Dülük Kaya Mezarları

Wonderful

A wonderful taste

Fresh air. Ideal for nature walks and picnics.

Very nice venue. Smells like history. A must visit.

WEDDING Gaziantep's 11 km. Dülük village and its surroundings in the north have witnessed all the major stages of human history, and their traces have been reached today. It is almost like an open-air museum with stone tools used by people who lived 30-40 thousand years ago, the Mitras ground equestrian temple, magnificent rock tombs, and a stone quarry where huge rock blocks were extracted. DÜZÜK GREAT CAVE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS It is one of the oldest settlements in Anatolia. Flint tools made by the Ancient Stone Age people were found during the researches in the surrounding area. The village and the surrounding hills and the large cave were used as a workshop to process the quality flintstone in the region. The chipped stone tools and their remains found here are called Dolikien (Dülük type). DOLIKHE ANCIENT CITY Dolikhe, which has been a holy city since the Hittites, was declared archbishop during the Byzantine period. It was severely destroyed as a result of the raids of Islam and lost its religious center position with the move of the archbishop to Zeugma in the 7th century. As of this date, Ayıntap, a new city established around Gaziantep Castle, started to replace the city of Dülük and eventually became a village connected to Ayıntap. The sanctuary of Dülük has carried its identity as a sanctuary until today with the tomb of saint Dülükbaba (Davut Ejder). DÜZÜK MİTRAS TEMPLE (On the southern skirt of Keber Hill in Dülük) It is the first Mitras underground temple in Anatolia. This temple has two halls and in the central niche, which is the altar of the temple, the scene of killing a bull called Tauroktoni is engraved in relief. God Mitras is depicted killing a bull and around him are figures like stars symbolizing planets, scorpions, snakes and dogs symbolizing constellations. (It is a little difficult to see these details today. It is tried to be erased with the spread of Christianity and it requires some attention and knowledge.) Mithras cult, which started to spread from Tarsus in the 1st century, reached Scotland and the Great Sahara in the 3rd century. The blood of the bull that was sacrificed in the Mitras rituals was drunk and washed with this blood. Thus, it was believed that the bull, which symbolizes a disappearing age, would attain the power and immortality of the god represented. DUZUK CEMETERY The rocky section in the village of Dülük is the necropolis of the ancient city. The arched niches in the tombs with several rooms carved underground or on the surface rock with the idea of ​​the infinity of the rock represent the sky, that is immortality. There are architectural ornaments and religious symbols in the burial chambers. The necropolis was used between the 4th and 6th centuries BC during the Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine periods. DULUK ROCK TOMB It is one of the most beautiful examples of chamber tombs in the necropolis of the ancient city of Dolikhe. Consisting of a hall and three rooms, the tomb belongs to the 3rd century. From the decorations in the middle section, it is understood that the most important people of the family or group are located here. DÜZÜK STONE QUARRIES Before the quarries, stones were taken for the important buildings of the ancient city of Dolikhe, and later, building blocks were taken to the castle in Gaziantep and other important buildings. These furnaces were used until the end of the Ottoman Period. Signs and religious symbols belonging to the masters are also encountered on the parts of the deepening surfaces. DÜLÜKBABA FORESTS TRAVEL AND MESRE AREA (4 km from the center) 40 kilometer area surrounding the north and northwest of Gaziantep is one of Turkey's absorbing large grove. Dülükbaba Forests recreation area is covered with larch and cedar trees. It is used as a picnic area today. Dülük rock tombs are also here.