Turkey Tourism

Dolmabahce Palace

» Distance: 8 km.

Located along the coast of the Bosphorus in Beşiktaş, 300 yards from the Beşiktaş ferry-boat quay, this palace is the grandest imperial Ottoman residence. It was constructed by the Armenian architects Karabet and Nikogos Balyan for Sultan Abdülmecid (1839-61) who, preferring a more modern residence, decided to move out of the Topkapi Palace. The construction of this sumptuous palace was finished in 1853, and the royal family abandoned the imperial residence of Topkapi which had served as a home for the Ottoman household for almost four centuries. Dolmabahçe was the imperial residence of all subsequent Ottoman Sultans, with the exception of Abdülhamid II (1876-1909) who preferred living in the more secluded Yıldız Palace. An apartment within it served as Atatürk’s residence in Istanbul and he died there during his last visit to Istanbul on 10 November 1938.

After extensive restorations, it was transformed into a museum. From time to time, it is used for gala official functions as well. The site of Dolmabahçe, which literally means “filled in garden,” was in Byzantine times an inlet on the Bosphorus. Mehmed, the Conqueror had the harbor filled in and made into a garden. The palace’s magnificent marble facade faces the Bosphorus. One enters through the gardens after passing through the main south gate. Taking up the space of 250,000 square meters, the entire palace complex consists of 285 rooms, six of which are hamams and 43 are salons. Two-thirds of the palace consists of the women’s quarters (haremlik).

The palaces sumptuous interior was decorated by the famous French decorator Sechan and is reminiscent of French palaces and villas. Among the riches and opulent furnishings found here are paintings done by well-known European artists commissioned by Ottoman sultans (such as Boulanger, Ayvazovski and Gerome), hereke carpets, Baccarat crystal and Bohemian glass chandeliers, including ilie world’s largest chandelier which hangs in the State room.

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Turkish cuisine is renowned as one of the world’s best. It is considered to be one of the three main cuisines of the world because of the variety of its recipes, its use of natural ingredients, its flavours and tastes that appeal to all palates and its influence throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The cuisine originated in central Asia, the first home of the Turks, and then evolved with the contributions of the inland and Mediterranean cultures with which Turks interacted after their arrival in Anatolia.

Turkish cuisine is in a sense a bridge between far-Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, with the accent always on enhancing the natural taste and flavour of the ingredients. There is no one dominant element in Turkish cuisine, like sauces in French and pasta in Italian cuisines.

While the Palace cuisine was developing in İstanbul, local cuisines in Anatolia were multiplying in several regions, all displaying different geographical and climactic characteristics. These cuisines, after remaining within regional borders for centuries, are now being transported to the big cities and their suburbs as a consequence of large-scale urbanisation and migration towards new urban centres. As a result, the national Turkish cuisine has been enriched by the contribution of a great number of local recipes.

Turkey is self-sufficient in While the Palace cuisine was developing in İstanbul, local cuisines in Anatolia were multiplying in several regions, all displaying different geographical and climactic characteristics. These cuisines, after remaining within regional borders for centuries, are now being transported to the big cities and their suburbs as a consequence of large-scale urbanisation and migration towards new urban centres. As a result, the national Turkish cuisine has been enriched by the contribution of a great number of local recipes.food production and produces enough for export as well. This means that Turkish food is usually made from fresh, local ingredients and is all the tastier for it

A main meal will usually start with soup and the meze, a variety of small cold and hot dishes, which are made for sharing. In many restaurants, a waiter will bring these around on a tray for you to look and make your choice. Tarama salad, cacık (tzatziki), dolma (vine leaves or peppers stuffed with rice), börek (pastries), beyaz peynir (similar to feta) arnavut ciğeri (cubed fried liver) are amongst the many types of mezes found in most of the restaurants.

The main course is usually meat or fish. Turks always eat bread with their meal and main courses are usually served with rice. Typically, çoban salatası, a salad made of tomato, cucumber, parsley and onion, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, will be offered as a side dish. Lamb is the most popular meat and prepared in a variety of ways, including “şiş kebap” (grilled cubes of seasoned meat on a skewer). “Köfte”, which are like small lamb meatballs and are well worth trying. Those who prefer something hot and spicy should try “Adana kebap”, which is made of minced lamb but with the addition of hot peppers and spices formed around a flat skewer. There are numerous variations and regional specialities of kebap. Somewhat rich but very tasty, is the İskender or Bursa kebab, named respectively after Alexander the Great and the town in which it originated. It consists of slices of döner meat laid over small bites of a freshly cooked flat bread and covered with tomato sauce and hot butter all served with yoghurt. Turks are traditionally fond of stews called sulu yemek or ev yemeği (home cooked) and therefore there are many restaurants offering these foods which are usually displayed in the entrance of the restaurant in large glass displays making it easier to choose.

Fish and seafood restaurants are widely found in Istanbul, other big cities and in the coastal regions. Fish is usually grilled to bring out its natural flavour and there is a wide variety of seafood mezes’ including midye tava (fried mussels), kalamar (calamari), and midye dolma (mussels stuffed with seasoned rice). It is worth asking for the catch of the day but some of the tastiest fish are levrek (sea bass), çupra (sea bream) and kalkan (turbot). Fish is usually sold by weight in restaurants where some customers prefer to make their choice from the fish offered on a large display.

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Didyma was not a city but a sanctuary linked to Miletus by a Sacred Road. Here, was a renowned prophecy temple dedicated to Apollo where crowds of pilgrims came to consult the oracle. Already in the 6C B.C. a former temple was extremely famous. Destroyed by the Persians in 394 B.C., the impressive temple was rebuilt by the Milesians who wanted to rewin the Greeks and Alexander the Great’s favour, but they could not complete it due to financial problems. Even like this, the temple was considered one of the biggest temples in the Hellenistic world, but still it never regained its past celebrity. Later, when a Byzantine basilica was built in the open-air courtyard, the temple completly lost its pagan function.

The colossal temple was 110m/360ft long, 51m/167ft wide and 24m/78ft high. 3 of the 108 columns that surrounded the sanctuary (120 monumental columns in total) are still entirely standing. The basis of the 8 central columns of the eastern facade are ornemented with beautiful reliefs of the Roman period. The huge and beautiful Head of Medusa relief which has fallen off the frieze must not be missed.
Today, beautiful sand beaches make Didyma a nice small holiday resort.

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MILETUS

This prosperous ancient city located at the crossroad of Anatolian Trade routes had four ports that developed on the coast and at the mouth of the Meander River (Büyük Menderes). Its population was between 80,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. Miletus produced geniuses like philosophers Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, town planner Hippodamus who all lived around 6C B.C., and Isodorus of Miletus who lived in the 6C A.D. (he and Antemius of Tralles were the architects of Haghia Sophia in Constantinople).

Miletus shared the same fate as other Ionians cities with the domination of the Persians until it was taken by Alexander the Great and later ruled by the Seleucid Dynasty. The city kept the same commercial importance under the Romans. St Paul stopped here in 57 at the end of his third missionary journey.
The city, after it was sacked by the Persians in 494 B.C.,was rebuilt on a hippodamian or grid plan. Because of the silting up of the river, the ruins of Miletus are located today a few kilometers away from the sea.

The theatre, of Hellenistic origin, had a seating capacity of 5,300 people. In the 2C A.D. it was modified by the Romans who enlarged it to a capacity of 15,000 people. It is one of the most important monuments of Miletus.

The Harbour Monuments which stood in front of the Lions’Harbour.

The Delphinium where Apollo was whorshipped (the dolphin was consacrated to him)

The South Agora is a market place of the Hellenistic period.

The Baths of Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius, were built in the 2C A.D. and are well preserved.

The Nymphaeum is a 2C A.D monumental fountain which originally had three stories with statues of gods placed
inside niches.

The Stadium with a seating capacity of 15,000 people.

The Ilyas Bey Mosque built in the 15th century by the regional Ottoman military commandant.

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The stunning white terraces of Pamukkale and the neighbouring site of Hierapolis are situated inland, close to the town of Denizli. They can be reached from most of the coastal resorts on a one or two day trip but Kuşadası is the closest – approximately 4 hours drive away.

Pamukkale literally means ‘cotton castle’ and is one of Turkey’s most impressive natural wonders. It is made up of a series of white travertine terraces cascading down a cliff, which is almost 200 metres high. The hard, white mineral deposits, which from a distance resemble snow, are caused by the high mineral content of the natural spring water which runs down the cliff and congregates in warm pools on the terraces. This is such a popular tourist attraction that strict rules had to be established in order to preserve its beauty, which include the fact that visitors may no longer walk on the terraces. Those who want to enjoy the thermal waters, however, can take a dip in the nearby pool, littered with fragments of marble pillars.

It was the thermal waters which lead to the founding of the spa town of Hierapolis at the end of the 2nd century BC by the dynasty of the Attalids, the kings of Pergamon. The remains include the ancient ruins of the baths, temples, the well-preserved theatre, and the largest necropolis or graveyard in Anatolia containing over 1200 tombs. It is easy to book an excursion from any of the major beach resorts to visit Pamukkale, and this is sometimes combined with a visit to Ephesus.

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Şanlıurfa is located in the southeast of Turkey, at the center of the GAP (Southeastern Anatolia Project), which is a major development project of the country. As it is one of the oldest settlement in Masopotamia, and due to its strategical location close to the water sources and crossroads of trade, Şanlıurfa always has had a great importance throughout the history.
After a decree in 1984, the city’s name was changed to Şanlıurfa by attaching ‘Şanlı’ in front of it due to heroism of people in Independence War.

The city has a rooted cultural heritage. The first Islamic University of the world is located in Harran/Şanlıurfa, which is considered to be included in World Cultural Heritage. The City of Urfa seems to be as an open air museum with its Houses, Streets, Bazaars, Inns, Baths, Fountains, Bridges, Mosques, Castle and City Walls. The city is referred to as the ‘ City of Prophets’, because monotheistic religion followers, including, Sabiism and several prophets like Abraham, Job, Elijha and Jacob lived here.

The artists, musicians, writers, poets, works of handicraftsmen, folk dances, cuisine and various features of Şanlıurfa are important as they show the cultural values of the city.

LITERATURE

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Literature has long been an important component of Turkish cultural life, reflecting the history of the people, their legends, their mysticism, and the political and social changes that affected this land throughout its long history. The oldest literary legacy of the pre-Islamic period are the Orhon inscriptions in northern Mongolia, written in 735 on two large stones in honour of a Turkish king and his brother. During the Ottoman period, the prevailing literary form was poetry, the dominant dialect was Anatolian or Ottoman, and the main subject beauty and romance. The Ottoman Divan literature was highly influenced by Persian culture and written in a dialect, which combined Arabic, Persian and Turkish. Separate from the aristocratic Divan literature, folk literature continued to dominate Anatolia where troubadour-like poets celebrated nature, love and God in simple Turkish language. Towards the 20th century, the language of Turkish literature became simpler and more political and social in substance. The great and politically controversial poet, Nazım Hikmet, inspired by the Russian poet Mayakowski, introduced free verse in the late 1930s. Nowadays, the irrefutable master of the Turkish popular novel is Yaşar Kemal, with his authentic, colourful and forceful description of Anatolian life. Young Turkish writers tend to go beyond the usual social issues, preferring to tackle problems such as feminism and aspects of die East-West dichotomy that continues to fascinate Turkish intellectuals.

The most well-known and widely-read writers of the 1950-1990 period can be listed as follows: Tarik Dursun K., Atilla lhan, Yasar Kemal, Orhan Kemal, Kemal Tahir, Tarik Bugra, Aziz Nesin, Mustafa Necati Sepetçioglu, Firuzan, Adalet Agaoglu, Sevgi Soysal, Tomris Uyar, Selim Ileri, Cevat Sakir (Halikarnas Balıkçısı), Necati Cumalı, Haldun Taner. Prominent poets in this period are: Behçet Kemal Çaglar, Necati Cumalı , Oktay Rıfat, Melih Cevdet Anday, Cemal Süreya, Edip Cansever, Özdemir İnce, Ataol Behramoğlu, Ismet Özel, Ece Ayhan, Turgut Uyar, Sezai Karakoç, Bahaettin Karakoç, Ümit Yasar Oguzcan, Orhan Pamuk .

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2006 was awarded to the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.

The Cistern One Thousand and One Columns

the cistern one thousand and one columns

» Distance: 400 m.

The cistern is located to the west of the Hippodrome. It was recently cleaned and connected with a gallery to the side street. Now the cistern, measuring 64 by 56 meters, is an easily accessible, interesting and beautiful site to visit. Binbirdirek was built in the 4th century during the reign of Constantine the Great, and historical sources attribute it to Philoxenus. Of the 224 original columns, 212 are still standing. The thick walls of the cistern, the brick vaults, the columns in two tiers bound together by stone ties, and the plain column capitals create an impressive atmosphere. During the renovation work small booths for vendors, a cafe, and exhibition areas were constructed, and the hollow section in the middle of the cistern was cleaned of mud to show the original height of the columns.

The Roman period of Anatolia began with the death of King Attalus III of Pergamon (Bergama) who willed his country to the Romans because he had no direct heir. Anatolia then lived through a period of peace and prosperity, particularly in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The pax Romana proved to be an extraordinary period of urban development. Ephesus served as the seat of the Roman governor of Asia and as a great commercial and cultural centre.

THE ERA OF EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
The era of Roman Empire is an essential chapter in the history of the region. In 330, Constantine, the Roman emperor, transferred his capital from Rome to Roman Empire. Roman Empire, at that time a small city founded 1,000 years earlier by Greeks on the shores of the Strait was henceforth called Constantinople. The centre of the Empire thereafter became the Orient, in particular Anatolia, inhabited by the descendants of Hattis, Hittites, Phrygians, Greeks and others. Roman Empire became the Eastern Roman Empire; its official religion was proclaimed to be Christianity in 380 and in 392 paganism was banned. In 476, Rome collapsed and Constantinople remained the sole capital of the empire. Roman Empire was both a state and a civilisation, built along the lines of the Roman state, the Greek culture and the Christian faith. The emperor enjoyed divine power and relied heavily on the Church.

Roman Empire knew its first golden age under Justinian. One thousand years of Roman jurisprudence were gathered together in four volumes, a work which had a lasting influence for many centuries. Justinian was also a great builder. The Basilica of Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) (AD 532-7) was constructed during his reign. The history of Roman Empire is one of alternating periods of glory and decay, of religious dissent, of conflicts and wars with Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Ottomans and peoples of the North.

By the 13th century, Roman Empire was drawing her final breath. After the mortal wound of 1204, when the Crusaders occupied Constantinople, sacked the city, forced the emperor to leave and established a Latin kingdom, she was a small state. Bulgaria declared her independence and a new maritime power, Venice took for herself the whole Aegean complex of islands. In 1261, the Byzantines had regained possession of their capital, but there were new threats.

Beylerbeyi Palace

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Situated along the banks of the Asian side of the Bosphorus in the district of Beylerbeyi, this palace complex consists of the main palace building plus five pavilions (Köşk). The architect Sarkis Balyan, the brother ol ilit architects responsible for the Dolmabahçe Palace, built this modern palace for Sultan Abdülaziz in 1861-65. Similar in style to the Dolmabahçe Palace, this sumptuously furnished residence built of white marble served mainly as a summer house and lodging for visiting royalty from abroad.

OPERA AND BALLET

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In the period prior to the proclamation of the Republic in Turkey, opera, ballet and the theatre were mostly centred around Istanbul and Izmir. The first showing of opera at the imperial court was by artists trained by Guiseppe Donizetti (1788-1856) from the Italian opera. During the Republic, Ahmet Adnan Saygun, Necil Kazım Akses and Cemal Reşit Rey were the first composers of opera, operettas and musicals.

A. Adnan Saygun’s first two operas, Özsoy and Tasbebek, Necil Kazım Akses’s Bay Önder staged in Ankara, a Mozart musical Bastien and Bastienne staged at the Ankara State Conservatory with pupils playing libretto in Turkish (1936),and the staging of western operas such as Madame Butterfly and Tosca (1940-1941). The orchestrations, chorus and solo recitals of 1950-1952 all contributed to form a foundation for the establishment of today’s State Opera and Ballet.

Meanwhile in 1947, the famous ballerina and teacher Ninette de Valois was invited to Istanbul and through her efforts, the National Ballet School at Yeşilköy was set up. In 1956-57, the first dancers graduated from Ankara State Conservatory and in 1959-60, the State Opera formed a corps de ballet. “Çesmebaşı” which is one of the most important works in Turkish ballet history was first performed in 1965.

Notwithstanding the short history of opera in Turkey which only spans 56 years, the General Directorate of State Opera and Ballet counts amongst its members many artists of international fame, and aside from Ankara and Istanbul, many other branches have been set up in cities around the country and the results everywhere have been very successful.