Turkey-Splendours and Oriental Palaces

Günaydın! (Good morning!). After breakfast, we walk to Sultanahmet, the old city of Constantinople. The view steals you wherever you return, monumental palaces, sylphid minarets that furrow the clouds incite the eye. The old residence of the Ottoman sultans, Topkapî Palace, (today a museum) is the first objective where we enter. The complex includes several buildings that each had a well-defined role in the opulent life at the sultan’s court and lush gardens through which once walked the royal concubines accompanied by eunuchs. In the museum, in a select company, is also exposed the sword of Stephen the Great, along with the staff of Moses, the turban of Abraham (Abraham) and Joseph (Joseph).

Just a few minutes walk, we reach St. Sophia Cathedral (Aya Sofya) historical, religious and cultural landmark, an architectural masterpiece that attracts millions of visitors each year.

Then, the steps lead us to the Blue Mosque, the most photogenic edifice in Turkey. Monument and place of prayer alike, the mosque has gained its reputation for its beautiful, predominantly blue mosaic, being considered a symbol of Turkey. Its cascading domes and 6 slender minarets make it unique in the entire Islamic world. A few minutes walk we discover the Hippodrome, built by the Byzantine emperors, today a park, where we admire the Egyptian Obelisk, the Fountain of Wilhelm II, the Serpentine Column and the Column of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Picture place and..

Moment of respite:

Istanbul has gained the reputation of being the capital of oriental flavors, tastes and delicacies that leave your mouth watering. So, we are guided to a local restaurant with a traditional Turkish menu that will include kebab, ayran and baclavalele, after which we retire to the hotel.

We start the engines, early in the morning, after breakfast. We cross the austere landscape of the Anatolian plateau following the barren rock formations in the distance. We arrive in Ankara. The capital of Turkey today contrasts sharply with the grandeur and opulence of Istanbul, where two of history’s greatest empires have left ostentatious traces. Ankara, the ancient Ancyra, enchants us with monuments from the Roman era such as the Column of Julian, the ruins of the Roman Baths and the Temple of Augustus. Then we visit the Haci Bayram Camii Mosque and the spectacular walls of the Kale Fortress from the Ottoman period. At the beginning of the 20th century, the founding father of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938), ordered the relocation of the country’s governmental and administrative center to Ankara. The main attraction in Ankara is a faithful representation of Ataturk’s character, the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Museum Complex and Mausoleum. In addition to the mausoleum, the complex also includes a museum dedicated to Ataturk’s life, the Way of Honor flanked by Hittite lions, and a huge plateau called the Court of Honor.

Breakfast. We are eager to set off and reach Göreme Village – voted one of the most beautiful rural settlements in the world by several travel magazines. With their stone facades, half-buried houses in volcanic rocks, they hide real underground labyrinths. The celestial view steals our imagination, especially since the sky is stained with hot air balloons. Most visitors choose to take a hot air balloon ride, the main activity in this region which has also become a kind of local tourist emblem. We walk along the alleys of the village with stops at two churches: El Nazar and Sakli Kilise (The Hidden Church), then we leave on the way to the Göreme Open Air Museum.

Moment of respite:

Take your camera (and your heart in your teeth) and climb into a hot air balloon. It is truly an experience you will never forget for a lifetime. From the height you can include the valleys colored in shades of pink and yellow of the undulating hills, the villages chiseled in the mountains, Valea Dragostei with its formations in the shape of huge mushrooms, the valleys Devrent Pasabag and Goreme. It’s worth all the money, passwords! (At your own expense).

Just outside the village of Göreme is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Göreme Open Air Museum. Here hides in the volcanic rock an entire monastic complex with cave churches and cells of proto-Christian monks. The walls of the settlements house fabulous Byzantine-style frescoes. The complex dates from the 10th-12th centuries, when Cappadocia was an important Byzantine religious center. Here we will admire in turn: the Apple Chapel with the fresco of the Ascension of the Lord above the entrance; St. Barbara’s Chapel with red-ocher interior walls, the Snake Church with frescoes depicting St. George and St. Onufra, the stunning and beautifully restored frescoes of the Dark Church and the winding Tokali Church, with its vault completely covered with scenes biblical. The museum is one of the most important attractions in Turkey and is the most famous in Cappadocia.

We then go to Avanos, a small town, famous for its potters, where we visit a pottery workshop to see one of the local artisans at work. The craftsman gives us the opportunity to get our hands dirty, shaping the clay to our heart’s content. After this telluric experience, we start again, the road to the hotel passing by the river Kizilirmak. We stop short to capture perfect shots of the “Red River”. We return to the hotel where we enjoy dinner with our travel companions. (Accommodation in Nevsehir).

The previous day was a kind of appetizer to explore the underground cities in the region. The first people to start digging underground shelters in the region were the Hittites, in the Bronze Age. The underground cities of Cappadocia reached their peak in the Byzantine era, the sixth and seventh centuries, when Christians in the region were forced to hide underground for long periods of time to escape the Arabs and Persian invaders. The underground city of Kaymaklı is the largest example of this kind in Cappadocia, with a maze of rooms connected by tunnels, which span eight levels. Equally spectacular, the underground city of Derinkuyu is the deepest underground shelter in Cappadocia, and remember, it is less assaulted by tourists. It’s time to recharge our batteries, dine at a local restaurant and cool off with fruit-flavored tea or Salep.

After breakfast we begin our visit to Konya, an important center of religious pilgrimage for Muslims, known especially for the poet and philosopher Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi who founded here the Sufi sect of the Rotating Dervishes in the thirteenth century. We visit the museum dedicated to him, passing the beautiful Dervish Gate (Dervisan Kapsi), we enter the rose garden and we find the poet’s mausoleum at the end of the alley.

We learn from our guide details from the daily life of Sufi dervishes. In Konya there are a lot of midwives, theological schools whose beautiful buildings deserve our attention. The Tile Museum (Karatay Medresisi), once a theological college, is today one of the main tourist attractions in Konya. The walls are covered with beautiful Suljuk-style pottery. We also discover the Sculpture Museum (Ince Minareli Medrese), Alaeddin Tepe Park arranged on the site of the old citadel, then the ruins of Alaedin Kaykobad Palace and the imposing Aleadin Camii Mosque, one of the oldest in the world, built in the 13th century according to the Arab tradition with a wooden vault. supported by 42 ancient columns.

The Aziziye Mosque, with its Baroque-style ornaments and two Rococo-style minarets, makes a discordant note in the Muslim world, being an unmissable attraction for lovers of rarities and oddities.

Moment of respite:

The main thoroughfare in the old town is crowded with restaurants and cafes that are just waiting for thirsty guests to step on their doorstep. Enjoy your tea or coffee on a terrace and quietly admire the cityscape reminiscent of provincial life in the old Ottoman Empire.

In the afternoon we head to the beautiful seaside resort of Turkey on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Arrival and accommodation in Antalya. After dinner we invite you for a walk through the resort. It is worth reaching the most notable Roman vestige in the city – Hadrian’s Gate. And definitely explore the Old Port, with attractive shops, coffee aroma and spices floating in the air, with cozy terraces and cafes, with a vibrant atmosphere.

After breakfast we prepare to visit the beautiful side resort, where there are the ruins of ancient monuments of timeless beauty. The coastal road passes through landscapes in which the mountains and the sea have no place to separate. In the chic Side resort we have a busy schedule. First we visit the grandiose Roman Theater, a remarkable testimony of Roman architecture, but also of the fact that during the empire colossal performances were organized attended by over 15,000 frantic spectators. Then we admire the classic beauty of the Temples of Apollo and Diana, whose intact columns leave room for the imagination to mentally restore them in all their former splendor. Then, a few km away, on our way to Aspendos, we stop to cool off near the Manavgat waterfall, another great opportunity to take out the cameras and capture images with dreamy landscapes. If the amphitheater in Side impressed with its massiveness, the Ancient Theater of Aspendos gathers the laurels of the best preserved building of this kind in the world. Surrounded by orchards and farms, the amphitheater building seems frozen in time. But we rushed out and retreated to our hotel in Antalya.

After breakfast we head to Pamukkale with its semicircular white travertine terraces. If Turkey’s “mossy” cities have silenced us with astonishment, another surreal attraction manages to rival them. Inspired by the mountain of a brilliant white, with its calcareous, semicircular formations, the Turks gave the place the name Pamukkale which means “Cotton Castle”. Once at the foot of the mountain, we climb on foot, barefoot, enjoying the amazing view and the smooth gentleness of the travertine terraces. Nearby are the ruins of the spa town, Hierapolis, a place adored by the Romans for its hot springs containing white calcite ores. They are also the source of travertine terraces, today open to the general public to fully test the benefits of thermal waters. Invigorated by the hot bath, we descend to the ruins of Hierapolis, among the best preserved ancient cities. Here we discover the Frontinus Gate, the Columns Street, the main artery of the old polis, the Byzantine Church, the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, then we climb to the spectacular Ancient Theater, built by order of Emperor Severus in 206 D.H.

Moment of respite:

The Roman baths of ancient Hierapolis invite the tempted ladies to bathe in Cleopatra’s Bath, a place with clear water, where the beautiful Egyptian queen herself is supposed to have bathed. The water has a constant temperature of 36 ° C, regardless of the season, and is believed to have skin rejuvenating properties. The experience is unique, the pool with clear water reveals parts of the marble columns over 2000 years old.

We left for the most cosmopolitan Turkish resort, Kusadasi, which took its name from the small island at the entrance to the old port. Kusadasi means “Island of Birds” in Turkish. (Accommodation in Kusadasi)

After breakfast we take our seats in the comfortable seats of the bus and admire the picturesque rural area on the way to Effes. UNESCO has declared Effes the best preserved ancient city on the entire Mediterranean coast. The magnificent architectural remains from the glory days of the Ephesus are clear proof that well-being was at home. We enter the city of yesteryear, walking among the Ionic columns and reach the famous ruins of the Library of Celsius, then the Temple of Hadrian and the Roman Baths. Effes regularly hosted games and fights with gladiators, so as far as throwing a stone, we find a huge amphitheater, the Great Theater where, apparently, St. Paul preached in front of over 25,000 people. It’s time to retire to a local restaurant, enjoy a hot and flavorful kebab or lahmacun with refreshing ayran. With new energy, we head to the House of the Virgin Mary. In fact, we arrive at the Meryemana Chapel built on the foundation of a building that, some claim, would have been the last refuge of the Virgin Mary. An additional fee is paid to visit the interior and see the altar. We leave Effes behind with unforgettable experiences, not before making another stop at the columns of the Temple of the Goddess Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

Moment of respite:

If you still arrive in Ephesus, you must also go to the tomb of the Apostle John, make a wish. Touching the cold marble gives you a unique feeling and you will be confident that your wish will come true. The Church of St. John was made of stone and brick, being built in the form of an inscribed cross, with six large and five smaller domes, the largest dome being above the tomb of the Apostle.

We continue our program and head towards the bus to quickly cover the distance to Bodrum, a standard resort on the Turkish coast. (Accommodation in Bodrum).

After breakfast at the hotel, we set off to explore the ancient Greek city of Halikarnas, today a charming resort, lining the high relief of the Aegean coast with its Mediterranean-style white houses and terraces smelling of orchids and fig petals. The main attraction in Bodrum is the impressive St. Peter’s Castle, built by the crusading knights of Rhodes. Today it houses the Museum of Marine Archeology where you can board an ancient Greek galley.

Moment of respite:

The ideal place to take pictures with the beautiful panorama of the bay is right at the height of the defense walls of the fortress, guarded even today by heavy cast iron cannons.

The Mausoleum of Halikarnassus, destroyed by a devastating earthquake in 494, was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The monument would have been 49 m high, timidly competing with the pyramids. The ruins of the tomb of the local governor Mausolus and the Bodrum Amphitheater, an ancient structure completed in Roman times, could be worth checking out.

Experience: traditional rhythm and tastes

At the end of the trip you stay connected in the engaging rhythm to life in this part of the world and participate in a Traditional Turkish Evening: traditional dinner, show with belly dancers, oriental rhythms, tea and hookah with green apple flavor.

Breakfast. Hoşçakal, görüşürüz …! (Goodbye, soon …!) We leave behind the beautiful places we visited and head to Bodrum airport for the flight home.