city of Urfa is situated about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. The population was 275,000 in 1990, but has grown significantly since then. For more on historic Urfa, please see the article Edessa, Mesopotamia.
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 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.
Urfa's newer districts are a sprawl of modern concrete apartment blocks, with many surprisingly leafy avenues. The population of the city is predominantly Kurdish, with significant Arab and ethnically Turkish minorities.
Urfa has prospered on the back of the Southeastern Anatolia Project, which has provided a reliable supply of water for local farmers and fostered and agricultural boom, in turn driving significant development of light industry in the city. Unemployment and poverty, while real problems, are on a smaller scale than in other eastern Turkish cities.
In contrast to areas further to the East, the local population is largely assimilated into Turkish society, and there is little political support for Kurdish nationalism. The city is regarded in Turkish popular sentiment as being, second only to Konya, the most devout in Turkey and it is a stronghold of the governing Justice and Development Party.
External links
- English pages of the Sanliurfa Governor: Some tourist information
- adiyamanli.org on Sanli Urfa
- Pictures of the city
