Göbekli Tepe

Göbeklitepe · Göbekli Tepe Örenyeri · Potbelly Hill

Largely excavatedOpen to visitors

The UNESCO-listed type site of the Taş Tepeler: monumental round and rectangular buildings with T-shaped pillars up to about 5.5 m tall, built by hunter-gatherers. Research has moved from ‘oldest temple’ towards a settlement with houses, and in 2026 excavation began on the previously untouched northern part of the mound.

On the live board

Listed as openchecked 18 Oct 2026

Listed hours: 08:30–17:30 daily; ticket office closes 17:00

Hours, tickets and status

Visiting

Open to visitors

Open daily 08:30–17:30 (ticket office until 17:00) after summer hours ended on 1 Oct 2026. €20 foreign-visitor ticket now; €22 from 1 Apr 2027.

Source: muze.gov.tr; DÖSİMM · checked 18 Oct 2026

Dating

c. 9600–8200 BCE (UNESCO); c. 9600–7750 cal BC (Taş Tepeler official page)

Phase: PPNA–PPNB

Source: UNESCO WHC 1572; tastepeler.org

Discovery

1963 recorded (Istanbul–Chicago survey, P. Benedict); significance identified Oct 1994 by Klaus Schmidt

Source: DAI 2016

Excavation

Largely excavatedRecorded as: extensively excavated (ongoing)

Istanbul University (Prof. Necmi Karul, excavation director since 2019) with DAI (Dr. Lee Clare, field and research director since 2014) and the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum; Austrian Archaeological Institute (geoarchaeology)

Key finds

  1. Enclosures A–D with carved T-pillars; Pillar 43 ‘Vulture Stone’ (Enclosure D)

    DAI 2016; Türkiye Today 2024

  2. Life-size painted boar statue, Structure D (2023)

    DAI 2023-10-08; KTB 2023-09-30

  3. Human statue built into a wall between Structures B and D (2025)

    KTB 2025-09-19; AA

  4. Rectangular houses on the northern mound (2026 excavation) and in geophysics (2025)

    AA 2026-08-13; AA 2025-10-08

What the sources disagree on

Dating ranges differ between UNESCO (9600–8200 BCE) and the project page (to about 7750 cal BC). Karul gives eight monumental structures uncovered (Oct 2025), while popular sources say ‘Enclosures A–D’.

Where

Haliliye (Şanlıurfa)

District level only. We don’t publish coordinates or directions to excavation and survey sites.

Field Log · 26 entries

  1. Tickets & hoursSummer opening hours end at Göbekli Tepe and the Şanlıurfa Museum
  2. Tickets & hoursNew foreign-visitor tariff published; it takes effect on 1 April 2027
  3. ExcavationGöbekli Tepe: first excavation on the mound’s northern side finds rectangular houses
  4. Visitor updateGöbekli Tepe walkways widened, made step-free and roughly doubled in length
  5. Visitor updateGöbekli Tepe received about 781,000 visitors in 2025
  6. Visitor updateReportedNew Göbekli Tepe welcome centre, car park and café built about 2.5 km below the site
  7. DiscoveryTaş Tepeler 5th anniversary: 30 new finds shown, including a ‘stitched-mouth’ statue
  8. Research paperGeophysics at Göbekli Tepe shows many more buildings, including likely houses
  9. DiscoveryGöbekli Tepe: human statue found built into a wall; Structure C restoration completed
  10. Media & debateNPR: Göbekli Tepe conspiracy theories go mainstream via Joe Rogan
  11. Research paperDAI’s Lee Clare: ‘charismatic leaders’ and a hunter-gatherer crisis at Göbekli Tepe
  12. Media & debateExcavators restate that Göbekli Tepe was not an observatory and Pillar 43 is not a star map
  13. Media & debateFlint Dibble explains why Göbekli Tepe undercuts the ‘lost Ice Age civilisation’ idea
  14. Research paperDisputedSweatman paper claims Pillar 43’s V-symbols are a 365-day lunisolar calendar
  15. Media & debateExcavation head rejects ‘aliens’, ‘time portal’ and ‘observatory’ claims
  16. DiscoveryGöbekli Tepe’s painted wild boar and Karahan Tepe’s 2.3 m seated statue
  17. Visitor updateReported6 February 2023 earthquakes: Göbekli Tepe reported undamaged
  18. PolicyTaş Tepeler (Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project) launched
  19. ExcavationKarahan Tepe excavations begin; Istanbul University’s Necmi Karul takes over Göbekli Tepe
  20. Visitor update‘Year of Göbeklitepe’: President Erdoğan opens the site and its visitor centre
  21. PolicyGöbekli Tepe inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
  22. Visitor updateTwo permanent protective roofs completed over Göbekli Tepe’s main excavation
  23. ExcavationKlaus Schmidt, who identified Göbekli Tepe’s significance, dies aged 60
  24. ExcavationExcavations at Göbekli Tepe begin (DAI with the Şanlıurfa Museum)
  25. DiscoveryKlaus Schmidt recognises T-pillars at Göbekli Tepe
  26. DiscoveryIstanbul–Chicago survey records Göbekli Tepe, but misses its significance

Open these in the Field Log

Sources · 5

  1. Göbekli Tepe (World Heritage List no. 1572)UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  2. Göbeklitepe (site page)Taş Tepeler project site, T.C. Ministry of Culture and Tourism
  3. Göbekli Tepe – The first 20 Years of Research (Tepe Telegrams)German Archaeological Institute (DAI), O. Dietrich · 2 Jun 2016
  4. Göbeklitepe’de yeni kazılarda dörtgen planlı yapılar ortaya çıkarıldıAnadolu Agency · 13 Aug 2026
  5. Göbeklitepe Örenyerimuze.gov.tr (Ministry)