Editing Urfa (section)

===Old city walls===
[[File:Urfa city walls 5424.jpg|thumb|Some stretches of the old city walls remain standing]]
[[File:Urfa Barla Kapısı 3567.jpg|thumb|Inner face of the Harran Gate]]
The monumental walls surrounding the old town date from the Abbasid-era rebuilding in 812.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} The only major repairs to them took place during the early Ottoman period, in 1660–61, when there was restoration work done on the city's fortifications in general.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} The walls are made of large stone blocks over 30&nbsp;cm tall all the way through (i.e. not just on the faces).<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} The early Ottoman repairs are distinguished by their small size, white color, and light bossing.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} In many places, people have built private houses directly adjoining the city wall's inner face, so that it forms one side of the house.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} Because of Urfa's location, the east wall was always the most exposed to attack; large chunks of the surviving sections here consist of Ottoman repairs.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|14}}

There were three known gates in the city walls: the Harran Gate; the Bey Kapısı, or "Lord's Gate"; and the Saray Kapısı, or "Palace Gate".<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12–4}} The Harran Gate, located near the southeast corner of the walled city, still exists; its outer face (outside the walls) was rebuilt at some point, possibly during the Ottoman renovations of 1660–61.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} Its inner face, however, dates back to the Ayyubid period, under the local ruler Muzaffar Ghazi Shihab ad-Din (1230–45).<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}} The inscription recording his name runs almost from one end of the gatehouse to the other; below it, and above the top of the arch, is a small relief of a [[eagle of Saladin|double-headed eagle]].<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|12}}

The monumental Bey Kapısı, located on the east side of the old city, also still exists, although the actual gate no longer does.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The original gatehouse was built in ancient times, perhaps during the 4th or 6th century.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} It probably had two large U-shaped towers with two or three gates in between them.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} Those two towers still exist today, although they were completely rebuilt over the centuries so that none of the original structures remain.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The south tower kept its shape, but the north tower is now shaped like a polygon with straight sides.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The entire gatehouse was turned into a fortress in the early middle ages.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} This may have happened during the Abbasid rebuilding of the city walls in 812, but in any case it had already happened by the early 11th century when sources refer to two castles in the city.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The fortress consisted of a rectangular enclosure with the two towers on its east side; the north tower was probably rebuilt at this point.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The fortress's entire eastern wall appears to have been moved back by about 12&nbsp;m and the old gates were closed up in the process.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The new gate was built at the northwest corner of the fortress, between it and the main city wall, so that there was a passage between them.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} At some point, this passage was blocked up.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} The Armenian prince Toros appears to have begun a rebuilding of the Bey Kapısı fortress, as attested by an Armenian inscription on the south tower, but this project was only finished under the crusaders.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13–4}} Later, during the Ottoman renovations of 1660–61, the fortress was rebuilt again.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13}} In the mid-1800s, the entire fortress was converted into a private residence, and rebuilding from this period has replaced most of the earlier masonry in many places.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|13–4}}

As for the Saray Kapısı, it no longer exists, but it was originally located behind the bridge that takes Atatürk Caddesi over the river on the north side of town.<ref name="Sinclair 1990"/>{{rp|14}}