Mount Memrut National Park

Located in the Eastern Taurus mountain range peaks in southeastern Adiyaman, Turkey, Mount Nemrut is a hidden jewel of temple tomb and residence of gods created by the late Hellenistic King Antiochos I of Commagene Kingdom (69-34 B.C.E) dedicating it to himself by considering himself as a god as well.

The adventure for this amazing rubble tumulus tomb at above 2150 meters with its statues up to 10 meters, begins after Kahta town, for those visiting Nemrut for the first time taking about an hour to get to the parking lot. Those heading up to the mountain for the sunset, leave after late afternoon doing some other visits till Nemrut. The others going to enjoy the sunrise wake up pretty early morning and cover the other sites on their way back to the hotel. No matter what time, it is a breathtaking activity for anyone visiting the site for the first time. How the stones were carried up there all the way from the towns, the mysteries behind the construction of the tomb and it is being not entirely discovered, leaves a lot of questions marks in mind for those visiting it for the first time.

Considering the limited opportunities back in 1960’s, people would have to either hike it all the way or rent horses to get there. Today, with the developed technology, it is much easier and comfy to get to Nemrut while it is not super easy for free travelers except for local buses around each town, yet not a super detailed map about the site.

In the area, there are a good number of hotels available with a certain service quality well-balanced with the area. Either in the city center of Adiyaman, in Kahta town preferred by most visitors or pensions at the peak for those with a dream of camping or staying closer, there are available capacities.

When we think about the unstable politics and accordingly tourism back in 1980’s and 1990’s, there was a reasonable amount of people visiting the site. Whereas, today, in addition to Mt. Nemrut, Zeugma in Gaziantep Gobeklitepe in Sanliurfa, the excavations caught some better speed and quality which makes our Southeastern Turkey another great destination to be on visitors bucket list sooner or later.