Published on : Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Chinese Internet singer Zhang Chi, whose hit song sings of “I want to take you to romantic Turkey,” visited Gobeklitepe in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa recently.
The 20-year-old Zhang and his seven-member crew came to the site in late January, accompanied by Turkish Ambassador to China Abdulkadir Emin Onen, while Celal Uludag, director in charge of Gobeklitepe’s excavation and museum, welcomed the Chinese guests at the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared this year as “the Year of Gobeklitepe” for boosting tourism around the prehistoric site.
Located in Upper Mesopotamia near the Syrian border, Gobeklitepe, which means Potbelly Hill in Turkish, is the world’s oldest known megalithic structure.
Dating back to nearly 12,000 years ago, the ancient temple features massive carved stones and T-shaped pillars in limestone that predate the invention of agriculture.
Mehmet Oz, a Turkish-American surgeon, author and presenter of the globally popular talk series “The Dr. Oz Show,” featured the ancient site in his show, which runs in 100 countries.
Encompassing an area of around 10 hectares, the site was reopened to tourists in early 2018 after extensive restoration work, in which a 4,000-square-meter steel roof was erected.
Scientists believe that the structure is older than the Egyptian pyramids or Stonehenge, and it is where modern human civilization originated.
The mystery site also featured in several theories about ancient aliens, which are expected to keep archeologists busy in the coming years.
Local and international tour agencies have included Gobeklitepe in their programs, with the number of guided tours to the site expected to increase by 10 times in spring and summer.
According to tourism professionals, more than 3 million tourists from Turkey and abroad visited the site in 2018.
Tags: Gobeklitepe, Turkish