Category: Tourism

A country of sun and history, Turkey straddles the point where Europe and Asia meet. It is located where the three continents making up the old world, Asia, Africa and Europe, are closest to one another.
Because of its geographical location, the mainland, Anatolia, has witnessed the mass migration of diverse peoples shaping the course of history. Home to countless civilizations, Anatolia has developed a unique blend of cultures—each with its own distinct identity, each linked to its predecessors through history.
As an ancient land and modern nation, Turkey today holds and protects the common past of all people.
Fascinating Facts Illustrating Turkey’s Rich Heritage
Istanbul is the only city in the world located on two continents – Europe and Asia. During its 25,000-year history, it has been the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires.
Two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World stood in Turkey – the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Bodrum.
St. Nicholas, known as Santa Claus today, was born and lived in Demre (Myra) on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. The village contains the famous Church of St. Nicholas, which contains the sarcophagus believed to be his tomb.
The first man ever to fly was Turkish. Using two wings, Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi flew from the Galata Tower over the Bosphorus to land in Usküdar in the 17th century.
Many archeologists and biblical scholars believe Noah’s Ark landed on Agri Dagi (Mount Ararat) in eastern Turkey.
The famous Trojan War took place in western Turkey, around the site where a wooden statue of the Trojan Horse rests today.
Turks introduced coffee to Europe.
According to Turkish tradition, a stranger at one’s doorstep is considered “a guest from God,” and should be accommodated accordingly.
Julius Caesar issued his celebrated proclamation, Veni, Vidi, Vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”), in Turkey upon defeating the Pontus, a formidable kingdom in the Black Sea region of Turkey.
Alexander the Great conquered a large territory in what is now Turkey, and also cut the Gordion Knot in the
Phrygian capital (Gordium), not far from Turkey’s present-day capital (Ankara).
Aesop – famous all over the world for his fables and parables – was born in Anatolia.
Homer was born in Izmir on the west coast of Turkey. He depicted Troy in his epic Iliad.
Part of Turkey’s southwestern shore was a wedding gift from Marc Antony to Cleopatra.
The number of archaeological excavations going on in Turkey every year is at least 150.
Writing was first used by people in ancient Anatolia. The first clay tablets – in the ruins of Assyrian Karum (a merchant colony) – date back to 1950 B.C.
The last home of the Virgin Mary is in Selçuk, Turkey.
Leonardo da Vinci drew designs for a bridge over the Bosphorus, the strait that flows through Europe and Asia. (Although da Vinci’s bridge was never built, there are now two bridges over the Bosphorus.)
In 1492, Sultan Beyazýd II, after learning about the expulsion of Jews, dispatched the Ottoman Navy to bring them safely to the Ottoman lands.
Likewise, Jews expelled from Hungary in 1376, from Sicily early in the 15th century, from Bavaria in 1470, from Bohemia in 1542, and from Russia in 1881, 1891, 1897, and 1903 all took refuge in the Ottoman Empire.
As was the case during the Bolshevik revolution, Turkey served as a safe passage and haven for those fleeing their native countries during World War II.
Turkey was one of the few countries in the world to welcome Jewish refugees escaping the horrors of Nazism. During the Gulf War in 1991, Turkey welcomed nearly half a million Kurds from Northern Iraq. The Kurds were fleeing the danger posed by Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Turkey provided homes for some 313,000 Bulgarian refugees of Turkish origin when they were expelled from their homelands in Bulgaria in 1989.

A PENINSULA ON THE MARMARA SEA KAPIDAG
The ferry headed out to sea from the quay at the southern mouth of the Bosphorus and picked up speed. Behind us Istanbul became gradually smaller as it receded into the distance, disappearing altogether an hour later. The ship seemed reduced to a tiny speck in the middle of the Marmara Sea. For a long time the gulls swooped alongside, seizing food thrown by the passengers and rising into the air again. No one seemed in a hurry for this pleasant journey to end.

When the boat reached Bandirma most of the passengers would be heading for the resort of Erdek to spend the weekend in guest houses, hotels or holiday homes, but we planned to skirt the town and explore the lesser known parts of the Kapidag peninsula, visiting all its villages and coves. Four hours later the peninsula appeared as a blurred shape on the horizon, and half an hour later we were entering the Gulf of Bandirma. The delightful voyage was over, and we were soon standing on dry land again.

Apart from the small town of Erdek there are seventeen villages on the Kapidag peninsula. Our first stop on the Erdek road was the village of Asagi Yapici, situated on the isthmus. After a short break we were off again to Hamamli, a village 9 kilometres from Erdek. The village stands on the acropolis of the ancient city of Kyzikos, and some ruins can still be seen. In the 3rd century BC Kapidag was an island, separated from the mainland by a narrow strait, along which the Argonauts sailed to Kyzikos on their way to find the Golden Fleece.

From the village of Hamamli we drove to Yukari Yapici, and from there to Kirazli Monastery, 17 kilometres from the main road. The Monastery of Panaghia Theotokos Faneromeni, known as Kirazli Manastiri (Monastery of Cherries) to the locals, was inhabited until 1923. The 90-room building has a church in the courtyard. After wandering around the ruins, we returned to Yukari Yapici. We intended to travel anticlockwise around the peninsula via the village of Ballipinar (alias Kocaburgaz) on the north coast.

The east-bound road wound through woods of chestnut, hornbeam, beech and oak, and as we drove we looked out for wild birds and animals. The peninsula was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1978, and hunting is forbidden here, so its forests and hills are home to eagles, hawks, falcons, beavers, martens, wild boars, polecats, foxes, jackals, roe deer, and rabbits. There are also fallow deer, thought to have been introduced here from the Belgrat forests north of Istanbul, and today forming a colony estimated at 70 to 75 in number.

Passing the seaside villages of Tatlisu and Dalyan on the east coast, with their numerous holiday homes, we arrived at Karsiyaka (Paremo). This large village is home to a community of Pomak Turks who migrated here from Kavala in northern Greece. Here there was a wedding going on, to which we received an invitation. The crowd of guests made a memorable sight, the girls and women dressed in traditional costume consisting of red salvar (baggy trousers), brightly patterned dresses, black coats known as saya, and colourful headscarves.

After drinking thirstily from the village fountain, we watched the wedding celebrations for a while and then took our leave. Our next stop was the village of Çakil at the northeast extremity of Kapidag. This village was once inhabited by Greeks from Crete and used to be a busy port of call for shipping, but today it has lost its importance and is a quiet backwater. In the harbour there is a gigantic statue of Atatürk. From Çakil the road turned westwards to Ballipinar, the former Kocaburgaz, which like Karsiyaka is inhabited by Pomaks from Kavala.

The village is a picturesque place, with narrow paved streets, wooden houses and a ruined church. It is famous for its red onions, producing nearly 2500 tons a year. If you happen to come at the time of the onion harvest, you will find all the villagers sitting in the shade of makeshift arbours along the shore busy braiding the onion stems to form the long bunches which hang to such decorative effect in greengrocers shops.

On the way to the village of Ormanli we passed onion fields squeezed into the fertile land between small coves. The views were magnificent, with forest clad hills on the one hand and pretty coves on the other, some with tiny villages on the shore. The village of Turan was one such. This area attracts many Turkish holidaymakers, and there are plenty of pensions in the villages of Turan, Doganlar and Ilhanli. From Ilhanli the road turns south along the west side of the peninsula to the village of Narli, beyond which is Ocaklar.

Both these villages have good asphalt roads and are served by minibuses from Erdek for visitors without their own transport. They offer a choice of accommodation for visitors in reasonably priced and clean pensions. Kapidag is ideal for weekend breaks throughout the year, and its beautiful sand beaches and sea make it equally popular for summer holidays. Exploring this unspoilt area is a delight. Around the coast each bend in the road reveals another lovely cove, and visitors can walk in the footsteps of the Argonauts when they discover the ancient ruins of Kyzikos. Source: Skylife May / 2000

Turkey is one of the safest countries in the world to travel, but some rare instances of theft and robbery happen in big cities. Just leave your valuable stuff, spare money and passport at hotel safety box. Almost every hotel has a safety box service free to hotel customers which you are strongly urged to use. Please take great care with your passport, airline tickets and monies.

Do not carry more cash than required. A money belt worn under your clothing is suggested. If you are buying something, you should not flash large amounts of money around. Please clearly mark all your baggage with your name and address. Common sense and awareness will greatly reduce the unlikely misfortune of loss or theft. We also suggest you carry small padlocks for your luggage.

Turkey is surrounded by sea on three sides, by the Black Sea in the north, the Mediterranean in the south and the Aegean Sea in the west. In the northwest there is also an important internal sea, the Sea of Marmara, between the straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, important waterways that connect the Black Sea with the rest of the world. Because the mountains in the Black Sea region run parallel to the coastline, the coasts are fairly smooth, without many indentations or projections.

The length of the Black Sea coastline in Turkey is 1,595 kilometers, and the salinity of the sea is 17 percent. The Mediterranean coastline runs for 1,577 kilometers and here too the mountain ranges are parallel to the coastline. The salinity level of the Mediterranean is about double that of the Black Sea.

Although the Aegean coastline is a continuation of the Mediterranean coast, it is quite irregular because the mountains in the area fall perpendicularly into the Aegean Sea coast is over 2,800 kilometers. The coastline faces out to many islands. The Marmara Sea is located totally within national boundaries and occupies an area of 11,350 square kilometers. The coastline of the Marmara Sea is over 1,000 kilometers long; it is connected to the Black Sea by the Bosphorus and with the Aegean by the Dardanelles.