Heading south from Sanliurfa (Urfa) towards the Syrian border, we drive towards the town of Harran. We’re going there to see the beehive houses that Harran is known for. They date back to the 3rd Century BC though the houses that people live in today were only built in the last two hundred years.
Guide books mention that ‘Harran is reputed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited spots on earth’
Harran is also mentioned in the bible… ‘Abraham stayed here for a few years in 1900BC’
I’m not sure what we were expecting but we were greeted by crumbling walls and the ruins of old houses.
As we drove into the town we were stopped by men offering their service as guides. There is really no need for this…you will see many of the beehive houses on a drive around the village.
Apart from the houses, Harran’s castle is the only other sight to see and even that is in a state of disrepair. More guides were waiting for us here but they were happy with a no!
Two of the houses have been opened so visitors can see inside. We stopped at Harran Küitûr Evi. It is really a tourist shop but it does give you an idea of how the houses are constructed and what life would be like living in one.
A view of the town can be seen from the nearby hill. The town was once surrounded by stone walls, towers and four gates but these are now crumbled ruins. Only one gate that has been restored can be seen.
The community does have hope. The nearby Atatürk Dam has bought water to an otherwise desolate area and cotton fields now flourish. There is work for the community and with it a future.
Close to Syria
The town of Akçakale, on the Syrian border, is only 15 kms from Harran. On the outskirts of the town, Syrian refugee camps have been erected. Row upon row of white tents form a small city. Light poles seemingly divide these tents into streets!
We drove into Akçakale, fully expecting to be stopped at any moment but no one was interested in us. It was just like any other town…the streets busy with people going about the daily chores.
As we drove through, the railway tracks stopped us going any further. We were now standing on the Syrian border. The barbed wire fences in front of us separate Turkey from Syria.
And still no one came up to us…not even the soldiers in the armoured vehicle not far from us.
Needless to say, we didn’t linger…it had been a surreal moment. I had had dreams of visiting Syria not that long ago but no more. This was a close as we were going to get to Syria in my lifetime!
Other articles you may enjoy:
The Children of Jordan’s Al -Amir Village
A Foodies Tour in Istanbul
Faded Frescoes of the Shekawati
Jordan: The Ottoman Town of Salt
The Beehive Houses of Harran
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Amazing 🙂
It’s an interesting place Lili!
Jenny, Walking through Harran everyone invites you in for tea. I would suggest taking them up on it, that way you can go into a house. Many stories….
I’d love to hear your stories one day Corinne. We usually do take up offers such as those but on the day we were in Harran, the only people we saw were the guys touting for guide work.
Enjoyed a visit to this unusual town, and what a sharp contrast to see the tents of an all-too-modern community that has sprung up. Those poor refugees. Thank you for my armchair escapism this afternoon.
Pleasure Seana! Harran was unlike any other town we saw in Turkey. We were not aware of the refugee camp either until we saw it.It is the tragic cost of war!
What a crazy experience. The town looks like it should be in a star wars movie.
So your pictures make it look very interesting, but I get a sense that maybe it didn’t deliver so much? We recently had an experience like that in a run-down town that has a strong history in Germany, so I could just be projecting. Is it worth the trip do you think? It just looks really cool.
I too would love to have visited Syria. It’s so sad the way it has been destroyed. It must have been an emotional experience looking over into the refugee camp.
It was very emotional Anabel. The tragic side to war was staring back at us. I wish I had gone when I was thinking about it. It’s tragic to think of all that amazing history destroyed by their own people.
Stopping by from the A to Z Challenge. Thanks for sharing this – I’d never seen or heard of those types of house before – pretty interesting.
They were fascinating to see. Thanks for stopping by…I’ll pop over and visit
Great pictures. I love seeing them because they look so foreign and are reminiscent of their history. Good luck with the A-Z challenge. Happy Writing! 🙂
Thanks Lila. Very different aren’t they. Posting every day is definitely very challenging! Good luck to you too!
Just showing this to a friend – so special, but so sad at the same time.
Isn’t it…but there is hope for the people of Harran. Not a lot for the Syrian refugees unfortunately!
This is such an interesting insight Jenny, I’ve never seen houses like this before, they look amazing. ‘Beehive’ is such an apt term for them too. When I look at these photos I feel quite a sense of emptiness, so it is nice to hear that the dam has enabled cotton fields to grow and provide more work.
Thanks Shing. I hadn’t seen any like this either which is why we went to Harran.It was ’empty’ but hopefully things will improve for them. There is a newer town nearby where most of the people now live so it could have been a very different story there
What a trip Jenny. I can only imagine how hot and cold it must get in those tents. There would be no mud insulation like in the bee houses to moderate the temperature. Those tanks would have been scary. I can only imagine what it would be like if they were to swivel around to face you 🙁
Last time we were there, they would not let us around the castle although I would have like to see it. One of the locals also said like you, they were struggling because very little tourists passed through these days. Such a shame that war does this. It has a knock on effect on everyone’s lives.
It is a shame isn’t it Michael. We were the only tourists there when we visited. We were heartened by all the cotton fields that we passed coming into Harran. Let’s hope the future is a bit better for them as a result of water now reaching the area.
Hi Jenny, these beehive houses look just the same as the beehive houses we visited in Syria. It breaks my heart to think of what may have happened to the people, and the beehive houses now. There, the beehive houses were next to more modern block houses and most of the people now lived in those.
It seems devastatingly surreal looking at your photos looking over the border, and of the refugee camp. We crossed over the border (further west from this) on the train from Turkey and it was so
beautiful, and peaceful (2008).
I didn’t realise there were bee hive houses in Syria Rachel, but neither am I surprised given how close Harran is to Syria. I nearly went to Syria about 6 months before war broke out…now I wish I had! You were very lucky to go in 2008. The sad thing is that these camps are dotted all around the border.