Gobeklitepe draws 4.4M visitors in 8 years on UNESCO list

Gobeklitepe, known as the world’s oldest temple, has welcomed more than 4.4 million visitors in the eight years since it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Located near the village of Orencik, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from Sanliurfa in southeastern Türkiye, the site dates back around 12,000 years.

It first gained attention through surface surveys in the 1960s and a chance discovery in 1986, when a farmer uncovered a carved statue while plowing his field. Systematic archaeological excavations began in 1995, revealing massive T-shaped stone pillars, some up to 6 meters (20 feet) tall and weighing as much as 60 tons (54 metric tons), decorated with animal reliefs from the Neolithic period.

The site was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in July 2018 at a committee meeting in Bahrain, after being added to the tentative list in 2011. Its designation significantly increased global visibility, and Türkiye declared 2019 the “Year of Gobeklitepe” to promote the site internationally.

Despite temporary declines in visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic and regional natural disasters, official figures show that 4,409,590 people have visited the site over eight years.

Local tourism officials say Gobeklitepe has become a major driver of regional tourism in southeastern Türkiye.

Mehmet Kamil Turkmen, head of the Sanliurfa Tourism Development Association, said UNESCO recognition has been key to attracting international visitors and boosting the site’s global profile.

He said approximately 4.5 million people have visited since 2018, adding that even in the first half of 2026, more than 320,000 visitors arrived despite adverse weather conditions.

“This indicates we are on track to reach around one million visitors this year,” he told Anadolu.

Turkmen also said UNESCO-listed heritage sites are particularly important for foreign tourism.

“When a site is on the UNESCO list, it becomes a must-see destination in the eyes of international visitors,” he said.

He added that other regional sites, including Balikligol and Harran, are on UNESCO candidate lists, while the nearby Karahantepe archaeological site is expected to join the permanent list in the future.

*Writing by Beril Canakci in Istanbul