UNESCO TURKEY
Hello everyone! Welcome back to our blog series highlighting UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey. With its rich history and strategic location, Turkey is home to an incredible array of cultural and historical treasures. In this post, we’ll explore what the UNESCO World Heritage List is and highlight the 18 remarkable sites in Turkey that have earned a place on this prestigious list.
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, was established in Paris in 1945 and today has 193 member countries. Its mission is to promote international peace and security through education, science, and culture, fostering respect for human rights and the rule of law.
A key goal of UNESCO is to protect humanity’s shared heritage and preserve it for future generations. To achieve this, the organization selects outstanding examples of civilizations, cultures, religions, and beliefs from around the world and shares them on its World Heritage List.
Today, there are 1,121 sites worldwide recognized for their cultural and natural significance. From Turkey, 18 destinations have been included, each offering unique insights into the country’s rich historical, cultural, and natural legacy. These sites provide travelers with unforgettable experiences and a deeper appreciation of Turkey’s role in human history.
18-SITES OF TURKEY LISTED IN UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST
16 of these destinations are on the Cultural Heritage List and 2 of them are on the Mixed Heritage List. In addition, 83 cultural, natural, and historical destinations on the tentative list that is pending for approval.
The most important reason why Anatolia/Turkey has such a rich and diverse heritage; It has been at a strategic point geographically for centuries, being on the route of important trade routes, and hosting many civilizations with its fertile lands. Turkey shows these historic, cultural, and natural beauties for more than 50 million tourists per year. Millions of more tourists flock to these places where air, road, and sea transportation is possible.
Travels through Agencies are common as well as individually organized trips. However, it is observed that there are frequent difficulties in individually organized travels. The main reason for this; Not enough information about bus or train transportation is available on online platforms and the long distances between the destinations to be traveled to each other.
Turkey has a surface area covering a total of roughly 280,000 km area. In other words, it is spread over a very large area in terms of surface measurement. For example, it is about 10 hours driving distance from Istanbul to Cappadocia or approximately 8 hours distance from Istanbul to Ephesus Ancient City.
As you can easily understand when you evaluate all of these, a travel plan that you will organize individually requires great preparation, especially in the logistics part. Daily Tours or Travel Packages starting and ending in Istanbul, which are organized to popular destinations through travel agencies, facilitate the work of tourists and provide them a great chance to see many places in a limited time. To see the Travel Packages of our company, you can click the categories at the end of the content and complete your travel plan easily.
Let’s see the list of these 18 great and breathtaking destinations which comes from centuries ago;
Cultural Sites in the Unesco
Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği (1985) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Hattusha: the Hittite Capital (1986) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Nemrut Mountain(1987) : See in Unesco Web-Page
Archaeological Site of Xanthos-Letoon (1988) : See in Unesco Web-Page
City of Safranbolu (1994) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Archaeological Site of Troy (1998) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex (2011) : See in Unesco Web-Page
Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük (2012) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape (2014) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Bursa and Cumalıkızık: the Birth of the Ottoman Empire (2014) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Ephesus Ancient City (2015) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Landscape (2015): See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Archaeological Site of Ani (2016) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Aphrodisias (2017) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Archaeological Site of Göbekli Tepe (2018) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Mixed Sites in the Unesco
Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia (1985) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
Hierapolis-Pamukkale (1988) : See details in our Blog – See in Unesco Web-Page
FINAL THOUGHTS!
Turkey has a larger and richer cultural structure you can imagine. There are hundreds or even thousands of historical and cultural places that can be visited and seen. Continue reading our blog posts and benefiting from useful information to plan your Turkey Tours smoothly. If you ever need help with creating your itinerary or have questions, do not hesitate to contact our team! If you liked our posts, do not forget to share it with your friends!
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