This ancient town is thought to have been settled from the 3rd millennium BC.

 Although most famous for its distinctive mud-brick beehive houses (a local style of architecture that probably came into being due to a lack of wood), Harran is also home to two important ruins. 

The fortified remnants on the kale (castle) settlement mound date from the Fatimid period of the 11th century although there is evidence that some kind of fortress building has stood on this spot since the Hittite era.