Beehive houses Harran mainly attracts attention today due to the distinctive vernacular architecture of the houses in its old town, known as beehive houses (kümbets). This building type is not seen elsewhere in Turkey and is rare in the rest of the world. Houses similar to the modern beehive houses have long been present in Harran; the earliest known buildings from Harran appear to have been circular and Assyrian reliefs from the 7th century BC depict domed buildings architecturally similar to the present beehive houses. They have not been consistently present on the site, instead being built, ruined, forgotten and rebuilt multiple times throughout Harran's history. Beehive houses were recorded at Harran by the 12th-century explorer Ibn Jubayr but not by the 17th-century explorer Evliya Çelebi.
Beehive houses Harran mainly attracts attention today due to the distinctive vernacular architecture o?f the houses in its old town, known as beehive houses (kümbets). This building type is not seen elsewhere in Turkey and is rare in the rest of the world. Houses similar to the modern beehive houses have long been present in Harran; the earliest known buildings from Harran appear to have been circular and Assyrian reliefs from the 7th century BC dep?ict domed buildings architecturally similar to the present beehive houses. They have not been consistently present on the site, instead being built, ruined, forgotten and rebuilt multiple times throughout Harran's history. Beehive houses were recorded at Harran by the 12th-century explorer Ibn Jubayr but not by the 17th-century explorer Evliya Çelebi.