Ancient Greek city of Edessa, now the Turkish city of Şanliurfa

Edessa was founded in 303 or 302 B.C. and named after the old capital of Macedonia [1]. For many centuries it was an important stop on the Silk Road for merchants carrying goods to Antioch. Edessa is now the Turkish city of Şanliurfa, also written as Sanli Urfa and simply known as Urfa. Şanliurfa is located about 250 kilometers east of the Turkish city of Andana. It is surrounded by desert bounded by the Taurus Mountains to the north, the Euphrates River to the East, and Syria to the South. As most places in Turkey, Şanliurfa is rich in history and archaeologically interesting sites including the recently discovered and excavated Byzantine floor mosaics, in almost pristine conditions, of a large villa serving as a palatial home [1].

Note: There also is the capital of the Pella Prefecture of Macedonia, Greece, with the name Edessa. Further there was the Syriac speaking kingdom Edessa or Osroene (also spelled Osrohene or Osrhoene) with Edessa as its capital.

Keywords: geography, archaeology, ancient Greece, modern Turkey

Reference and links
[1] Marco Merola: Turkish Delights • Spectacular Byzantine Mosaics Revealed. Archaeology January/February 2010, Volume 63, Number 1, pp. 35-37. Online-Article.
[2] Urfa pictures - Turkey