- 8 Days, 7 Nights
- Departure from Istanbul
- Daily Departure Guaranteed
- Breakfast at hotels
- Lunch at restaurants
- Hotel pick up & drop off
- All taxes & museum fees
- Professional tour guide
- No hidden costs
Mesopotamia's Signatures
Itinerary
Upon arrival at Istanbul Airport, please continue to the domestic lines for your flight to Hatay. When you arrive at Hatay airport, you will be welcomed by our representative and transferred to your hotel. Overnight in Hatay.
After having breakfast at the hotel, we will go ahead with our first route, Antakya Archeology Museum. The demonstrated mosaics here are regarded second richest mosaic collections in the world according to their size, count, and quality. Then we arrive at St Pierre Church is considered the first cave church in the world. After visiting the Habib Najjar Mosque, a historical monument dating back to the centuries, we go to Daphne (Harbiye), which is the summer residence of the rich of Antioch and where water is brought to the city by water channels from its cascades. We are having a lunch flavored with different and delicious appetizers of Harbiye Waterfalls and Antioch cuisine. Then we will visit Long Bazaar where is rural products and join colorful shops, narrow streets, known crowd every day. At the end of this tour in historical Long Bazaar, we taste kunefe, one of the most important deserts among Ottoman gastronomy and patented by Antakya, before leaving.
At the end of the tour, you will be transferred to your hotel. Overnight in Hatay.
In the early morning, we will go on to Gaziantep. Our first destination is Zeugma Mosaic Museum which is the second-largest mosaic museum in the world. Besides the magnificent Zeugma Mosaic, we will see so many archeological artifacts.
After we will visit the Bakircilar Carsisi where you can experience watching copper processing. The tiny stores are home to metalworkers, shoemakers, spice hawkers, and carpenters. The area includes the restored Zincirli Bedesten, with handicraft stores under its vaulted ceiling. you can find various traditional foods such as Baklava which is a famous and delicious dessert peculiar to Turkey, pistachios that we are sure you had never eaten like these delicious ones before and so many spices that you can’t even count.
We also stop at the Almacı Bazaar which is a 250 years old bazaar. There you can see the Yemeni which is a kind of shoe that made for the Troy Movie.
At the end of the tour, you will be transferred to your hotel. Overnight in Gaziantep.
Sanliurfa is a city of huge religious significance, believed to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham, and the site of one of the most important events in the Bible and the Quran. Halfeti will be our first destination of the day. Halfeti, a majority of which lies under the waters of Birecik Dam, used to be called ''Hidden Paradise'' with the orchards at the hillside of the Euphrates and yard-type stone houses. The boat tour will be waiting for us. Because some part of Halfeti was inundated during the construction of the Birecik Dam, the city's full discovery will be by boat.
Then we visit the Archeology and Mosaic Museum, which is the largest museum complex in Turkey. Here you can see life-size replicas of the megaliths from Gobekli Tepe. After the museum, we visit the Pool of Abraham (Fish Lake) and the Halilurrahman Mosque. This is a highly sacred site for Christians and Muslims, as it is thought to be where Abraham was thrown into the fire before God turned the fire to water and turned the burning logs to fish. At the end of our tour, we will take a short break at Gümrük Han where we will taste traditional Turkish coffee.
After the Sanliurfa city tour, get ready for a special night dinner program, Sanliurfa Sira Gecesi. You will be able to taste traditional foods while listening to endemic live music on Urfa Sira Gecesi and then you will be dropped to your hotel. Overnight in Sanliurfa.
In the early morning, we leave Sanliurfa and go to the Mardin. Mardin stands out for being in the middle of the great Silk Road which is one of the historic routes used by the merchants that crossed Asia to reach the Chinese empire, trading not only goods but religion, technology, and philosophy as well. We first visit the Gobeklitepe, the start point of the whole civilization. One of the most fantastic temples in the world keeps saving its mystery along from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. You will see the obelisks in various animal and human shapes in this oldest temple on earth.
Then we will visit the Kasimiye Madrasah which was used as an education center hundreds of years ago. Using the reflection of the stars on its pool, there had been taught astronomy to the students. Syriac Deyrulzafaran Monastery is the key reason to visit Mardin. There is a historical Syriac Bible and holy stone inside and it is said that the first medical school was established here. Mosaics from the period of its foundation still stand today.
Then we will continue to Old City Mardin which is the pearl of the southeastern region of Turkey, a wonderland of traditional stone houses filled with countless cultural and historical jewels. Houses of the Old Mardin are carrying such notable architectural importance that they are not blocking each other’s view. We are going to visit the historical bazaar the Kayseriye Bedesten. Mardin is also famous for its Syriac wine, be the witness to the Telkari art, a type of jewelry design that harnesses intricately thin wires of gold and silver. We will roam around the old mystical Mardin houses using the narrow labyrinth-like narrow streets of Ancient Mardin.
At the end of the tour, you will be transferred to your hotel. Overnight in Mardin.
In the morning we will continue to the Adiyaman the city of civilization. Our first stop is the Karakuş Tumulus which is a memorial tomb belonging to the women of the Commagene Kingdom Family located within the boundaries of Adıyaman Kahta District. It was called 'karakuş' by the local people due to the eagle statue on the column erected to the south of the tumulus. Then we will visit the incredible Cendere - The Severan Bridge which is situated within one of the most important national parks in Turkey is a magnificent monumental example of Ancient Roman architecture. The most interesting architectural feature of the bridge, which is 120 meters long, is that it was built without the use of mortar.
We will continue to Mountain Nemrut where someone can experience one of the most incredible sunset views in the world. Nemrut Dağ is the Hierotheseion (temple-tomb and house of the gods) built by the late Hellenistic King Antiochos I of Commagene as a monument to himself. You also see the statue on the way to the summit as Antiochos shaking hands with a deity. At the summit you will see the huge statues and heads are arranged in the same order on each side: from left to right, lion, eagle, Antiochus, the Commagene Tyche (goddess of fortune and fertility), Zeus-Oromasdes, Apollo-Mithras, Heracles-Artagnes, eagle, lion.
At the end of this amazing day, we will go on to Malatya. Overnight in Malatya.
After having breakfast at the hotel, you will be free until your pick up time. Then you will be taken to the Malatya Airport for your return flight to Istanbul. When you arrive at the airport in Istanbul, you will be welcomed by our representative at the first exit door. You will then be taken to your hotel. Overnight in Istanbul.
According to your international flight time, you will be transferred to airport 4 hours before your flight. You will be able do self check-in. This is the end of our services.
Included
- Breakfast at the hotels & Lunch at the restaurants
- Accommodations at hotels for 7 nights
- Hotel pick up and drop off
- All airport transfers with non-smoking, A/C deluxe vehicle
- Domestic flights (15kg baggage allowance)
- All tours with a professional English speaking tour guide licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
- All taxes, entrance & museum fees
- Lunch on Tours (Vegetarian and Vegan Options are Available). Please specify when booking your tour
- No hidden or extra cost
Excluded
- International airfares
- Visa for Turkey
- Personal expenses
- Optional tours
- Beverages during lunch
- Dinner
- Gratuity to the Guide and Driver