点评:In this write-up, I will not talk about the historical aspects of Çatalhöyük. You can read about this on the internet. I will try here to shed light on grey areas that might be important to prospect visitors.
1. This place is about a 50-minute drive S-E from Konya. The road is paved. Mind the few road humps when you get close to Çatalhöyük. Please use a car having good conditions with a good spare tire. It will be very difficult if you face a car breakdown on this road where traffic is scarce, particularly if you don’t speak Turkish. Have a working GSM phone anyway. Come back before dark. There is no street lighting.
2. You might have read about a museum location and an excavation location. To clarify, note that Çatalhöyük is a single site with a single-entry point. The museum part is a recent new add-on.
3. There are toilets outside, to the right of the main entrance door.
4. You will first enter a perfectly crafted wood-glass structure built to top-notch standards. Front desk personnel will give you a warm greeting. When I went there (Dec. 2023), the entry was free and the visiting hours are 9 AM to 5 PM (entry to the excavation sites is not possible after 04:40 PM) and the place is closed on Mondays. To the right of the front desk is the Souvenirs Shop, and to the left is a corridor leading to the museum. When you’re finished with the museum, you can exit the building at the end of the corridor and walk towards the excavation sites.
5. There are two excavation sites in Çatalhöyük (two ancient colonies on two separate hills, a few 100 meters apart). Only one excavation site was open on my visit day. Excavation works in the second site were still on-going.
6. We were offered a free English-speaking guide to walk us through the museum. I accepted and soon realized that the guide is essential if you want to understand all what’s displayed in the museum. Thank you Miss Büşra for the wealth of information you provided. We had no clue about Çatalhöyük when we arrived but reached a good level of knowledge by the time we finished our museum tour.
7. The contents of the museum are impressive. The hi-tech aspect of information presentation is amazing. The contents must have been put together by a professional firm in this filed. There are 5 rooms to go through (about 1 hour with the guide). When the guide left, we took pictures then exited from the end of the corridor.
8. It is worth noting that many of the actual excavation finds (e.g. skeletons) are not displayed in Çatalhöyük museum. Only replicas are shown there. The actual skeletons are in other museums in Turkey, some in Konya’s Archaeological Museum (I saw them there) and some in Ankara’s museums.
9. Outside you will find toilets, a cafeteria building, and a conference building. The espresso and the hot chocolate we had in the cafeteria were very tasty.
10. Halfway between this area and the excavation site, replica houses identical to those revealed by the excavation are constructed to give the perfect picture to visitors. You can enter and experience the feeling of having lived there 9,000 years ago. Don’t miss entering those rooms and taking plenty of photos.
11. Finally you head towards the excavation site to be amazed by the beauty of this precious find. You are standing in one of a handful of similar sites in the entire world, with this one being the richest in content. It is true that older ones were discovered elsewhere (e.g. Göbeklitepe, 14,000 years old) but these were religious sites, not living communities.
12. You exit by returning back to the entrance point. The items available to buy in the souvenirs shop are unique, of a good quality, and found only there. Don’t miss buying some before you leave.
Conclusion: visiting this place is not to be missed. It is slowly gaining celebrity and will soon become a main touristic destination on a worldwide scale, particularly when the second (richer) excavation site is opened to public.
翻译:在这篇文章中,我不会谈论加泰土丘的历史方面。您可以在互联网上阅读相关内容。我将尝试在这里阐明对潜在访客可能很重要的灰色区域。
1.这个地方距离科尼亚东南-东约50分钟车程。道路已铺好。当您接近 Çatalhöyük 时,请注意一些路障。请使用车况良好、备胎良好的汽车。如果您在这条交通稀缺的道路上遇到汽车故障,那将非常困难,特别是如果您不会说土耳其语。无论如何,要有一部可用的 GSM 手机。天黑之前回来。没有路灯。
2. 您可能读过有关博物馆地点和发掘地点的信息。为了澄清这一点,请注意 Çatalhöyük 是一个具有单一入口点的单一站点。博物馆部分是最近新增的。
3. 外面有厕所,位于正门的右侧。
4. 您将首先进入按照一流标准建造的完美木玻璃结构。前台工作人员会给您热情的问候。我去的时候(2023 年 12 月),免费入场,参观时间为上午 9 点至下午 5 点(下午 04:40 后不可进入发掘现场),周一闭馆。前台右侧是纪念品商店,左侧是通往博物馆的走廊。参观完博物馆后,您可以从走廊尽头退出建筑物,然后走向发掘现场。
5. Çatalhöyük 有两个发掘地点(两个古代殖民地位于两座独立的山上,相距数百米)。在我访问当天,只有一个发掘地点开放。第二个地点的挖掘工作仍在进行中。
6. 他们为我们提供了免费的英语导游带我们参观博物馆。我接受了,并很快意识到,如果你想了解博物馆中展示的所有内容,指南是必不可少的。感谢 Büşra 小姐提供的丰富信息。当我们到达时,我们对加塔霍裕克一无所知,但当我们结束博物馆之旅时,我们已经有了很好的了解。
7. 博物馆的内容令人印象深刻。信息呈现的高科技方面令人惊叹。内容必须由该领域的专业公司整理。共有5个房间可供参观(与导游一起游览约1小时)。导游离开后,我们拍了张照片,然后从走廊的尽头退出。
8. 值得注意的是,许多实际发掘的发现(例如骨骼)并未在加泰土丘博物馆展出。那里只显示复制品。真正的骨架在土耳其的其他博物馆,有些在科尼亚考古博物馆(我在那里看到过),有些在安卡拉的博物馆。
9. 外面有厕所、自助餐厅和会议楼。我们在自助餐厅喝的浓缩咖啡和热巧克力非常美味。
10. 在该区域和挖掘地点之间,建造了与挖掘所发现的房屋相同的复制品房屋,为游客提供完美的画面。你可以进去体验一下9000年前生活在那里的感觉。不要错过进入这些房间并拍摄大量照片。
11. 最后,您前往挖掘现场,对这一珍贵发现的美丽感到惊讶。您正站在世界上少数几个类似网站之一,而这个网站的内容是最丰富的。确实,在其他地方也发现了更古老的遗迹(例如哥贝克力石阵,已有 14,000 年的历史),但这些都是宗教场所,而不是生活社区。
12. 返回入口点即可退出。纪念品商店出售的商品独一无二,品质优良,只有在那里才能找到。离开前不要错过购买一些。
结论:这个地方不容错过。它正在慢慢获得知名度,并将很快成为全球范围内的主要旅游目的地,特别是当第二个(更丰富的)挖掘地点向公众开放时。