Edesia (Urfa)

Urfa, Orfa, Ruha is a city in Turkey. Urfa is an important transport hub in Turkey; it has also an airport located in the city. Urfa is also an agricultural region. Earlier the city was called Edesia. In the beginning of XIX century Urfa had about 2 thousand homes and on the eve of the First World War it had approximately 35 thousand Armenian population. There were many famous Armenian artists potters etc.
The Armenian district was located high and was separated from the Turkish district.  The ruins of the castle, built by Ceasar Hustinianos are still remained. There were about 200 caves in the surroundings of the castle. In XVIII century architect Stepanos built many buildings in Urfa. Saint Astvatsatsin church was the siege of the Arcbishop; it also had its college with 1140 pupils in the beginning of XX century. There was also an orphanage with 66 children. Catholic Armenians had their own church and 6 secondary schools with 350 pupils. There were also famous piligrimage sites of Saint Sargis monastery and the mausoleum of the king Agbar. Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian Alphabet here, in Edesia.