Catalhoyuk
UNESCO World Heritage Site (Neolithic Site Of Catalhoyuk, 2012); A Proto City Occupied Roughly 7400 6000 BC · Cumra, Konya
Nine thousand years ago several thousand people lived on this mound in mud-brick houses packed so tightly against one another that there were no streets: you walked across the roofs and dropped into your house through a hole by the hearth. They painted their walls with hunting scenes, leopards and what may be the oldest landscape picture in existence, set the horn cores of wild bulls into benches and pillars, and buried their dead under the floors of the rooms they went on living in. Catalhoyuk is where a great deal of what is believed about the transition to settled life comes from, and UNESCO inscribed it in 2012. Be clear about what visiting it is, though: two large shelters over excavation trenches, a reconstructed house, and a small visitor centre. Everything found here is in the museums at Konya and Ankara. Come for what it means, not for what it looks like, and read something about it before you drive out.
Kucukkoy Mahallesi, Catalhoyuk Oren Yeri, Cumra, Cumra, Konya, Turkiye
Open daily with longer summer hours and an earlier winter close. Access to the two excavation shelters depends on the season and on conservation work - sections have been closed for long periods. The visitor centre and the experimental reconstructed house keep the same hours. There is no public transport; check before driving out from Konya.