Again, a place I went to as a last-minute decision and probably the most fascinating archaeological site I have visited up to date.

Some personal story of the visit: it was back in early August 2012, so the site had just been nominated on the list. In fact, I do not remember if I was aware of its World-Heritage status, but surely my guide book wasn't. I was just curious of the description and, as it happend that we (a group of 5 people) were in Konya and heading to Kapadokia the next day, I managed to convince a friend to set off for Çatalhöyük at 6am, so as to be back at a decent time to continue with the others. And so it was!

I remember that it was very easy to reach the site: we were by car and just took the road to the south-east across the country, and after less than an hour we were there. There is not much else on the way, just cultivated fields and small villages. I don't remember particular signs. At first we thought the site was closed, there were no signs and no indications of opening hours nor any obvious entrance. But it just turned out that it was before 8am and we were the ones to waken the people there on that morning... poor fellows, no peace for them!!! However, the site was already somehow prepared for visitors, since the archaeologist who, before "going back to his bones", blearily greeted us took us to the on-site museum which, though very small and relatively bare, prepared us well to the main visit by showcasing some of the exceptional findings of Çatalhöyük, in particular the "goddess of animals on the throne", and by letting us take a glimpse of life in this ancient settling, so unbelievably remote in time and customs from us. We are talking of more than 7000 years ago! Then, we were taken to the main site(s - I cannot clearly remember all the details). I do not know if by now the site has developed its "touristic infrastructure" to a greater degree, or if there is some new museum. In any case, at that time the experience was great and very genuine: work and research were happening right in front of our eyes, and I suppose it is still so. This makes everything more exciting.

Anyway, the bigger of the (if I remember correctly) two excavations is remarkably extensive and is placed under a protective shelter. At first, it may not be so easy to distinguish what one is looking at from the walkways, but then, gradually, the structure of these primitive houses becomes clearer, and one notices many small details, such as wall decorations (many have been brought to museums and academic institutions, but some are still on the site), and finally one realizes that the whole hill (= höyük in Turkish) was a city made of one small house over the other, that went on for centuries and stratified into many layers. The greatness of Çatalhöyük, to me, is that once you more or less understand its structure, you are looking directly in the life of these so ancient forebears of ours, and this has made a great impression on me. The site is very unique in its composition, and the excavations highlight this uniqueness very well. One does not need to be nostalgic of the cult of the Great Mother, nor a professional archaeologist to appreciate Çatalhöyük! For the more curious, I can recommend the book The leopard's tale by Ian Hodder, one archaeologist that conducted research on this site.

And as we went back to the city to have a sip of çay before leaving for Kapadokia, we became aware that much more time had passed as we had planned, and our friends were impatiently waiting for us. But honestly, we couldn't care less, as we were extremely happy and satisfied with our choice: even my friend, who is not properly an archaeology geek, was left impressed by the visit. So, I highly recommend a visit to Çatalhöyük. It tells something from the very mist of our prehistory in a vivid way and deserves its status as WHS. It is also quite easy to reach and to include in a trip through Anatolia, which by the way harbours other extremely ancient and interesting sites of that era which I hope will become more accessible in the future: together, they tell the story of our beginnings.