ISTANBUL: "There, God and human, nature and art are together, they have created such a perfect place that it is valuable to see." Lamartine's famous poetic line reveals his love for Istanbul, describing the embracing of two continents, with one arm reaching out to Asia and the other to Europe... |
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CAPPADOCIA: One of the most important centers in Cappadocia is Ürgüp, 20km to the east of Nev?ehir. Like Göreme, Ürgüp also had different names in history; Osiana (Assiana) in the Byzantine Period, Ba?hisar during the Seljuk Peroid, Burgut Castle in the Ottoman Period and Ürgüp as of the early years of the Republic.
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EPHESUS: Well-known from earliest times, this city was established on the delta of what is now called the Lesser Menderes River. The sheltered harbor of that period was the beginning of a royal road the ended at the gate of Susa, the capital or the Persian Empire, which secured the city its importance. It became the capital of the Roman province of Asia under Augustus and had a population of perhaps 200,000 in the second and first centuries BC. In the 6th century BC science, art and culture were prominent here along with Miletus. The famous philosopher Heraclitus, interpreter of dreams Artemidorus, the poets Callinos and Hipponax, grammarian Zenodotus and the doctors Soranus and Rufus were all from Ephesus.
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CANAKKALE (GALLIPOLI & TROY & ANZACS): Troy existed more than 4000 years as the center of ancient civilization. For many years, it was commonly believed that Troy was a myth, the product of fertile imaginations such as Homer's, who made Hector, Helen, Achilles, Paris, Agamemnon and Priam so famous. That changed in 1822, when the city's remains were discovered by Charles Mclaren. Still many wondered if the Trojan War really happened. Did Helen of Troy exist? Was there a real wooden horse?
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PAMUKKALE (HIERAPOLIS): A spectacular natural wonder of the world are the calcified waterfalls of Pamukkale, which means "Cotton Castle". Thermal springs waters, laden with calcium carbonate running off the plateaus edge, have formed this sparkling white petrified cascade of basins ringed bystalagtites
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BODRUM: Bodrum, known in ancient times as Halicarnassus, was the birthplace of Heredotus and the site of the Tomb of King Mausolus (4th century B.C.), one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
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