Balikli Lake

According to a local legend, in ancient times, the Babylonian King Nimrod ruled in the present-day Turkish city of Sanliurfa. He imagined himself to be a deity and ordered local masters to sculpt statues of him and his people to worship them.

Once having seen a strange dream, the king wished to know the interpretation. The oracles told him about his death at the hands of a boy who would be born in the city this year. Frightened by the terrible doom, he decided to kill all infants. Only one of them named Abraham could survive. He was born and raised in a small cave, fed with the milk of gazelles and forest berries. Soon, warriors of the cruel Nimrod found the young man and reported this to their lord. But when the king saw the future prophet, he was overwhelmed by the fatherly love and could not harm him. Nimrod adopted Abraham and took him to the palace. Later, he also adopted a girl named Zeliha.

Neither the beloved son nor the beautiful daughter shared the father’s beliefs in stone idols. Moreover, wise Abraham cut them with an ax and thereby angered the ruthless king. Nimrod ordered to erect two tall columns, hang a rebellious son between them and make a huge fire. But as soon as the flame touched his feet, Abraham turned into a wonderful lake, and trees of the surrounding forest – into small fish with black spots from a deadly fire.

Since then, the sacred lake over 150 meters long and about 30 meters wide has received the name of Balikli Lake. But nobody dares to touch its waters because, according to the legend, it will certainly lead to trouble. However, neither a sad story nor terrible warnings prevented the picturesque lake from becoming one of the leading attractions of Sanliurfa. And the famous Urfa castle (the cave of Abraham) is a well-known pilgrimage place for all believers.