×
The great theatre of Ephesus with its semicircular tiers and the ancient street beyond.Roy Egloff · CC BY-SA 4.0

05The story

Layers of stone

From some of the oldest known stone pillars to the domes of Istanbul: milestones of Anatolian heritage, in architecture and archaeology.

  1. c. 9500 BC

    Settlement begins at Göbekli Tepe, with rings of huge stone pillars, among the oldest known megaliths.

  2. c. 7500 BC

    Çatalhöyük begins, a large Neolithic settlement on the Konya Plain.

  3. 756 BC

    Trapezous, today's Trabzon, is founded on the Black Sea coast.

  4. c. 550 BC

    The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is completed, one of the Seven Wonders.

  5. 155

    The theatre of Aspendos is built near Antalya.

  6. 537

    Hagia Sophia is completed in Constantinople, today's Istanbul.

  7. 1348

    Galata Tower is built at the highest point of the quarter's walls.

  8. 1455

    Work begins on the core of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar.

  9. 1557

    The Süleymaniye Mosque, designed by the architect Sinan, is inaugurated.

  10. 1575

    The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne is completed; Sinan considered it his masterpiece.

  11. 1617

    The Blue Mosque in Istanbul is completed.

  12. 1985

    Historic Istanbul and Cappadocia join the World Heritage List.

  13. 2018

    Göbekli Tepe joins the World Heritage List.