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Turkey |
Eat and sleep
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Other opinions
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My first time in Turkey was in 1989, arriving by boat from Samos, in Greece, where we were in holidays.
We didn't go anywhere, we just have been taken. We were pushed into one of a dozen buses, and, in a couple of hours we had visited Kusadasi, Selcuk and Ephesus, eat a lunch that... the men said they were four typical dishes but... all together... ok, it was food. And here we are, dropped in the harbor to take the ferry back to Samos. |
Efficiency, no doubt. We went back to Turkey in 1998, in a planned trip directly from Portugal, and we confirmed the good first impressions, and corrected the impressions about the food. A week in the beach in Cesme (windy... windy... windy...) and a circuit to Ephesus again, Pamukkale, the astonishing Capadoccia (where Goreme is a special reference), Konia, Ankara, and finally Istanbul.
It was my second best trip, in a quality/price ratio point of view (The first was Florida, but with a special push of a friend that was a tour operator, and... you know!).
And, so far, My Turkish experience ended with a week in Istanbul.
It was my second best trip, in a quality/price ratio point of view (The first was Florida, but with a special push of a friend that was a tour operator, and... you know!).
And, so far, My Turkish experience ended with a week in Istanbul.
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Ankara is a very modern city, in the center of Anatolia. I thought that our stay there was only due to technical reasons, according with distances. That idea was reinforced with the visit of Ataturk tomb, a modern monument that... ok, it's interesting. From there we went to the museum. Right. In a city with nothing to see, a museum fills the time - I thought. That's why I almost collapsed when entered the museum. My god! That's not a museum. I was in THE museum. All the stones of the first civilizations were there. One dismayed carved stone (the original), stood side by side with a perfect reproduction. And lots of things more that I hardly could see, such was the chock.So, definitively: Ankara is not another stop. Wherever you live, if you have a direct plane to the museum, use it. Or find the best alternative.
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Ataturk Memorial Ataturk is the "father" of modern Turkey, which tried to immortalize him in Ankara. His memorial is a big and austere ensemble, dominating the city. The tribute to the modernity he introduced in the country is respected in the modern lines and conception of the monument, somewhat cold and empty for my taste. Website: http://www.anitkabir.org/ |
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Civilizations Museum - GREAT!
In a rather modern town, and after visiting the Ataturk Memorial, we were taken to the Civilizations Museum. I thought it was just another museum, to fulfill a couple of hours in a common city, with no many attractions, and I entered it without any enthusiasm. The strike came absolutely by surprise. My God! |
There, lined in the long corridors, were the images that for long connected me to the early history of mankind. I never felt so touched in any other museum.
Side by side, the original priceless carvings almost indistinguishable, and a replica, with all the details.
And the old history passing by you. And the shame of the injustice of my original thoughts.
This is not another museum. Wherever you were born, wherever you came from, no doubt. This is it. This is THE museum.
Website: http://www.anadolumedeniyetlerimuzesi.gov.tr
Side by side, the original priceless carvings almost indistinguishable, and a replica, with all the details.
And the old history passing by you. And the shame of the injustice of my original thoughts.
This is not another museum. Wherever you were born, wherever you came from, no doubt. This is it. This is THE museum.
Website: http://www.anadolumedeniyetlerimuzesi.gov.tr
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If you need a reason to visit Turkey, one word is enough - Capadoccia.
Of course, you will see many other (also very interesting) places, but this area is... unique. A couple of days is enough, but Goreme, Uchisar, Zelve and Nevsehir are words that I will never forget, and strongly recommend. Website: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/357 
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Nevsehir What was the strongest impression? The power of nature, creating those absolutely unique formations, or the struggle of man to adapt himself to the characteristics of the country and use them to his profits? How can we save Goreme? Do not hesitate. Capadoccia for itself justifies your trip to Turkey. Nevsehir worths your trip that must include seeral small towns belonging to Nevsehir province, such as Uchisar or Zelve |
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Camel Rock No doubt, this rock is in Nevsehir Ili, but I don't remember the exact location. However, if you follow the usual itineraries, you will surely pass close to it. It is a curiosity impossible to be missed, considering its shape, size, and location by a main road. |
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Goreme Goreme is the most attractive place in Nevsehir province, maybe in Capdoccia. The churches and tunnels are not to be missed for any reason. Uchisar and Zelve are alse remarkable places in this area that, once seen, cannot be forgotten. |
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Goreme constructions Nature made... Man used... Nature destroys! Is it there anything man cam make to save the monuments carved in Goreme rocks, and that nature, pitiless, is destroying? Turkey is an astonishing surprise, but Capadoccia is unique. Goreme is the heart of religious achievements, but the whole is beyond any description. |
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Fading churches One of the attractions of Cappadocia (maybe the best!), are the old christian churches, built in the soft lava that covered all the region. Now, as the erosion is advancing, the churches come to daylight, announcing their inevitable disappearing. It hurts, seeing such historical places facing that destiny, but... there is, really, no solution at all to save them? |
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Underground Cities It's remarkable the immensity and complexity of the several caves built by Christians to get protection from their enemies. The airing solutions, the defensive devices, the maze like planning, all justifies the admiration of those who visit the caves. Even Horacio, with his almost 2 meters high, enjoyed the experience. |
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Uchisar
The city of Uchisar is the place of Capadoccia where life seems more intense, in perfect harmony with the natural formations, and taking good profit of them, enhancing their preservation for tourist admiration. Perched on a steep rock formation, this town provides some of the most dramatic panoramas of the astonishing Cappadocia. Wandering in town, watching the harmony between nature and human construction, even recent one, it is a pleasure, even at night, or, maybe, specially at night. 
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Zelve
Do you believe that it is easy to remember where you've been, in that astonishing puzzle of natural marvels, here receiving the name of Uchisar, there Zelve or Nevsehir, always with the same "impossible" landscape? Go see for yourself... you must! The erosion has long taken most of the soft lava, leaving behind high formations, sometimes isolated, and used by men in all its highness. It's a strange sensation, in Zelve, climbing in a carved house to visit its three and even four floors. 
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Marvel Yourself The natural formations of Cappadocia are one of the most surprising and odd accidents of nature, in all the world. Zelve is just one of the few small towns where you can admire the ingenious use by men of the natural opportunities. |
Cesme
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We spent a good week in Cesme, a nice beach (if you forget the wind...). Not far from Izmir, it is a touristy area, with all the facilities, some good restaurants but without any great attractions challenging the beach. |
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Ephesus is the best-preserved classical city on the Mediterranean, and disputes with Rome and Jerash the condition of best place in the world to get the feeling for what life was like in Roman times.
Very near it’s the Basilica of St. John, and, in a close hill (so steep that our old bus almost refused to climb) a small house is said as being Virgin Mary's. In 1967 Pope Paul VI. visited the site, where a chapel now stands, and confirmed the authenticity of the legend. |
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A Large collection of ruins The main street, named Curetes, is lined with lots of ruins, most of them impossible to identify or just to imagine what they were in the old days until you listen to a guide - then everything is explained in detail. Directions: Between Hercules Gate and Celsus Library |
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Heracles Gate Located in the beginning of Curetes street, this gate seems to have been part of a two-storey building. Well, if they say so, I have no reason to doubt, but in place it is hard to extract a clear idea from that amount of stones. |
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Pollio Fountain An arch and a small pool is everything that remains of this fountain, close to the Agora. An inscription dates its construction in 97 A.D. Directions: in front of Odeon-Bouleuterion Website: http://www.ephesusguide.com/ |
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Domician Temple
Each set of stones has a name. Of course, I do believe the honesty of the studies, and the accuracy of the identification, but, here and there is hard to guess the original building, and how they identified it. Domician Temple, they say! OK. Domician Temple, I say. But don't ask me more details. You have to go there, read the lines, and use your imagination. Directions: Between Hercules Gate and Celsus Library |
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Great Theatre
The biggest construction remaining in Ephesus, and the most impressive after the Library, is the great theatre. Built under Greek influence, it was enlarged and transformed by the Romans, and, despite the effects of time and earthquakes, it still impresses by its size and wise conception, integrated in the hills. Website: http://www.whitman.edu/theatre/theatretour/ephesus/introduction/ephesus.intro2.htm |
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Temples of Rome and Caesar
In Kusadasi.biz I read: "In the Augustan era, the spread of Imperial-Roman cults was by then a fact in many provinces of Asia Minor. The cult of the Emperor was alive in Nicomedia and in Pergamum, together with that of the Goddess Rome. The idea for the building of a temple which could celebrate the Goddess Rome, the Roman divinity by antonomasia, together with Julius Caesar, whose divine attributes were venerated, occurred to his adoptive son, Octavius. |
The later - who was become Emperor with the name of Augustus - authorized the construction of the sanctuary on the occasion of a visit made to the Asiatic province in 29 B.C. Its erection in the vicinity of the Prytaneion, constituted an aggregation point for the Romans resident in the province and a unquestionable testimony to the important role played by Ephesus within the political and administrative organization of this important part of the Roman Empire.
The architectural conformations of the buildings, usual in Ancient Rome, was in fact very atypical for the territories of Greece and Asia Minor. The remains of these temples have in our day been located in the immediate vicinity of Odeion."
Well, I believe, but, as in many other places, we only saw some disperse stones.
The architectural conformations of the buildings, usual in Ancient Rome, was in fact very atypical for the territories of Greece and Asia Minor. The remains of these temples have in our day been located in the immediate vicinity of Odeion."
Well, I believe, but, as in many other places, we only saw some disperse stones.
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Trajan's Fountain
I admire those guys that, starting from 3 or 4 stones near each other, imagine the whole puzzle, and rebuild... the possible. Reading (or listening to) the description, while watching the mounted stones, everything seems reasonable, and we can imagine what is missing, but... when everything was piled in the floor, how could they start? "Chapeau!" They say this was Trajan's fountain! Why not? |
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Harbor Street
In Ephsus all the ways lead to Celsius library, the top attraction in the center of the ruined town. You may use two entrances: Harbor gate or Magnesian gate. This one stays in the highest point, which allows you to do the visit descending the city, as we did (twice). Harbor street is generally the last vision to the visitors, already "filled" with the visions of the successive ruins, and the Harbor street only impresses by its width and straightness. |
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Final Apotheosis It's a long way down the main road, lined with the ruins of several buildings that your guide will describe in detail. Finally it all ends facing the library, whose facade is the best preserved of all, and the most harmonious. An excellent detail in the historical visit, that withdraws importance to everything that is next to it. |
Istanbul
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A bridge between two continents this immense city is a rich combination of cultures and civilizations. Original and adapted monuments of several epochs and religions are spread all over Istanbul, with a special care in everything that borders the narrow sea. A very beautiful city that I couldn't see deeply in the two days of my first visit but that i saw better in the second visit, everything described in Istanbul page. |
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I only passed twice by Izmir, and opened a page to post a tip about a hotel that, after many kilometers in a bus, I thought that was located a few kilometers from Izmir. It is not! A deep search made me verify that that hotel is really far from everything, but closer to Selçuk or Kusadasi. I moved the tip to Selçuk page, and leave this page open to remind me that, in my fourth visit to Turkey, Izmir remains a city to see. |
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We only passed by Konya, having time to visit Mevlana's tomb. Even without seeing the most famous thing of this town, (the twirling dervishes), I think that it has enough attractions for a more detailed visit. Maybe next time. |
Pamukkale
Selcuk
