Turkey

EPHESUS CITY

Ephesus City was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era. In the Roman period, Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC, which also made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world. The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

IZMIR

Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. Ä°zmir has almost 3,500 years of recorded urban history (see Timeline of Ä°zmir) and possibly even longer as an advanced human settlement. Lying on an advantageous location at the head of a gulf running down in a deep indentation midway on the western Anatolian coast, the city has been one of the principal mercantile cities of the Mediterranean Sea for much of its history. Its port is Turkey's primary port for exports in terms of the freight handled. Ä°zmir is widely regarded as one of the most progressive Turkish cities in terms of its values, lifestyle, dynamism and gender roles.

Ankara

There are touches of the mystical east if you know where to look but the vast majority of Ankara is fully 20th century. This is a huge university town and you'll find the streets of Kizilay and the bars of Sakarya thronged with students for most of the year. Capital city status and the presence of language schools and universities has brought a sizeable ex pat community to Ankara. A lot of foreigners are here on business but tourism is beginning to have an impact on various aspects of the city. A growing number of tour operators and related service industries are catering to tourists. There is accommodation here at all levels, with prices pegged below those of Istanbul or the south coast, and a new bus station (ASTI) is probably the most useful transport hub in Turkey.

Beaten Track:

Museum of Anatolian Civilization There is a strong argument in favour of visiting this collection of exhibits before traveling anywhere else in Turkey. If you find yourself in Ankara and you're in any way interested in the history of Asia Minor you should make your way here. The museum is housed in a charming building, a restored covered market dating from the 15th Century and is easily accessible from the center of town. Museum of Ethnography Between Ulus Meydani and the Sihhiye Bridge you'll find the Museum of Ethnography perched above the busy highway in an attractive. It is one of the better of such museums in Turkey and the collection's highlights include the circumcision room, some nice woodwork and fine calligraphy. Old Turkish House Museum The Ankara citadel is a jumble of tiny streets and ramshackle houses and was the heart of many of Ankara's previous incarnations. One of these houses has been restored and opened as a museum and you'll find it just inside the Parmak Kapisi, the gate that you come to if you approach the citadel from Samanpazari. Railway Museum The Railway Museum (Demiryollari - Iron Roads) is part of the main railway station, and will be of interest to those of you who like trains. The museum is open for visitors between 9 and 12 and between 1 and 5. Old Locomotive Museum This one is a little more fun. It's basically a car park like area with scruffy looking trains scattered about, good for kids and anyone who likes old steam. Take a taxi to Achuk Hava Buharlu Lokomotif Muzesi from the Sihhiye bridge area. War of Salvation Museum This building was the first home of the National Assembly, before it's move to the now Republic Museum. The events and faces of the War of Independence are portrayed here but captions are only in Turkish. Museum of Painting and Sculpture A major collection of modern Turkish painting, which may or may not be to your taste. The museum features the work of Osman Handi, Hikmet Onat, Turgut Zaim and Bedri Rahmi Eyuboglu amongst others. It is right next door to the Ethnography Museum. You'll find a wide range of shopping opportunities here and it's one of the best places to buy carpets in Turkey. The old town, huddled in the shadow of the citadel has cheap fruit and vegetables, whole arcades of gold shops and a collection of antique and souvenir shops. Clothes can be a bargain here and although the price differential for leather is decreasing you should still be able to find a deal.

History:

Formerly known as Angora, it lies about 200 km south of the Black Sea, near the confluence of the Hatip, Ince Su, and aubek streams. While the date of the city's foundation is uncertain, archaeological evidence indicates habitation at least since the Stone Age. Alexander the Great conquered Ankara in 334 BC, and in the 3rd century BC the town served as the capital of the Tectosages, a tribe of Galatia. In 25 BC Ankara was incorporated into the Roman Empire by the emperor Augustus. Ankara was attacked by both the Persians and the Arabs. In about 1073 Ankara it fell to Seljuq Turks, but the crusader Raymond IV of Toulouse drove them out again in 1101. After 1143, Seljuq princes fought among themselves for possession of the city. With the establishment of the Seljuq Empire, Ankara declined. In 1356 the city was captured by Orhan (Orkhan), the second sultan of the Ottoman dynasty, and it became a part of the Ottoman domains in 1360. Ankara was besieged during the Anatolian campaign of Timur (Tamerlane). In 1403 it again became subject to Ottoman rule and, in subsequent centuries, regained its importance as a commercial and urban center. After World War I, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Turkish nationalist leader, made Ankara the center of the resistance movement against both the government of the Ottoman sultan and the invading Greek forces; he established his headquarters there in 1919. Ankara was declared the capital of Turkey in 1923. The architecture of the city reflects its varied history. Remains from the Roman and Byzantine eras are found here. Government is the main business in the city, but Ankara is also Turkey's second most important industrial city after Istanbul. Factories producing wine and beer, flour, sugar, macaroni products, biscuits, milk, cement, terrazzo (mosaic paving), construction materials, and tractors are well established. Service and tourist industries are expanding rapidly.

Istanbul

Istanbul's history stretches from Byzantium to Constantinople to its place at the head of the Ottoman Empire. While strolling around the city, you can admire mosques, peer into the sultan's harem and hunt for bargains in the Grand Bazaar. Side by side with Old Istanbul are hip bars and clubs, flashy executives, malls and haute cuisine. And then there is a rich arts culture - opera, music and cinema. The Bosphorus strait is a constantly busy, heaving mass, dotted with ships and ferries, and providing the link between Europe and Asia. Area: 98 sq km Population: 13 million Country: Turkey Time Zone: GMT/UTC +2 ((+3 in summer)) Telephone Area Code: 212 - European Istanbul; 216 - Asian Istanbul

Events:

April: International Ä°stanbul Film Festival. May: Conquest of Constantinople celebrations. July: International Ä°stanbul Music Festival and International Ä°stanbul Jazz Festival. October: International Ä°stanbul Biennial.

Orientation:

The Bosphorus strait creates a natural north-south divide in Istanbul - European Istanbul comprises the bulk of the city to the west, while Asian Istanbul is to the east. The Old City is where you'll find all the main sights, such as Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii), Aya Sofya (Sancta Sophia), the Atmeydani (Hippodrome) and the old city walls. The 21st-century version of Istanbul is a short walk north across the Galata Bridge, and is exemplified by bustling Taksim Square, the eye of the city's commercial activities. There are clusters of budget places in the Sultanahmet district of the old city; Akbiyik Caddesi in Cankurtaran is the backpacker hub, other streets nearby are lower key. The heart of modern Istanbul, Taksim Square and Beyoglu, are also good places to stay, with lots of restaurants, theatres and shops nearby

When to go:

The best times of year to visit Istanbul are from April to June and September to October. These are roughly the months when spring and autumn descend on the city, respectively. The wintry months from November to February have the highest rainfall and it's when spirits are most likely to be dampened.

Beaten Track:

Galat Mevlevihanesi (Whirling Dervish Hall) This modest tekke (dervish lodge) was built in 1491 during the reign of Sultan Beyazit II and rebuilt in 1766 after a disastrous fire. In the middle of the city, the tekke is a calm and cool oasis; the flowers and shady nooks make it an ideal resting spot, while the graveyard with its graceful Ottoman inscriptions and odd-shaped headstones representing the headgear of the deceased (each hat denoting a different religious rank) adds an interesting dimension to any visit. Whirling dervishes took their name from the great Sufi poet and mystic, Celaleddin Rumi (1207-73), called Mevlana (Our Leader) by his disciples; the major aim being mystical communication with God. But for the acolytes of Mevlana, it was more than just a matter of spinning for God; the entire sema (ceremony) involved chants, prayers and music before the Mevlevi tarakat whirled themselves into a trance-like union with the divine. Yedikule (Fortress of the Seven Towers) Yedikule began life as a triumphal arch in the late 4th century, but was then incorporated into the more ambitious plans of Theodosius, who built great land walls around the city and added four towers to the structure. The other three walls were built inside the wall by his successor, Mehmet the Conqueror. The towers were multifunctional; not only did they help protect the city from attack but were also used as a treasury, a prison and a place of execution. Quite often they were used to accommodate hapless ambassadors from other non-favoured countries. The best view of the city walls and fortress is from the Tower of Sultan Ahmet III, and in some places it's even possible to walk along the land walls. aemberlitaa Hamama The strange building with a row of street front shops is aemberlitaa Hamama, one of the city's oldest hamams, located just off Divan Yolu near the Kapala aaraa. This is perhaps the best place for your first Turkish bath experience, and thoroughly reputable. It's a double hamam (twin baths for men and women) designed by Sinan for Nurbanu Sultan, wife of Sultan Selim II, in 1584. You can avail of the massage service here. The best way to check out Istanbul's numerous sights is by walking around. There are a few golf courses if the game interests you. The best swimming options are a day trip to Kilyos or Sile. Gyms tend to be testosterone-fuelled, barred to women and with limited equipment. Backgammon boards are common but there are few facilities for billiards or bowling. Shopping in the thousands of shops around is city is the most preferred activity. And most tourists also end up trying one of the many hamams (Turkish steam baths).

History:

Istanbul was established around 657 BC. Although conquered by Alexander the Great and eventually subsumed by the Roman Empire, it fared pretty well until it annoyed a Roman emperor by backing his rival in a civil war. The city was subsequently destroyed. A new city was erected in 330 AD, at first called New Rome but quickly rechristened Constantinople. Many of old Constantinople's Christian churches and palaces, as well as the impressive Hippodrome, are still visible today. Over the next few centuries the city weathered attacks by the armies of the Islamic and Bulgarian empires, but the crusaders finally sacked it in 1204. The city was reclaimed by a rejuvenated Byzantine Empire 50 years later. The fall of Constantinople occurred in 1453 when the Ottoman army of Sultan Mehmet II took the city. It was under the Ottomans that a classic mosque design was established and many other great buildings constructed in the city, which was soon renamed Istanbul. The Ottoman Empire overextended itself militarily in the 18th century and went into a decline, accentuated by the fact that it was well behind Europe in the areas of science, politics and commerce. This led to modernisation attempts and in-fighting, including the eventual slaughter in Istanbul of the janissaries, the sultan's bodyguards and a prominent symbol of the old regimes. The turn of the 20th century was greeted with nationalist uprisings in Macedonia, Crete and Armenia, and Turkish stability hit a new low after the country opted to side with Germany during WW I - the result was the British occupation of Istanbul. The Turkish War of Independence, during which revitalised nationalist forces fought off invaders from Greece, France and Italy, finally led to the birth of the Turkish republic in 1923. The seat of the new nation was established in Ankara, and Istanbul, no longer regarded as a political or cultural powerhouse, was relegated to a back-seat role in terms of its prominence as a city. All that changed during the 1980s and 1990s, however, when Turkey experienced an economic and tourism boom, and Istanbul is now re-staking its claim as the 'capital' of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Getting There:

Istanbul's Ataturk Airport is Turkey's largest and busiest. Any number of popular regular services from the Middle East, the USA, Australia and Europe land here. The main domestic carrier, Turkish Airlines (THY), has regular flights to major European and Asian cities. In 2001 another airport, Sabiha Gokçen International Airport, opened at Kurtköy on the Asian side of the city, though most flights still arrive and depart from Ataturk. Ataturk Airport is 23 km west of Sultanahmet. A taxi into the city center is the quickest option; it takes around half an hour. A number of local bus companies service other European destinations, but these services are slow. Within Turkey, bus is the most widespread and popular way of getting around. The main bus station, the 'otogar', is a town in itself, with 168 ticket offices, restaurants, mosques and shops. Buses leave here for domestic and international routes. Driving through Turkey isn't recommended - the traffic is horrendous. However, if you're game to get behind the wheel, you can bring a car over on a ferry from Italy or Greece.

Getting Around:

Walking is the best way to see Istanbul - though the ferries rate a close second. It has a decent dirt-cheap public transport network. But all public transport slows to a crawl around peak hours; this is the time to take to your feet. The main bus station, the International Istanbul Bus Station, or more simply, the 'otogar', is 10km west of Sultanahmet at Esenler. Both city and private buses run services in Istanbul. The suburban trains are a bit decrepit but reliable and inexpensive, running from Sirkeci station. There are several tramlines to choose from if you want a ride with a view. Istanbul has a large fleet of yellow taxis, but a cheaper way of getting around the streets is to hire a dolmus, a shared taxi or minibus.

Antalya

This is the chief city on Turkey's central Mediterranean coast. It is a good springboard to to explore the quieter beach towns and more spectacular ancient cities around. Side, 75 km east of Antalya, is the increasingly popular beach town once chosen by Mark Antony and Cleopatra for a romantic tryst. Alanya, 115 km east of Antalya, is another sea-sun-n-sand joint with a mini-Miami feel. Patara is a party town a few hundred km south-west of Antalya.

Bodrum

This is South Aegean's prettiest resort. It has a yacht harbour and a port for ferries to the Greek island of Kos. Palm-lined streets ring the bays, and white sugar-cube houses, now joined by ranks of villas, crowd the hillside. Boating, swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving are prime Bodrum activities. At night Bodrum's famous discos throb, boom and blare. Bodrum can be reached from just about anywhere - it's 4 hours to Izmir by road.