Ephesus

Just when you think you have seen a lot of historical sites, kind of getting used to them, you arrive at Ephesus and your mouth drops open. 

The site at Ephesus has changed several times during the course of its long history. It started with the Ionians in the tenth century BC... Get that? 3000 years ago, hard to comprehend. 

Ephesus is the most extensive and best preserved ancient city in Turkey. The Ionians, Greeks, Romans  and Byzantians all left their marks. The most evident when you walk the city is the Roman occupation period.

Temples, gates, long marble floor walkways, two theatres, a latrina, an incredible library building, and public bath are all there.

I also toured the Ephesus museum nearby which houses many objects from excavations on the site.

Within the site a separate huge covered enclosure houses some of the best-preserved evidence of Roman daily life. The houses were equipped with central heating and hot-water taps, while the walls and floors were adorned with exquisite mosaics and frescoes. These were the houses of the wealthy.

I got a kick out of finding a pile of clay pipe sections - 2000 year old water pipe!

During the height of the Roman Empire from about 25BC to 200AD, Ephesus became capital of the province of Asia. Roman town planning was similar to that of their Greek predecessors, but the Romans really liked the colonnaded streets. I wish I could show you more pictures. :(

Look at the 2000 year old clay water pipe behind me!

Turkish People

I have so enjoyed the Turkish people. They are so friendly and helpful to tourists. You take a shot at their language, just a few simple words, and they smile and enjoy your attempt...then come out with English!

This is consistent from city to city. Here are a few pictures where I try to catch them in their normal day to day life:

Turkey and the Mediterranean Coast

Turkey borders both the Black Sea in the north and the Mediterranean Sea in the south. The coast line along the Mediterranean is a beautiful coastline dotted with small coastal villages. This is one of the big draws for vacationing Europeans. I stayed in the city of Kas and Kekova and took an overnight ride along the coast in a boat. Swimming in the Mediterranean at 75+ degree very blue clear water was an incredible experience. Saw an old underwater city, dropped to under water by earthquakes over thousands of years.

Turkey - Historical Sites

One thing about Turkey that seems to stand out above many locations in the world is that it is filled with history evidenced by an incredible number of Greek, Roman and other Empire historical sites. As the bridge between Europe, Greece, and Asia, influenced and occupied over 2500 years from three major empires, Turkey has a lot of historical sites on its land.

The Greeks liked to build theatres on the hills above their cities, later the Romans added to these structures... then even later during the Byzantine and Ottoman period they used these structures and sometimes made surface changes. These were so well built with outstanding acoustics many are used for concerts and performances today. Turkey has over 200 of these amazing structures. I visited one of the most preserved theatres in the world - Aspendos near Antalya along the Mediterranean coast. It is one of the most representative of the Roman age theatres. Many of the historic city sites are over looking the Mediterranean. The Greeks and Romans were pretty smart!

The city of Myra had tombs carved out of the steep hill above the city. These probably date back to the 5th century BC. Also present is a Roman theatre built on the site in the second century AD

Turkish Food

Here are a few pictures of typical Turkish food. Kabobs are always available and rice, beans, yogurt, feta cheese, lots of veggies, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, and of course baklava - Turkey is 93% Muslim who refrain from alcohol use. Because of the tourist industry however alcohol is readily available everywhere

A Turkish breakfast

A nice dinner

But of course!

Catalhoyuk - 9000 year old city

September 25, 2015

Well when you think of age and history, how about a city built around 7500 BC. Today I visited Catalhoyuk, discovered on a hill in 1961 near the city of  Gunesinir  in mid Western Turkey. The city is the oldest city yet discovered in the world and now a World Heritage Site. The intriguing part of viewing the city ruins is the many, 16 total, layers of each evolution of cities in time that were built upon each other!  The ruins are still under archaeological work. This tedious work will go on for many years in the future exposing more and more of the city.

Cappadocia - Underground Cities

In central Turkey is an area called Cappadocia. It's a magical badlands landscape that looks like a fairytale Hobbit rock city. It was formed by two nearby volcanoes millions of years ago that created some highly compressed sandstone. Eroded over millions of years by rain wind and ice, the result was a Grand Canyon like landscape with thousands of mini-mountain peaks. Locals as long as 3000 years ago found it relatively easy to carve out rooms and even mini-cities to seek protection from mauraders and weather.

In the early Christian Era, Christians used these cities to seek protection from Roman invaders. There are underground churches, homes with rooms and kitchens. These were later added to in the Byzantine Era,  with beautiful religious frescoes painted on the walls. Very Impressive:

Ataturk - Father of the Turkish Nation

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was literally the father of modern Turkey. Bronze statues or busts of him are found all over Turkey. Turkey was on the losing side of WWI, but Atartuk was the only undefeated commander at the end of the war. His military leadership resulted in him winning the battle at Gallopoli against England and troops from Australia and New Zealand. His leadership proved important in winning independence for Turkey after that war when allies were attempting to carve up Turkey (no pun here).

There is no equivalent leader in our country that quite matches what he did for Turkey. He was more like a Washington, Jefferson, Eisenhower, and Kennedy all rolled into one.

He brought sweeping reforms including replacing the Sultantate with a secular based government of which he was the first president.

We visited his grave site and memorial at Anitkabar outside of the capital city of Ankara. It is an impressive site, and in a very respectful way is a wonderful tribute to the man so important to all Turks. Here are a few photos at the site:

More Istanbul

The "Blue" Mosque - Nicknamed for the cool hues of the tiles that decorate its interior, the Blue Mosque was Sultan Ahmet I’s 17th-century answer to Hagia Sophia. It is amazing inside:

Officially named for its patron, but nicknamed for the cool hues of the tiles that decorate its interior, the Blue Mosque was Sultan Ahmet I’s 17th-century answer to Hagia Sophia.

old town park:

1500 year old Mosiac in the Hagia Sofia:

Look at the detail:

Istanbul - Between two continents

Hi all,            September 21, 2015

Been so busy arriving and touring haven't had a chance to write. Just left Istanbul and arrived in Ankara.  

Istanbul - the name conjures up many thoughts of intrigue, the past, from Europe to the Orient. I stayed in the old city with some incredible historic Mosques and sites covering three empires of time. The Roman, the Byzantium, and the Ottoman empires. Spanning some 2500 years in time, it's so hard to comprehend these long terms of history judging from our North American history stretching only 400 years since Columbus.

Istanbul is the only city that was the capital of both a Christian and Islamic empire.

Istanbul lies on the Marmara sea with the Bosphorus Straits connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. If you cross the Straits you can literally be in two continents on the same day - Europe and Asia.

One of the most amazing structures I visited in Istanbul was the Hagia Sofia. Following a couple of destroyed versions earlier, the structure you see today was built in 537 AD by emperor Justinian. At the time it was the largest man made structure in the world except for the Wall of China! The dome alone could house the entire Notre Dame Cathedral. Originally a church in the Byzantine period it was converted in to a Mosque when the Ottoman Turks took it over in1453. Today it is a museum. It certainly deserves its World Heritage Site status. See for yourself:

I'll be back to Istanbul at the end of the trip, now on to the Cappadocia region in central Turkey.