The Tomb of Prophet Daniel in Tarsus: A Sacred Mystery

In the heart of Tarsus — the same ancient city that gave the world the Apostle Paul — stands a modest stone mosque with a slender minaret. It is called the Makam-ı Danyal, and beneath it, tradition holds, rests the Prophet Daniel (Danyal Peygamber). Few places layer legend, faith and archaeology so richly. This is a story of famine and abundance, of a caliph’s discovery, and of a river turned aside to protect a holy grave.

Daniel — the prophet of the lions’ den, revered in Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike — is remembered in Tarsus for a very local miracle. Local tradition tells that during a terrible famine, Daniel was invited to the city, and with his arrival came deliverance: the rains returned, the crops grew, and abundance flooded back to Cilicia. So beloved was he that, the story goes, the people of Tarsus would not let him leave, and he lived out his days among them and was buried in their soil.

The most striking chapter comes centuries later. According to accounts tied to the early Muslim conquest of Tarsus in the time of Caliph Umar, a great coffin was uncovered containing a well-preserved body. On its finger was a ring engraved with a remarkable image: a child between two lions — read as a sign of Daniel, protected as a child among the lions. To shield the grave from disturbance and theft, it is said the caliph ordered it buried deep and the course of the Berdan River (the ancient Cydnus) diverted to flow over the site, hiding it beneath the waters.

The mosque you see today was built in 1857, long before anyone understood what lay below. Excavations — especially rescue digs from 2006 during restoration — revealed an astonishing sub-structure: two arches of a 1st-century Roman bridge, an early tomb chamber, and later medieval structures, all buried as the city’s ground level rose over the centuries. Since being opened to visitors in 2014, the site lets you gaze down through a glass platform onto the ancient stones and water below — history and legend meeting beneath your feet.

Tarsus is one of several places across the world that honour Daniel — the most widely known traditional tomb is in Susa, in Iran, with other shrines claimed in Iraq, Uzbekistan and beyond. Scholars treat the Tarsus attribution as a cherished local tradition rather than proven fact. But that is the nature of sacred places: their power lies not only in certainty, but in the centuries of devotion — by Muslims, Christians and Jews — that have made them holy.

The Makam-ı Danyal sits in central Tarsus, a short walk from St Paul’s Well and the sacred sites of Tarsus, and pairs naturally with the Seven Sleepers’ cave and the Caves of Heaven and Hell. For more on the region’s Christian heritage, see our guide to the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. Explore our faith tourism programmes, browse our tours, or design your own pilgrimage.