Friday, November 21, 2008

Denizli

Area : 11.868 km²

Population :
850.029 (2000)

Traffic Code :
20

Denizli famous with roosters, has rich history and culture. Denizli is a tourism center to be seen with its Hierapolis and Laodikeia, Tripolis, antic cities, hot springs and Pamukkale which is unique in the world with its travertines.,

Distircts:Denizli (center), Acıpayam, Akköy, Babadağ, Baklan, Bekilli, Beyağaç, Bozkurt, Buldan, Tavas, Çameli, Çal, Çardak, Çivril, Güney, Honaz, Kale, Sarayköy, Serinhisar.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Aydin History

Aydın was founded by the Trallians and known as Tralles. After being destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt, it was controlled by the Spartans, Hittites, Phrygians, Ionians, Lydians, Persians and Romans, all of whom brought their own culture and contributed to the development of the region.

Aydin Geography

Affected by the Mediterranean climate, the rainy season is winter and snow is rarely seen. Aydın is open to the winds coming in off the sea from the west. In the summertime it practically never rains.

Aydin Thermal Springs

Underground river The rich boat-shaped valley formed by the numerous springs of the Menderes Watershed which flows down to the Aegean from heights of up to 900 m. also has abundant underground water supplies. There are 262 villages with artesian wells in the province of Aydın.

Alan Güllü Thermal Springs At Bozköy near Germencik, the springs have facilities which include an indoor thermal pool approved by the municipality and 32 rooms with 70 beds. In addition, there are modern treatment and accommodation facilities, in what has become one of the biggest and most modern thermal springs in the area.

Bafa Lake Natural Park

Location: The Bafa Lake Natural Park takes place within the borders of Söke District of Aydın Province in Aegean Region.

Transportation: The Bafa Lake is at the south-east of Great Menderes (Büyük Menderes) Delta, and 25 km far away from the Söke District. It is possible to reach to the park overland route.

Highlights: The Bafa Lake, which used to be a part of Aegean Sea, had turned to be a lake as result of geomorphologic development of Great Menderes Delta. Bafa Lake is one of the least spoiled watery areas at the shore, in Turkey. The maximum depth of the Bafa Lake reaches to 25 meters. The main water sources of the Bafa Lake are the water floods of Great Menderes (Büyük Menderes) River, and the underground waters coming from the mountains at the environment.

The plant cover around lake consists of tamarisks, pine trees, and olive groves. The Bafa Lake shelters the ecosystem characteristics of Great Menderes delta. Because of that reason it provides a winter quarter and a place for reproduction for many bird species which are under the danger of vanishing.
The main bird species in the Bafa Lake Natural Park are pelican, dwarf cormorant and sea eagle. The Park provides a winter quarter for more than 300.000 different bird species.

There are 700 kinds of plankton in the Lake, and a variety of water plants. This causes many fish species to live in the lake. As the cultural and historical values of the Bafa Lake; Heraclia Antic City takes place within the borders of the Lake, at the south west foot of Beşparmak Mountains. In the Antic City there are many historical buildings; these are Athena Temple, an Agora, Council Building, Public Bath, Theatre, Nymphaion (fountain building), and Endymion Temple.

In order to protect the historical and natural values of the area, in 1994, 12281 hectares of it taken under the status of Natural Park.

Facililities: In the park; a visitor centre, a camping area, places for daily use and picnic, walking and trekking footpaths, and bird - watching stations are available.

Aydın - Bafa Lake

Location: Bafa Lake is in the Soke District of Aydin province, in the Aegean Region.

Transportation: Bafa Lake is at the southeast of the Buyuk Menderes Delta, and 25 km from Soke from where it is easily accessible.

Highlights: The lake, once part of the Aegean Sea, became a lake as result of geomorphologic development of Buyuk Menderes Delta and is in an area of relatively unspoilt beauty. Its main sources are from Buyuk Menderes, and the underground rivers flowing from the surrounding mountains.

Plant life consists of tamarisks, pine trees, and olive groves. The lake protects the ecosystem of the delta, and therefore provides a winter habitat for many species of birds which would otherwise be in danger of extinction: Around 300,000 birds nest here, including pelican, dwarf cormorant and sea eagle and there are 700 kinds of plankton in the lake and a variety of water plants, which encourages many species of fish.

Historical and cultural sites around the lake include the antique city of Heraclia, at the foot of the Besparmak mountains, which has the remains of the Athena Temple, an agora council building, public bath, theatre, and Endymion temple. In order to protect these areas, 12,281 hectares of the park were given the status of Natural Park in 1994.

Facilities: There is a visitor centre, camping area, picnic sites, trekking paths and bird-watching towers are in the park.

Don't Leave Without Kusadasi

Seeing Öküz Mehmet Paşa Caravanserai,

Visiting Guvercin Fortress,

Swimming on one of the many beaches,

Relaxing in Dilek Peninsula National Park,

Getting a famous Blue Voyage,

Trying out some of the bars and nightclubs.

Caves of Aydın

Location: Aydın, Kuşadası District

Properties: It is a passive cave. As the cave is passive, there is no rivers or creeks present inside the cave. But the waters dripping from the cracks helped the formation of various damlataş (drop - shaped precious stone) forms. There are also some travertine pools and a few small lakes present inside the cave. There is no significant air flow inside the cave. The moisture level of the cave atmosphere tends to increase relatively as proceeded t-inside the cave.

Where to Visit Kusadasi

Güvercin Adası (Pigeon Island)

This tiny island off the west coast of the town is just a few hundred metres from the mainland, and connected by path way. It contains a fortress, which was constructed by the Ottomans and restored and strengthened in 1834. Kusadasi was an important defensive port along the Ottoman Aegean coast, and the fortress helped prevent attacks coming from the islands. It is now a relaxing place with landscaped terraces and several teahouses and snack bars.

Cruiser And Yacht Ports

There are two wharfs, where tourist ships are approaching and also a yacht port with 650 yacht capacity in Kuşadası. Ships are approaching to Kuşadası Port during all seasons. Passenger motor voyages are regularly organized from Kuşadasi port to Greek Island, Sisam (Samos) during spring and summer months (Every day between 1st April and 20th October), and during winter months these voyages are turned as charters. There are daily and hourly picnic touring passenger motors in the port, and Blue Tour organizing yachts are also in the yacht port.

Mosque And Caravanseraıs

Kale İçi Mosque

It is constructed in 1618 by Grand Vizier Öküz Paşa.

Öküz Mehmet Paşa Caravansary

Built in 1618 by Grand Vizier Okuz Pasa, there are artillery holes still visible on the external walls, in an effort to protect the city against pirates. It is now a luxury hotel.

Beaches

The most famous beach in the area is Kadinlar Denizi (Ladies’ Beach), 3km south of town and well connected by dolmus, which is very crowded in high season. Guvercin Adasi has rocky shores but it is possible to swim, and there is a small beach 500m north of Yilanci Burnu peninsula. A better beach is Pamucak,15km north on the road to Selcuk.

Thermal Spring

The most important thermal springs in the area are Ciban (Yavansu), Venus and Guzelcamli.


National And Natural Parks

Büyük Menderes Delta National Park

Kusadasi

This seaside resort town has grown up immensely in the last 30 years, and is especially popular with package holiday-makers from Europe. From a population of 6000 in the 1970s, it is now closer to 50,000, although a high proportion of this are part of the tourist industry and here only for the summer.

Many cruising ships travelling around the Aegean Islands stop here, especially because of its close proximity (20km) to Selcuk. Kusadasi is a good base to explore this and other ancient cities like Priene and Didyma.

Although there is a little historical interest in Kusadasi itself, the town is popular predominantly because of its many hotels, restaurants, souvenir and carpet shops, and lively nightlife. The Kale district has some old traditional houses and narrow streets, and gives some indication of what the town used to be like. The most famous beach is Kadinlar Plaji, 2.5km south of the town, dominated by huge hotels and can get very crowded in summer. There are several small beaches further south, and closer to town is Yilanci Burnu, the peninsular.

Ancient Cities Aydin

Nyssa The source of what we know about this Nyssa (Nisa), founded on the slopes of Mount Malgaç, north of Sultanhisar in where now olive groves, is the geographer Strabo. Made up of two parts due to the fact that it was built on a stream, the city was first called Athymbra after the wife of its founder, the Selecuid king Antiochus I. The primary remains are the two-story library built by Aristodem, a native of Nyssa, a water depot belonging to the Hellenistic era, a stadium and bridge from the Roman era, the agora and necropolis on the Acharaka road.

Alabanda A Carian city whose name comes from a combination of the Carian words for horse (ALA) and victory (BANDA). Remains that can still be seen include the wall fortified with towers, the theater, the senato, the agora and memorial graves. There is also a Roman aqueduct over Kemer Creek to the south. Alaband was known in the ancient world for several crafts peculiar to the city, including crystal, various decorative items made from a hard black stone, fishing nets and rose gardening.

Priene An important episcopal see in the Byzantine era, the ancient city Priene north of Miletus was given a very geometric design of intersecting right angles. The most important structure in the city is the Temple of Athena on the top of the hill. In addition, northeast of the city is a 5000 person theater constructed in the Hellenistic era which is definitely worth seeing.

Miletus Located on north of Didim, Miletus was a coastal city with 4 ports and one of the most important Ionian settlements. Its golden age was the 6th and 7th centuries BC. During this period thinkers in Miletus were putting down what would become the foundation of Western science and culture. The 5300 person theater built in the Hellenistic era was later added on to by the Romans and had a final seating capacity of 15,000.

Tralles (Tiral) Located only 1 km from Aydın, what we know about the city, is limited to what has come down to us from the geographer Strabo. Its first appearance in the historical record is in the 4th century BC during the war of independence waged by the Spartan general Thibron against the Persians.

During the Hellenistic era, the city changed hands frequently. In 26 BC, while a part of the Roman Empire, it suffered some damage from an earthquake and was repaired by the Emperor Augustus and renamed Caesarea. From the time that it passed into the hands of the Turks in the 12th century until the present it has been called "three-eyes" among the people. A few remains of the theater to the north and the 'cavea' are about all that remain. Excavations begun in 1997 have uncovered a Roman bath, an arsenal used during the Greek, Roman and Byzantine eras and a building thought to have been used for worship in the Byzantine period. All of the items recovered from the site whether from older digs or the more recent ones are on exhibit in the Aydın Museum.

Aphrodisias This city was one of the leading centers of architecture, art, sculpture and worship in the ancient world. The Byzantine write Stephanos places the foundation of the city back to the 13th century BC. This Carian city 12 km southeast of Karacasu experienced its golden age in the Roman era, during which time marble statue and structures of extraordinary beauty were built so much so that a school of art known as the Aphrodisias style was developed.

Archeological research has shown that architecture and sculpture were not the only types of study done in the city but that medicine and astronomy were researched as well. The city's primary structures of interest are the baths built during the reign of Hadrian, the agora with its large fountain, the Temple of Aphrodite built in the 1st century BC, the 30,000 person theater, the theater baths and odeon, the episcopal palace and the school of philosophy. The Museum of Aphrodisias has one of the richest collections found in any local museum in Turkey.

Panionium Located in the town of Davutlar near Kuşadası, it was the center of the Ionian League of antiquity. The Ionians met here to make decisions.
Neopolis Right beside Kuşadası, at a place called Yılancı Burun (Snake Nose). It is the earliest settlement in the area.

Didyma Near the town of Didim, it was in the center of prophetic oracles in antiquity. The Temple of Apollon in Didim was planned as a dipteros (having two rows of columns) but was never finished.

Myus Near Didim, an important member of the Ionian League.

Iassos Situated near Didim, this ancient city was famous for its theater dedicated to Dionysos, the god of wine, and the festivals held there. Its music and theatrical productions were well-known throughout the ancient world.

Gerga It is located near Çine. The enormous human statues which have slid off their pedestals and fallen to the ground and the stones which have "Gerga" inscribed on them are particularly interesting.

Alında Located near Karpuzlu, it is the granite city of Queen Ada. Important remains include a theater with 35 rows of seats, a two-story tower, the agora and the city walls.

Mastaura (Mastavra) Close to Nazilli, it used to be a commercial center which minted money. In the ruins can be seen the city walls, the theater, aqueducts and a few other structures.

Magnesia It is near Ortaklar in Germencik. Because it was the scene of several important events, it is described as the 'city of episodes.' There are the remains of temples to Artemis and Zeus from the 3rd century BC, an agora, baths, a theater, stadium and gymnasium, as well as Byzantine walls.

Orthasia (Ortosi) Near Yenipazar, there is a acropolis on a hill overlooking the Menderes valley.

Nyssa (Nisa) Near Sultanhisar, it was a science and teaching center. The remains of the theater, stadium, gymnasium, agora, library, buluterion and necropolis can still be seen.

Acharaka (Akaraka) In Sultanhisar near the village of Salavatlı, reference is made to a health center here. The Temple of Plutonium and the 'health-giving' water and gases in Charonium cave are also mentioned.

Don't Leave Without Aydin

Don't Leave Without

-Visiting the ancient city of Aphrodisias

-Watching the Golden Pigeon races at Kuşadası

-Tasting the exquisite olive oil dishes unique to the Aegean and the delicious figs, fabulous grapes and grape wines and the wide variety of citrus fruits.

-Purchasing some of the bitter orange jelly.

-Trying the delicious seafood: bream, mullet, red sea bream and red mullet

-Visiting the elegant boutiques selling carpets, rugs, leather clothing, jewelry and other souvenir items.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Zeugma Mosaics Museum


Zeugma is an ancient city of Commagne, currently located in the town of Nizip, forty-five kilometers away from Gaziantep.

The significance of Zeugma is the Roman villas and their floor mosaics. Zeugma had captured the public attention, when the Birecik Dam Project brought up the possibility that Zeugma could have been inundated under the dam's waters. Majority of the Roman villas were brought to day light within the framework of a rescue excavation which was intensified in 2000. Yet, the total of the excavations, which were originally started in 1987, have discovered only a small number of these unique mosaics.


Today in the Zeugma Mosaics Museum 500 meter square-wide mosaics, 35 mosaic panels as well as the famous 1, 50 cm-long bronze Mars and Aphrodite statutes are in display. The museum is proudly the second biggest mosaic museum of the world.

Altinkum Beaches

Altınkum is the most popular beach of Didim. It means 'golden sands', and the color of sands is golden yellow truly. The azure sea is very clean. Altınkum has most of otels, restaurants, bars and shoping centers of Didim.

Didim is a beautiful tourist vacation spot, has some of the best sun, sand and sea in the Aegean region. It has a rich history. The Temple to Apollo at Didim was one of the most sacred places of antiquity. Though many times looted and burned, the sanctuary still possesses elegant beauty. A prophetic oracle in ancient times, there is a large temple dedicated to the sun god Apollon here. The ancients' belief in fate was very powerful and they saw Apollon as a god of prophecy who would reveal their fate.


The other beaches in Didim except Altınkum, are Tavşan Burnu and Akbük. Tavşan Burnu has a marvellous sunset. Lake Bafa is one of the important ornitology areas in Turkey.


Further to the south you will see the ancient city of Priene, built according to a geometric plan designed by the great architect of Miletus, Hippodamos. Miletus was a great centre of commerce and thought in the ancient world and important developments, scientific and otherwise, took place here.

St Peter Church

The Church of St Peter (St Peter's Cave Church, Cave-Church of St Peter) near Antioch (Antakya), Turkey, is composed of a cave carved into the mountainside on Mount Starius with a depth of 13 m, a width of 9,5 m and a height of 7m. This cave, which has been used by the first Christians in Antakya region, is considered to be one of Chistianity's oldest churches.

The founding of the church in Antioch can be traced from the Bible's Acts of the Apostles (11:25-27) where it is related that Barnabas travels to Tarsus to bring Paul the Apostle there. They worked for one year with the nascent Christian community, and there the converts were called "Christians" for the first time. The Christian heritage considers Peter as the first Apostle founder of the church of Antioch, and the first priest of the Christian population that was established there; the Church of St. Peter is the spot where he first preached the Gospel in Antioch.

Only some pieces of ground mossaics, and traces of frescos on the right side of the alter have been preserved to date from the early period of the church. It is thought that the tunnel inside that opens to the mountain side, served the Christians to evacuate the church in case of sudden raids and attacks. Water that seeps from rocks to be gathered inside the drinking trough has been used for baptisms. The collection of water, which visitors drank and collected to bring to those who were ill, in the belief that it was healing and curative, has lessened as a result of recent earthquakes.

On top of the stone altar located in the middle of the church, is a stonework platform that was placed in memory of the Saint Peter's Platform Holiday which was celebrated every 21st of February in Antakya. The marble Saint Peter statue on top of the altar was placed there in 1932. Crusaders who captured Antakya in 1098 lengthened the church by a few meters and connected it with two arches to the facade. This facade has been rebuilt in 1863, by the Capuchin Friars who were doing restorative works on the orders of Pope Pius IX. Napoleon III has also contributed to the restoration. The remains on the left hand side of the church entrance belong to colonnades that used to stand in front of the church facade.

Harran Travel

Situated on the very southernmost fringes of the formidable Toros (Taurus) Mountains -- with little more than low limestone spurs, clawing their way like broken fingers into the flat expanse of the Mesopotamian plain -- is the bustling bazaar city of Şanlıurfa.

Some 40 kilometers away to the south of it, just short of Turkey's border with Syria, the scattered remains of the ancient settlement of Harran shimmer in the heat of this vast, empty and austere landscape. Once a mighty walled city sitting astride the traditional trade routes crisscrossing Mesopotamia, it is now best known for the curious domed "beehive" houses rising above the tumbled ruins, which until quite recently were the homes of the Arabic-speaking villagers who occupy the site.

Mesopotamia is famed as the birthplace of civilization, the area where mankind first learned to cultivate crops and, later, live in cities. Stand on the remains of the citadel at Harran and gaze out to the south and you'll see a series of low but prominent "hills" rising above the flatness of the plain. These are tels (höyük in Turkish), or artificial mounds, comprising layer upon layer of the accumulated debris left by the rebuilding of a settlement on the same site -- many dating back to 5,000 B.C. and some much earlier.

Harran was clearly already a settlement of some importance when it was visited by the biblical figure of Abraham around 4,000 years ago. Revered by Muslims as a prophet, by Christians as a model of faith and Jews as a patriarch blessed by God, Abraham is a cornerstone of the monotheistic faiths. Appropriately enough given the continuation of nomadic pastoralism by the Arabs hereabouts to this very day, Abraham was a shepherd. En route from Ur of the Chaldeans (in modern Iraq) to the land of Canaan, he stopped off here. It must have been to his extended families' liking, as some of them, including his brother, stayed behind. Later, unable to find a wife for his son Isaac locally, he sent word to his distant relatives in Harran and they came up with Rebecca.

In the centuries following Abraham's departure to Canaan, the Assyrians and then the Babylonians held sway in Harran. In 53 B.C. the famous Roman general Crassus, at that time one of the Triumvirate ruling Rome along with Pompey and Caesar, met a very sticky end near Harran (or Carrhae, as it was known to the Romans). Anxious to prove his military muscle and line his pockets with plunder, Crassus, newly appointed governor of the wealthy Roman province of Syria, decided to try his luck against Rome's arch rivals to the east of their empire, the Parthians (a Persian dynasty). Despite superior numerical odds, Crassus and his legions were undone by a combination of punishingly hot weather and the Parthians' famous bowmen. Over 20,000 Romans died, one of the most catastrophic defeats in Rome's history. Crassus himself was captured and brought before the Parthian commander Surena. Appalled by Crassus' reputation for greed, Surena came up with a fitting reward for Crassus, who was killed by having molten gold poured down his throat.

Things didn't go much better for another notable Roman, this time the Emperor Caracalla. In A.D. 217, campaigning in the area against the Parthians, he decided to seek the blessings of the moon god Sin, whose temple is almost certainly beneath the medieval remains of the citadel in Harran. Struck down with a stomach bug (not an unusual occurrence in this area even today) en route from Şanlıurfa to Harran, he sought relief behind some wayside bushes. Caught with his trousers (or rather tunic) down, he was helpless to prevent a member of his Praetorian guard, angry that he had been overlooked for promotion, from cutting him down.

Of course trying to find the exact site of Crassus' defeat, let alone the bushes where Caracalla met such an embarrassing end, is nigh on impossible. Things improved for today's visitor with the arrival of the Arabs in the seventh century. They took control of the city from the Byzantines (despite the strengthening of the city walls by the Emperor Theodosius in the sixth century) and, under the Umayyad dynasty, Harran became, briefly, capital of the entire Islamic world. The remains of the massive Ulu Camii, built during the reign of Marwan II (744-50), still stand in splendid isolation in the middle of the old walled city. This, the first mosque ever built on what is now Turkish soil, is of typical Arab design (based on the Prophet Muhammad's house in Medina) with a large open courtyard centered on the şadırvan (ablutions fountain) and a large, rectangular prayer hall divided into four aisles. The layout of the mosque, which for the most part stands only to a few courses of stone high, is best seen from the dusty mound to the south. Currently being excavated by a team from Ankara, the buildings being unearthed from beneath the mound are thought to be from the palace of Marwan and his successors, and from the school of medicine for which Harran was famous. The monumental square minaret on the northeast corner of the courtyard, with its lower sections of well-cut stone blocks, the upper of brick, was taken for a church belfry by Lawrence of Arabia when passing by in 1909.

Destroyed by Mongols in 1260

Although the mosque was rebuilt by the Ayyubid dynasty (of whom the most famous member was that scourge of the Crusaders, Saladin) in the 12th century, Harran's glory days were over, and in 1260 it was destroyed by the Mongols. The settlement then entered a period of decline from which, with the turning on of the irrigation taps of the colossal Atatürk Dam in the mountains far to the north, it is only just beginning to emerge. Indeed, in the 19th century the place was only seasonally inhabited by wandering Bedouin tribes. When the British missionary Reverend Percy Badger came in 1843, he wrote: "On the projecting angles of this ruined edifice the Arabs have erected their conical huts with the bricks which are scattered about most plentifully in this enclosed space. Not far from the castle is a small eminence literally covered with several hundred of these quaint habitations, some of which consist of three cones, whilst others have no more than one. All are now deserted, the Arabs having taken to their tents to escape the vermin which infest them during this season."

The beehive-shaped houses survive in some quantity today, much to the delight of visiting photographers, but are now mainly used to house animals. A visit here is as much one to a village as to an ancient site, and ethnically Arab kids, ranging from the cute to the downright pesky, follow you around trying to sell wall hangings made from dry chickpeas, or to beg pens or money. It's a tourist trap, but the substantial collection of beehive houses set around a shady courtyard and known as the Harran Kültür Evleri offer a respite from the heat, dust and kids. Here you can examine the inside of one of the domed houses and marvel at its clever construction and cool interior, drink a refreshing Turkish çay or a tiny cup of the local specialty, mırra, a scented, bitter coffee. Owner Reşat, a tall and distinguished Arab, with a gold tooth and flowing Bedouin robes, is very welcoming.

It's worth exploring the citadel, in the southwest corner of the old walled city, with three of its four original polygonal towers still reasonably intact, though take care as there are several gaping holes in the upper floors of the structure. It's possible that under the masonry you see today, much of it dating only from the Mameluke period, there are the remains of a Sabian temple (a second is thought to lie under the mound behind the Ulu Camii). Sabianism, mentioned in the Quran, was the dominant religion in Harran from around 1,500 B.C. until A.D. 11th or 12th century. Accused of human sacrifice and orgiastic rites by some early Christian commentators, the Sabians worshipped the planets, especially the moon god Sin. They prayed three times each day -- at sunrise, noon and sunset, and used a different temple each day, one for each of seven celestial deities -- the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. No one is sure what happened to the Sabians, though some believe that the Mandaeans of today's Iraq derive from this once powerful faith.

Harran is one of those places that is far more than the sum of its parts, where you sense history as much as see it. Towards sundown the shadow cast by the minaret of the great mosque lengthens across the broken, earth-covered remnants of this once mighty settlement. The shattered walls and towers of the citadel wrap themselves in a dark mantle and the gangs of village kids, with sun-bleached hair and piercing green eyes, slip away home for their supper. The curves of the domed "beehive" houses are silhouetted dramatically against a vast orange-pink sky and, with nightfall quickening, the sky purples, then darkens and a blanket of stars emerges, blurrily coruscating against a soft, black Mesopotamian sky.


[QUICK TIPS]

How to get here

There are regular flights to Şanlıurfa from İstanbul and Ankara. Dolmuşes run to Harran from the terminal in Şanlıurfa and take around an hour, or hire a taxi.

Where to stay

There is plenty of accommodation in all categories in Şanlıurfa, but to make the most of Harran, stay at the air-conditioned Bazda Motel (Tel: [414] 441 2001) in the village just outside the western walls or, if you have a sleeping bag, the Harran Kültür Evleri.

Guides and reading matter

"The Rough Guide to Turkey," "Blue Guide Turkey" and "Lonely Planet Turkey," "The Nestorians and Their Rituals" by Reverend George Percy Badger.

Harran Travel

Situated on the very southernmost fringes of the formidable Toros (Taurus) Mountains -- with little more than low limestone spurs, clawing their way like broken fingers into the flat expanse of the Mesopotamian plain -- is the bustling bazaar city of Şanlıurfa.

Some 40 kilometers away to the south of it, just short of Turkey's border with Syria, the scattered remains of the ancient settlement of Harran shimmer in the heat of this vast, empty and austere landscape. Once a mighty walled city sitting astride the traditional trade routes crisscrossing Mesopotamia, it is now best known for the curious domed "beehive" houses rising above the tumbled ruins, which until quite recently were the homes of the Arabic-speaking villagers who occupy the site.

Mesopotamia is famed as the birthplace of civilization, the area where mankind first learned to cultivate crops and, later, live in cities. Stand on the remains of the citadel at Harran and gaze out to the south and you'll see a series of low but prominent "hills" rising above the flatness of the plain. These are tels (höyük in Turkish), or artificial mounds, comprising layer upon layer of the accumulated debris left by the rebuilding of a settlement on the same site -- many dating back to 5,000 B.C. and some much earlier.

Harran was clearly already a settlement of some importance when it was visited by the biblical figure of Abraham around 4,000 years ago. Revered by Muslims as a prophet, by Christians as a model of faith and Jews as a patriarch blessed by God, Abraham is a cornerstone of the monotheistic faiths. Appropriately enough given the continuation of nomadic pastoralism by the Arabs hereabouts to this very day, Abraham was a shepherd. En route from Ur of the Chaldeans (in modern Iraq) to the land of Canaan, he stopped off here. It must have been to his extended families' liking, as some of them, including his brother, stayed behind. Later, unable to find a wife for his son Isaac locally, he sent word to his distant relatives in Harran and they came up with Rebecca.

In the centuries following Abraham's departure to Canaan, the Assyrians and then the Babylonians held sway in Harran. In 53 B.C. the famous Roman general Crassus, at that time one of the Triumvirate ruling Rome along with Pompey and Caesar, met a very sticky end near Harran (or Carrhae, as it was known to the Romans). Anxious to prove his military muscle and line his pockets with plunder, Crassus, newly appointed governor of the wealthy Roman province of Syria, decided to try his luck against Rome's arch rivals to the east of their empire, the Parthians (a Persian dynasty). Despite superior numerical odds, Crassus and his legions were undone by a combination of punishingly hot weather and the Parthians' famous bowmen. Over 20,000 Romans died, one of the most catastrophic defeats in Rome's history. Crassus himself was captured and brought before the Parthian commander Surena. Appalled by Crassus' reputation for greed, Surena came up with a fitting reward for Crassus, who was killed by having molten gold poured down his throat.

Things didn't go much better for another notable Roman, this time the Emperor Caracalla. In A.D. 217, campaigning in the area against the Parthians, he decided to seek the blessings of the moon god Sin, whose temple is almost certainly beneath the medieval remains of the citadel in Harran. Struck down with a stomach bug (not an unusual occurrence in this area even today) en route from Şanlıurfa to Harran, he sought relief behind some wayside bushes. Caught with his trousers (or rather tunic) down, he was helpless to prevent a member of his Praetorian guard, angry that he had been overlooked for promotion, from cutting him down.

Of course trying to find the exact site of Crassus' defeat, let alone the bushes where Caracalla met such an embarrassing end, is nigh on impossible. Things improved for today's visitor with the arrival of the Arabs in the seventh century. They took control of the city from the Byzantines (despite the strengthening of the city walls by the Emperor Theodosius in the sixth century) and, under the Umayyad dynasty, Harran became, briefly, capital of the entire Islamic world. The remains of the massive Ulu Camii, built during the reign of Marwan II (744-50), still stand in splendid isolation in the middle of the old walled city. This, the first mosque ever built on what is now Turkish soil, is of typical Arab design (based on the Prophet Muhammad's house in Medina) with a large open courtyard centered on the şadırvan (ablutions fountain) and a large, rectangular prayer hall divided into four aisles. The layout of the mosque, which for the most part stands only to a few courses of stone high, is best seen from the dusty mound to the south. Currently being excavated by a team from Ankara, the buildings being unearthed from beneath the mound are thought to be from the palace of Marwan and his successors, and from the school of medicine for which Harran was famous. The monumental square minaret on the northeast corner of the courtyard, with its lower sections of well-cut stone blocks, the upper of brick, was taken for a church belfry by Lawrence of Arabia when passing by in 1909.

Destroyed by Mongols in 1260

Although the mosque was rebuilt by the Ayyubid dynasty (of whom the most famous member was that scourge of the Crusaders, Saladin) in the 12th century, Harran's glory days were over, and in 1260 it was destroyed by the Mongols. The settlement then entered a period of decline from which, with the turning on of the irrigation taps of the colossal Atatürk Dam in the mountains far to the north, it is only just beginning to emerge. Indeed, in the 19th century the place was only seasonally inhabited by wandering Bedouin tribes. When the British missionary Reverend Percy Badger came in 1843, he wrote: "On the projecting angles of this ruined edifice the Arabs have erected their conical huts with the bricks which are scattered about most plentifully in this enclosed space. Not far from the castle is a small eminence literally covered with several hundred of these quaint habitations, some of which consist of three cones, whilst others have no more than one. All are now deserted, the Arabs having taken to their tents to escape the vermin which infest them during this season."

The beehive-shaped houses survive in some quantity today, much to the delight of visiting photographers, but are now mainly used to house animals. A visit here is as much one to a village as to an ancient site, and ethnically Arab kids, ranging from the cute to the downright pesky, follow you around trying to sell wall hangings made from dry chickpeas, or to beg pens or money. It's a tourist trap, but the substantial collection of beehive houses set around a shady courtyard and known as the Harran Kültür Evleri offer a respite from the heat, dust and kids. Here you can examine the inside of one of the domed houses and marvel at its clever construction and cool interior, drink a refreshing Turkish çay or a tiny cup of the local specialty, mırra, a scented, bitter coffee. Owner Reşat, a tall and distinguished Arab, with a gold tooth and flowing Bedouin robes, is very welcoming.

It's worth exploring the citadel, in the southwest corner of the old walled city, with three of its four original polygonal towers still reasonably intact, though take care as there are several gaping holes in the upper floors of the structure. It's possible that under the masonry you see today, much of it dating only from the Mameluke period, there are the remains of a Sabian temple (a second is thought to lie under the mound behind the Ulu Camii). Sabianism, mentioned in the Quran, was the dominant religion in Harran from around 1,500 B.C. until A.D. 11th or 12th century. Accused of human sacrifice and orgiastic rites by some early Christian commentators, the Sabians worshipped the planets, especially the moon god Sin. They prayed three times each day -- at sunrise, noon and sunset, and used a different temple each day, one for each of seven celestial deities -- the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. No one is sure what happened to the Sabians, though some believe that the Mandaeans of today's Iraq derive from this once powerful faith.

Harran is one of those places that is far more than the sum of its parts, where you sense history as much as see it. Towards sundown the shadow cast by the minaret of the great mosque lengthens across the broken, earth-covered remnants of this once mighty settlement. The shattered walls and towers of the citadel wrap themselves in a dark mantle and the gangs of village kids, with sun-bleached hair and piercing green eyes, slip away home for their supper. The curves of the domed "beehive" houses are silhouetted dramatically against a vast orange-pink sky and, with nightfall quickening, the sky purples, then darkens and a blanket of stars emerges, blurrily coruscating against a soft, black Mesopotamian sky.


[QUICK TIPS]

How to get here

There are regular flights to Şanlıurfa from İstanbul and Ankara. Dolmuşes run to Harran from the terminal in Şanlıurfa and take around an hour, or hire a taxi.

Where to stay

There is plenty of accommodation in all categories in Şanlıurfa, but to make the most of Harran, stay at the air-conditioned Bazda Motel (Tel: [414] 441 2001) in the village just outside the western walls or, if you have a sleeping bag, the Harran Kültür Evleri.

Guides and reading matter

"The Rough Guide to Turkey," "Blue Guide Turkey" and "Lonely Planet Turkey," "The Nestorians and Their Rituals" by Reverend George Percy Badger.

Trabzon Travel

Trabzon, in Turkey's remote northeastern corner, may be a fascinating, vibrant city, but the sad truth is that for most visitors it's merely a stepping stone on the way to their real target: Sümela, an extraordinary monastery that clings to the mountainside, seemingly defying gravity, southeast of the small town of Maçka.

Even if you've never heard of Sümela you will almost certainly know what it looks like, because it's one of those images, like those of Pamukkale and Cappadocia, that tourist offices love to display as bait for their guests. Remember a picture of a crumbling ruin high up above the pine trees with no obvious means of access? Yes, that's Sümela.

You can hardly help but ask how it came to be there, and the answer lies in a story that tracks right back to the fourth century when Sts. Barnabas and Sophronius came to the area in search of an icon of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Meryamana in Turkish), supposedly painted by St. Luke. Unlikely as it may seem, they finally found the icon way up on the mountain, where they established a shelter to protect it. Over time, word of the discovery spread and the shelter swelled into a shrine, complete with beautiful frescoes on its rock-cut ceiling. By the time the Ottomans came roaring into Trabzon its fame was so great that they too took an interest in the shrine, paying for more frescoes to be painted on the outside walls of a monastic church that had been painstakingly built onto the rock face.

But of course, there was no happy ending to the story. As the centuries wore on, so the number of monks prepared to live in such a remote location dwindled to a handful. Then in 1924 came the Greek-Turkish population exchange at the end of the Turkish War of Independence, which meant that the few remaining Christian monks were required to leave the country.

One might have thought that the monastery's remote location would have protected it from damage once it had been abandoned, but unfortunately graffiti artists were unable to resist leaving their tags on the frescoes, while some "art-lovers" went so far as to chisel away whole sections of the paintwork for themselves. Finally, a decision was made to rebuild the entire complex on the mountainside, a process which is now virtually complete. Some purists will probably dislike the end result, with its distinctive new roofs, but it's far from being the worst restoration in Turkey, and certainly makes it easier for the average layperson to envisage how life might have been lived up here among the birds.

Although there are many organized tours to Sümela, it's perfectly easy to get there under your own steam, either by car or using a local minibus. The ride out there takes some time to break free of the ugly Trabzon overspill, but once you reach Maçka the scenery bucks up considerably, until finally you reach the Altındere National Park which protects the monastery and its surroundings. The zigzag walk up the rock face is a stiff one which requires sturdy footwear -- and coming down again can be especially treacherous, especially after rain when the wet leaves on the path are more slippery than banana skins.

Sümela may be the most obvious excursion destination from Trabzon, but its sheer popularity sometimes overshadows all the other possibilities. Local travel agents are usually most enthusiastic about Uzungöl, a popular picnic spot on the banks of the long lake from which it took its name. The trouble is that Westerners who go there probably anticipate finding the same sort of pristine scenery and inviting log chalets as seen in the Alps. But this is Turkey, and more specifically the eastern end of the Black Sea, which means that concrete structures have insinuated their way even onto the shores of the sea. Much better, perhaps, to get out of the eastward-heading bus as it leaves the small town of Sürmene where, on the inland side of the road, you will be able to visit the Kastell, one of the finest surviving examples of the sort of fortified house once favored by the "derebeys," the local lords who held sway around here during the late Ottoman period.

Not a great deal is definitely known about the Kastell (now signposted as Memiş Ağa Konağı), although it probably dates from the middle of the nineteenth century when it was built for a member of the Yakupoğlu family. Externally, it's an imposing building, its stone-built ground floor supporting a distinctively half-timbered upper storey, but really it's the lovely woodwork of the interior that you've come to see, along with the frescoes of local fruits that adorn the walls of the selamlık (the men's room), the fine stone-built fireplaces, and the curious private hamam that provided central heating for the house.

Across the road from the Kastell is another fine house, apparently also due for restoration. Hard though it is to believe it now, these two houses once looked straight out onto the sea. Now they have the newly completed (or almost completed) Black Sea highway in front of them. As you return to the center of Sürmene, look towards the inland side of the road to see a cluster of Ottoman houses with so many windows that the walls could almost be made of glass. These are thought to have been a later development from the architecture of the Kastell, designed at a time when life was more stable, and homes no longer needed to be semi-fortified.

One other day-trip destination from Trabzon is likely to be much less obvious. If you don't turn off the road towards Maçka but instead keep heading south you will come eventually to Gümüşhane, a small town whose name means "Silver House", a clue to a past far more illustrious than the dreary modern settlement might suggest. The secret here is to head inland immediately for what the locals call the Süleymaniye Mahallesi but which is also known as Eski Gümüşhane (Old Gümüşhane). It's a lovely drive up into the hills to a virtually abandoned settlement where just five or six families still hang on amid the ruins of a ghost town that grew rich on the proceeds of silver-mining, which kept going here until the nineteenth century. The authorities seem to have exhausted their enthusiasm for advertising the site with the huge pictures in the bus terminal, but if you pick the right taxi driver, he should be able to point out the ruins of the old Greek church, the old Armenian church, and the original school. A once magnificent Ottoman house with paintings on its facades is still just about standing, and you will be able to pick out many other anonymous ruins amid the rosehips and apple orchards.

Afterwards, you will feel more than justified in returning to modern Gümüşhane to stock up on pestil (fruit leather) and köme (fruit sausage), the two sweet delicacies stocked by every other local shop.

WHERE TO STAY: Most people will stay in Trabzon but the following accommodation is in Maçka.

Coşandere Pansiyon Tel: 0462-531 1190

Hotel Büyük Sümela Tel: 0462-512 3540

Maçkam Hotel Tel: 0462-512 3640

HOW TO GET THERE: There are daily flights from İstanbul and Ankara to Trabzon, and buses from all local towns including Erzurum and Iğdır. Minibuses for Sümela, Uzungöl and Sürmene leave from the minibus terminal facing the harbor, buses to Gümüşhane from the main bus terminal.

Adana Travel

Famed for what has become one of Turkey's most ubiquitous dishes, the spicy minced meat Adana kebab, and for the cotton production which kick-started the 20th century economic boom of this still growing city, Adana is less well-known as a tourist destination.

This is at least partially understandable, with the Mediterranean a good 30 kilometers or so away to the south, the surrounding flatlands of the über fertile Çukurova plain lacking the picturesqueness associated with more conventional holiday spots and urban and industrial sprawl inexorably working their way out into the countryside surrounding this, Turkey's fifth largest conurbation. But there is enough history in the city itself to keep most people occupied for at least a day, and with much to see in the immediate environs a weekend's jaunt to Adana can be approached with some enthusiasm, especially given the city's wide range of hotels and eating places.

A good starting point is the monumental (it can hold 28,000 worshippers) Sabancı Camii, the largest mosque in Turkey. Completed in 1998, its massive bulk is symbolic of the piety of many of Adana's inhabitants, who raised half of its enormous budget, and of the powerful Sabancı family, who coughed-up the other 50 percent. In classic rags-to-riches fashion, in 1921 the penniless teenager Ömer Sabancı walked from his Central Anatolian village home south across the Toros Mountains to the Çukurova plain near Adana. He worked himself up from picking cotton in the fields to running his own spinning plant before founding, in the 1950s, the largest textile manufacturing company in Turkey. Every Turk knows the rest of the story, as Sabancı Holdings is now the second largest company in the country.

To be frank, the vast majority of new mosques in Turkey lack any architectural merit and most are poor, ill-proportioned concrete imitations of their sublime Ottoman forerunners. This does not hold true with the Sabancı Camii. OK, it is largely concrete (though you'd never tell as the grey stuff is well-hidden beneath beautifully executed stone-cladding outside and tile and painted plasterwork inside) but it is well-proportioned and artfully situated right on the banks of the pretty Seyhan River, which strikes through the heart of the city. From the outside, the mosque looks very much like the famous Blue or Sultan Ahmet Mosque in İstanbul, with six towering minarets just like its early 17th century precursor in the distant metropolis, whilst the interior is reminiscent of Ottoman architect Sinan's masterpiece, the Selimiye Camii, in even more distant Edirne. Seen against a typically dramatic Çukorova afternoon sky, with mountains of appropriately cotton-white cumulus clouds enveloping a vast blue sky, it is a breathtaking sight.

The Seyhan River, along with the Ceyhan a little further to the east, brought down the silt from the Toros which has made the Çukurova so fertile. It is spanned by an ancient bridge best viewed from the riverbank just east of the Sabancı Camii, the so-called Taşköprü (stone bridge). Possibly first constructed in the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the second century with some 21 arches, it has been rebuilt many times over the ages, notably during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and several times in the Ottoman era. The number of arches has been reduced to 14 over time, but it is still an impressive sight, especially when there is no wind and the calm surface of the sluggish river mirrors the bridge's graceful form.

The old bridge is visible proof that Adana's history stretches back at least to Roman times, but the Archaeology Museum, just a couple of hundred meters back towards town from the Sabancı Camii, shows that the origins of today's city can be traced back much further. The fine statue of the storm god Tarhunzas in a chariot astride a pair of bulls dates back to the neo-Hittite period (circa 1100-700 B.C.) though in legend Adana takes it name from the Danaoi, a group of settlers who fled Troy after was sacked by the Achaean Greeks back in 1100 B.C. Upstairs in the museum is a tiny but exquisite crystal statue of a Hittite god, some beautiful Hellenistic Greek and Roman era gold jewelry and an extensive coin collection. There's enough here to keep your attention for a couple of hours, and the museum garden, with its motley collection of Neo-Hittite and Roman statuary, is a pleasure to wander around.

To the Romans, who conquered the area in the first century B.C., the area around Adana was known not as the Çukurova, but as Cilicia. It became a part of the Byzantine Empire following the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity in the fourth century, but in the seventh century the Muslim Arabs took it. The Selçuk Turks, also Muslim, arrived in the 11th century, but from the 12th to the 14th centuries, it was the Cilician Kingdom of Armenia and Christian once again. In 1515 it became a part of the Ottoman world, and the most notable building in the center of the town, the Ulu Camii (Great Mosque), dates from this period. It's a lovely structure, faced with the contrasting bands of dark and light stone so common further south in Aleppo and further east in Gaziantep and Diyarbakır. Other buildings worth seeing are the 19th century Bebekli Catholic Church, the clock tower dating from the same era and the colorful Kazancılar Çarşısı (Bazaar of the Cauldron Makers).

Also in the city center is the Ethnographic Museum housed in an old Greek Orthodox church. It exhibits some fine kilims and a black goat hair tent, a reminder that the Yörük nomads of the Toros Mountains -- which are not far north of the city and are visible on clear days -- used to winter on the relatively warm flat Çukurova plain hereabouts.

One of Adana province's most famous sons, and certainly the best-known Turkish author outside his native land (along with Orhan Pamuk) is Yaşar Kemal. Before setting out for Adana and the surrounding Çukorova, try and read one of his stirring novels set in the 1920s. Dealing with the cruel lot of the oppressed peasantry migrating seasonally from their villages in the foothills of the Toros to the plain for the cotton-picking season, Kemal's novels are part Homeric epic, part social commentary.

Head east from Adana, and there are the Cilician Armenian castles of first Yılan Kalesi and then Toprakkale, both within an hour's drive. North of Osmaniye, in the pleasantly wooded foothills of the Toros, are the substantial remnants of the classical-era Hierapolis Castabella. A little further north lies the remarkable Neo-Hittite site of Karatepe, with its wonderful rock-relief carvings and fine views over the Aslantaş Dam. There are plenty of pleasant picnic spots on the shores of the Seyhan Dam directly north of Adana, and to the northeast are the remains of the castle of the Cilician Armenian capital at Kozan. Along with Karatepe, though, the most worthwhile day's outing is to Anavarza, which has extensive and substantial ruins largely from the late-Roman and Byzantine periods.

It wouldn't do to leave Adana without sampling one its famous kebabs, best washed down with another local speciality, şalgam, a bitter red juice derived from turnips and carrots, which are fermented and then spiced with chili before serving. Şalgam, like the city of Adana itself, is an acquired taste, but one well worth a try.

[TRAVEL TIPS]

HOW TO GET HERE Daily flights link Adana with İstanbul and Ankara. There are less fr:equent departures from Antalya. Inter-city coaches travel to the city at reasonable rates from virtually every town and city across Turkey.

WHERE TO STAY: Expensive: Seyhan Hotel Tel 0322/457 5818, ww.otelseyhan.com. Right by the Archaeology Museum and Sabancı Mosque; great buffet breakfast and views across to the river. Budget: Mercan Tel 0322/351 2603 www.otelmercan.com. Excellent value and spotless city-center hotel.

WHERE TO EAT: Yüzevler Tel 0322/454 7513 Ziyapaşa Bulvarı. The place where locals head for their Adana kebab fix.

GUIDES AND BOOKS: Blue, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides to Turkey; The Wind from the Plain, Undying Grass and Iron Earth, Copper Sky trilogy by Yaşar Kemal.

Adana Travel

Famed for what has become one of Turkey's most ubiquitous dishes, the spicy minced meat Adana kebab, and for the cotton production which kick-started the 20th century economic boom of this still growing city, Adana is less well-known as a tourist destination.

This is at least partially understandable, with the Mediterranean a good 30 kilometers or so away to the south, the surrounding flatlands of the über fertile Çukurova plain lacking the picturesqueness associated with more conventional holiday spots and urban and industrial sprawl inexorably working their way out into the countryside surrounding this, Turkey's fifth largest conurbation. But there is enough history in the city itself to keep most people occupied for at least a day, and with much to see in the immediate environs a weekend's jaunt to Adana can be approached with some enthusiasm, especially given the city's wide range of hotels and eating places.

A good starting point is the monumental (it can hold 28,000 worshippers) Sabancı Camii, the largest mosque in Turkey. Completed in 1998, its massive bulk is symbolic of the piety of many of Adana's inhabitants, who raised half of its enormous budget, and of the powerful Sabancı family, who coughed-up the other 50 percent. In classic rags-to-riches fashion, in 1921 the penniless teenager Ömer Sabancı walked from his Central Anatolian village home south across the Toros Mountains to the Çukurova plain near Adana. He worked himself up from picking cotton in the fields to running his own spinning plant before founding, in the 1950s, the largest textile manufacturing company in Turkey. Every Turk knows the rest of the story, as Sabancı Holdings is now the second largest company in the country.

To be frank, the vast majority of new mosques in Turkey lack any architectural merit and most are poor, ill-proportioned concrete imitations of their sublime Ottoman forerunners. This does not hold true with the Sabancı Camii. OK, it is largely concrete (though you'd never tell as the grey stuff is well-hidden beneath beautifully executed stone-cladding outside and tile and painted plasterwork inside) but it is well-proportioned and artfully situated right on the banks of the pretty Seyhan River, which strikes through the heart of the city. From the outside, the mosque looks very much like the famous Blue or Sultan Ahmet Mosque in İstanbul, with six towering minarets just like its early 17th century precursor in the distant metropolis, whilst the interior is reminiscent of Ottoman architect Sinan's masterpiece, the Selimiye Camii, in even more distant Edirne. Seen against a typically dramatic Çukorova afternoon sky, with mountains of appropriately cotton-white cumulus clouds enveloping a vast blue sky, it is a breathtaking sight.

The Seyhan River, along with the Ceyhan a little further to the east, brought down the silt from the Toros which has made the Çukurova so fertile. It is spanned by an ancient bridge best viewed from the riverbank just east of the Sabancı Camii, the so-called Taşköprü (stone bridge). Possibly first constructed in the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the second century with some 21 arches, it has been rebuilt many times over the ages, notably during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and several times in the Ottoman era. The number of arches has been reduced to 14 over time, but it is still an impressive sight, especially when there is no wind and the calm surface of the sluggish river mirrors the bridge's graceful form.

The old bridge is visible proof that Adana's history stretches back at least to Roman times, but the Archaeology Museum, just a couple of hundred meters back towards town from the Sabancı Camii, shows that the origins of today's city can be traced back much further. The fine statue of the storm god Tarhunzas in a chariot astride a pair of bulls dates back to the neo-Hittite period (circa 1100-700 B.C.) though in legend Adana takes it name from the Danaoi, a group of settlers who fled Troy after was sacked by the Achaean Greeks back in 1100 B.C. Upstairs in the museum is a tiny but exquisite crystal statue of a Hittite god, some beautiful Hellenistic Greek and Roman era gold jewelry and an extensive coin collection. There's enough here to keep your attention for a couple of hours, and the museum garden, with its motley collection of Neo-Hittite and Roman statuary, is a pleasure to wander around.

To the Romans, who conquered the area in the first century B.C., the area around Adana was known not as the Çukurova, but as Cilicia. It became a part of the Byzantine Empire following the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity in the fourth century, but in the seventh century the Muslim Arabs took it. The Selçuk Turks, also Muslim, arrived in the 11th century, but from the 12th to the 14th centuries, it was the Cilician Kingdom of Armenia and Christian once again. In 1515 it became a part of the Ottoman world, and the most notable building in the center of the town, the Ulu Camii (Great Mosque), dates from this period. It's a lovely structure, faced with the contrasting bands of dark and light stone so common further south in Aleppo and further east in Gaziantep and Diyarbakır. Other buildings worth seeing are the 19th century Bebekli Catholic Church, the clock tower dating from the same era and the colorful Kazancılar Çarşısı (Bazaar of the Cauldron Makers).

Also in the city center is the Ethnographic Museum housed in an old Greek Orthodox church. It exhibits some fine kilims and a black goat hair tent, a reminder that the Yörük nomads of the Toros Mountains -- which are not far north of the city and are visible on clear days -- used to winter on the relatively warm flat Çukurova plain hereabouts.

One of Adana province's most famous sons, and certainly the best-known Turkish author outside his native land (along with Orhan Pamuk) is Yaşar Kemal. Before setting out for Adana and the surrounding Çukorova, try and read one of his stirring novels set in the 1920s. Dealing with the cruel lot of the oppressed peasantry migrating seasonally from their villages in the foothills of the Toros to the plain for the cotton-picking season, Kemal's novels are part Homeric epic, part social commentary.

Head east from Adana, and there are the Cilician Armenian castles of first Yılan Kalesi and then Toprakkale, both within an hour's drive. North of Osmaniye, in the pleasantly wooded foothills of the Toros, are the substantial remnants of the classical-era Hierapolis Castabella. A little further north lies the remarkable Neo-Hittite site of Karatepe, with its wonderful rock-relief carvings and fine views over the Aslantaş Dam. There are plenty of pleasant picnic spots on the shores of the Seyhan Dam directly north of Adana, and to the northeast are the remains of the castle of the Cilician Armenian capital at Kozan. Along with Karatepe, though, the most worthwhile day's outing is to Anavarza, which has extensive and substantial ruins largely from the late-Roman and Byzantine periods.

It wouldn't do to leave Adana without sampling one its famous kebabs, best washed down with another local speciality, şalgam, a bitter red juice derived from turnips and carrots, which are fermented and then spiced with chili before serving. Şalgam, like the city of Adana itself, is an acquired taste, but one well worth a try.

[TRAVEL TIPS]

HOW TO GET HERE Daily flights link Adana with İstanbul and Ankara. There are less fr:equent departures from Antalya. Inter-city coaches travel to the city at reasonable rates from virtually every town and city across Turkey.

WHERE TO STAY: Expensive: Seyhan Hotel Tel 0322/457 5818, ww.otelseyhan.com. Right by the Archaeology Museum and Sabancı Mosque; great buffet breakfast and views across to the river. Budget: Mercan Tel 0322/351 2603 www.otelmercan.com. Excellent value and spotless city-center hotel.

WHERE TO EAT: Yüzevler Tel 0322/454 7513 Ziyapaşa Bulvarı. The place where locals head for their Adana kebab fix.

GUIDES AND BOOKS: Blue, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides to Turkey; The Wind from the Plain, Undying Grass and Iron Earth, Copper Sky trilogy by Yaşar Kemal.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Lake Bafa

Taking a vacation in the tiny village of Kapıkırı on the shores of Bafa Gölü (Lake Bafa) is rather like staying in a giant farmyard. It's a place where you fall asleep to the sound of a barn owl screeching across the rooftops and wake to the crow of the rooster staking out his domain.

It's a place where you will have to pause to allow groups of slow-moving cattle being herded by villagers on donkeys to pass by and where the air is heavy with the scent of dung. And it's a place where the shortest of walks amid the ruins of ancient Heracleia ad Latmos (Heraklia) is likely to be made in the company of a mixed bag of mongrel dogs, their progress around the village watched with wary eyes by an equally ragtag collection of cats.

For most people Bafa Gölü is a glorious expanse of blue that they whip past en route from Selçuk to Bodrum and where, perhaps, they might pause for a meal at a restaurant overlooking the remains of a Byzantine monastery marooned on an offshore island. Kapıkırı lies at the southern end of the lake, and the authorities seem determined to ensure that as few people as possible get to see it. The dolmuş that used to link the village to the main road is no more, and the admission fee for the ruins was recently hiked to YTL 8, making it more expensive to visit than either Termessos or Patara. Still, for those who do make the effort, this is an unforgettable slice of deepest rural Turkey surviving within an hour or so's drive of the coastal madness.

Kapıkırı, a village of just 320 residents, sits in the shadow of the Beşparmak (Five-Fingered) Mountains, an extraordinarily craggy range, which might as well have been named Onparmak (Ten-Fingered) or Yüzparmak (One Hundred-Fingered) for all you will be able to make out any specific peaks. But what makes Kapıkırı so special is that the surrounding terrain is a mass of rocks and boulders, amongst which stand the remains of a settlement dating back to the time of the Greek colonies that used to dominate this stretch of the Aegean. Rocks and ruins are so closely intertwined that sometimes it's hard to tell them apart. It's something that the area shares with better-known Cappadocia, although here, of course, the scenery is much more lush and green, the surrounding fields full of venerable old olive trees.

In as far as Heracleia ad Latmos is famous for anything, it's famous as the supposed setting for one of the best-known of all Greek myths. It was here that an especially handsome shepherd boy called Endymion asked Zeus to grant him eternal youth and beauty, although in the usual way of things mythological, he paid a heavy price for his pleasure by having to endure endless sleep in a cave on Mt. Latmos in return. Endymion was spotted by the moon goddess Selene, who fell in love with him. Despite his perpetual sleepiness, nothing could stand in the way of the determined goddess who made love to him as he slept, fathering 50 daughters by him before her passion was spent. Today, what is thought to have been a shrine to Endymion, a small temple with an apse fronted by five pillars, stands guard over the lakeshore, not far from the inevitable Selene's Pension.

But there is much more to see in Kapıkırı than just the shrine. Signs about the village point to a bouleterion (council house), a group of column bases in someone's backyard and to an agora (market place), which stood where once there was a village schoolhouse, itself now ancient history; the most imposing structure here is a hefty wall pierced with windows that runs alongside the old playing field. From here it's also possible to see the shell of an ancient temple to Athena standing alone on a bluff overlooking the lake. Scant remains of an ancient theater can just about be picked out amid boulders that lie scattered behind the village, and it's also possible to make out parts of the walls and towers that would once have ringed the settlement.

Not much is known about ancient Heracleia, and archeologists suspect that the remains make it appear more important that it actually was, most power in the region having been monopolized by Miletus, a little further north. Its fate was sealed, in any case, by the changing shape of the shoreline. Bafa Gölü was originally an inlet in the coast, but over time the Büyük Menderes River deposited so much silt along the side of it that eventually it was cut off to form a lake, leaving Heracleia with no direct access to the sea.

Hard though it is to believe, what is now such a serene setting seems to have been a place of constant strife in the early Middle Ages, as evidenced by the ruins of many Byzantine castles both on the shore and on the islands in the lake. The first of these castles bestrides a headland signposted as you come into the village. The ruins make a wonderful spot from which to get your bearings and to look down on the remains of ancient Carian rock tombs cut into a tiny offshore islet.

The remains of another castle sit just offshore from the village's small beach, and in dry summers the water sometimes drops low enough to walk across to them. These ruins are especially romantic when seen by moonlight, but even better are those of İkizada (Twin Islands), which can be seen on boat trips out onto the lake. The most imposing can only be viewed from afar, but it's possible to land on one of the two "islands" to examine the remains in greater detail and look down on a spit of sand that joins what actually turns out to be a peninsula to the mainland.

The boat trips are a wonderful way to see some of the rich birdlife that inhabits the lake, including flamingoes that winter here amid the more common coots, grebes, egrets and herons. More than 200 species of bird have been recorded in the area, which is especially popular with birdwatchers in spring and autumn.

Kapıkırı's other treasures keep a very low profile, and to find them you will need to employ a local guide (pension owners are happy to oblige). In the eighth century a large community of monks seems to have settled here, offering yet another parallel with Cappadocia. Here, too, they painted frescoes on rock-cut shrines, some of them little more than shelters, others such as the monastery at Yediler, far more substantial. Even more unexpected -- and even harder to find without help -- are extraordinary prehistoric rock paintings, featuring many hands and feet, along with sketches of women with such large posteriors that they look almost like ostriches. Most of the local pensions are fairly simple and insist on half-board terms. The breakfasts are splendid, true köy kahvaltıs (village breakfasts) with all the trimmings in keeping with the rural setting.

WHERE TO STAY: The following are all inside the village, except Club Natura, which is beside the lake on the main road.

Agora Pension: 0252 543 5445

Club Natura Oliva: 0252 519 1072

Haus Yasemin Pension: 0252 543 5598

Pelikan Pension: 0252 543 5158

Selene's Pension: 0252 543 5221

HOW TO GET THERE: Regular buses and dolmuşes plough the highway between Milas and Söke. Get out at Çamiçi (Bafa) and take a taxi to the village or phone for your pension to pick you up from the junction

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Mugla Travel

With its climate, natural wonders and a historical past that goes back thousands of years, the province of Muğla attracts the attention of everyone who goes there or even hears about it.

And on these autumn days, when tourists want to enjoy not only natural wonders and the sea, but also an interesting journey back in time, many of them head to Muğla's districts of Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye and Datça, as well as the towns of Ölüdeniz and Dalyan. Tourists can experience the pleasures of the sea and the natural beauty of Muğla while also exploring some of the incredible structures left over from the Seljuk and Ottoman periods here, as well as some ancient ruins around Muğla which are even older.

For tourists heading to this region especially for a historical journey through the area, a favored route is the following:

The Beçin, Bodrum, Keramos and Marmaris castles; the Bodrum Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; the Mars Temple; the Myndos, Knidos, Amos, Telmessos and Caunus city ruins; the Patara, Labranda, Pinara and Stratonikeia ruins; the Lycian rock tombs; the ancient city of Lagina; the Leton Temple and the Bodrum Museum, with its rich collection of treasures found underwater.

HOW TO GET HERE:
There are daily flights to Dalaman on Turkish Airlines (THY), Atlasjet, Pegasus and Onur Air from Ankara and İstanbul. Dalyan is a short drive away. If leaving from İstanbul, one can use the TEM highway, passing through İzmit, Bursa and Balıkesir. The İstanbul to Muğla trip is an eight-hour drive of approximately 830 kilometers. If you take a ferry from İstanbul to Bandırma, you will travel more comfortably for a good portion of the route.

WHERE TO STAY: Club Viva Hotel. Tel: 212 414 27 77. A five-star hotel that is close to archaeological sites. Meridyen Apart. Tel: 212 414 27 77. Affordable with an a la carte menu. Close to the sea.

WHERE TO EAT: Ömer'in Yeri, 214 92 26, Cami Kebir Mah. Pabuççular Sokak. Offers traditional home-style Turkish dishes. Köşem Restaurant, 212 05 09, Marmaris Bulvarı.

The ancient cities of KAUNOS and KAYAKOY

Boats leave regularly from Dalyan taking tourists to the ancient city of Kaunos. A 10-minute walk from the dock where the boat anchors will bring you to the site of the ancient city's ruins. Some people visit this site by private yacht, anchoring at Delikli Island and making their way by a little boat to the docks here.

As a port city, Kaunos was historically important in terms of trade. As the sea around it filled with alluvium over time, this city lost its special role as a port city. When the Persians took over Anatolia, the city came under the control of Mausolos. And when Alexander defeated the Persians in 334 B.C., the city was ruled first by Princess Ada, then Antigonos and later still Ptolemaios.

Kayaköy, an ancient village close to Ölüdeniz, has been labeled a World Friendship and Peace Village by UNESCO and attracts a great deal of interest from tourists and photographers from all over the world. Tourists arrive by car and bus and can take guided tours of the historical areas of interest. The history of Kayaköy actually stretches back as far as 3000 B.C., and visitors who come here have the chance to see sarcophagi and tombs that belonged to the Lycian civilization.

In the first nine months of 2008 alone, Kayaköy was visited by nearly 55,000 local and foreign tourists.

The province of Muğla has a 1,100 kilometer Aegean shoreline, which boasts some of the world's most jagged, uneven coastal features, with all sorts of large and small bays, gulfs, outcroppings, tiny islands, villages and, of course, the ports of Bodrum, Fethiye, Marmaris and Güllük. Some of its finest landscape is in the Gulf of Gökova: This is a gulf of unparalleled beauty, with forests and fruit orchards that lie just behind the shorelines almost like lace around a piece of fabric. This is one of the most physically beautiful corners of Muğla, with its islands, sand and sea. Also worthy of note is Ölüdeniz: About 15 minutes from Fethiye, the sea is unusually clear here. Yachts are forbidden from entering Ölüdeniz in order to keep its waters as clear as possible. At Babadağ, which features peaks as high as 1,800 meters, you can parachute from the cliffs all seasons of the year.

DALYAN Strait and the iztuzu Beach

Dalyan, which is located in the district of Ortaca, has an extremely unusual ecosystem thanks to the Dalyan delta, formed as a result of thousands of years of tectonic movement here.

The Dalyan delta is surrounded to its east and west by forested mountains and was formed by the 12-kilometer-long strait that connects Lake Köyceğiz to the sea. This strait is lined by reeds on both sides, making it look like some sort of labyrinth.

The Dalyan Strait reaches the sea at the famous Iztuzu Beach. This beach stretches for five kilometers, and its sands are constantly changing due to the unusual tidal patterns here. This is also a site where the famous Caretta caretta sea turtle lays its eggs seasonally.

Tourists visiting Dalyan also have a chance to see the so-called King's Cemetery, which is an extension of the ancient city of Kaunos. There are 167 stone tombs located here.

Of course, the phenomenon of yacht tourism is also alive and well in Muğla, as there are 131 villages along the Muğla coastline, each more beautiful than the next.

When it comes to yacht tourism, places like Göcek, Fethiye, Marmaris, Dalaman, Ekincik, Datça, Hisarönü, Gökova and Bodrum all stand out. The three marinas located in Marmaris alone have the moorage to anchor 3,000-4,000 yachts. And the four marinas in Göcek have always at least 1,000 yachts in them, in winter and summer. More than 100,000 yachts and boats make their way in and out of the Bodrum, Marmaris, Yalıkavak, Turgutreis, Fethiye and Göçek marinas every year.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Aydin Districts

Area: 8.007 km²

Population: 950.757 (2000)

Traffic Code: 09

Heir to Anatolia's rich historical heritage and natural beauty, Aydın was conquered by the Trallians who founded the city of Tralles on the top of the old city. Known by such descriptive terms as 'Flowered' and 'Mighty', when the city was leveled by an earthquake, the emperor Andronik rebuilt the city and named it Andropolis after himself. After passing into the hands of the Selçuks, the city was called Aydın Güzelhisarı. During the Ottoman empire it was called "Nefs-i Güzel Hisar der Liva-i Aydın."

Districts

Aydın's district are ;Bozdoğan, Buharkent, Çine, Germencik, İncirliova, Karacasu, Karpuzlu, Koçarlı, Köşk, Kuşadası, Kuyucak, Nazilli, Söke, Sultanhisar, Yenihisar and Yenipazar.

Bozdoğan: Founded on the top of foothills of Madran Mountain, which rises up beside plain fed by Akçay river south of the Büyük Menderes river basin. The remains of historical structures found in this town 76 km from Aydın belong to ages long past. One can see the marks of Roman, Byzantine and Selçuk culture as well. The primary examples of this are the village of Neopolis Kavaklı near Koyuncular village, Körteke Castle and the Cisterns and Aqueducts in the villages of Örtülü and Konaklı.

Buharkent: Situated 86 km. from the city, the local economy is totally dependent upon agriculture. The Kızıldere thermal springs are found in there.

Çine: Located 38 km from Aydın, Çine is one of the oldest and most important settlements of the area because it linked the ancient regions of Caria and Ionia.

Gerga: Situated in the north of Ovacık village 6 km southeast of Eski Çine, the ruins of Gerga, a Carian city which can only be reached by walking up the mountain, are definitely worth seeing in spite of the effort required.

Didim: A neighbor of the ancient cities of Miletus and Priene, it is 108 km from Aydın. With transportation from the Bodrum airport via Akbük, it has some of the best sun, sand and sea in the Aegean region.

It has a rich history and is an important tourist vacation spot, among the best on the Aegean coast. A prophetic oracle in ancient times, there is a large temple dedicated to the sun god Apollon here. The ancients' belief in fate was very powerful and they saw Apollon as a god of prophecy who would reveal their fate.

Karacasu: The road to Karacasu passes through Kuyucak and winds through pine trees and olive and citrus groves along the Dandalas Creek. Karacasu was founded on the slopes of the Dandalas valley which leads into the Büyük Menderes valley from the southeast. Located 87 km from Aydın, the climate and geography of the area is quite different from that of the Menderes river basin. It is more like a highland area. Handcrafts such as carpet-weaving, leatherworking and pottery are quite developed and the area has potential in terms of forest products as well.

Karpuzlu: With the introduction of an irrigation system, this town whose economy is based on agriculture is developing quite rapidly. Alinda is an ancient city worth visiting. It is located on a nearby hill. Founded in 340 BC, the city remains include a theater, stadium, stoa, agora and the city walls, all of which are reasonably well-preserved.

Koçarlı: Twenty-two kilometers from Aydın, it is located in the middle of the Büyük Menderes valley on either side of Koçarlı Creek. Most of the arable land is on the Büyük Menderes plain. An old settlement, there is a castle (Amyzon Castle) near the village of Akmescit.

Kuşadası

Kuyucak: Located on the lower slopes of the Aydın Mountains facing the Menderes valley, it is a typical Turkish settlement. The city of Antiocheia, on the banks of Dandalas Creek, was founded by King Antiochus. This ancient city was a resting point for the commercial caravans with their military escorts traveling between Ephesus and Aphrodisias. The mosque found in the market is one of the town's important historical structures.

Nazilli: It is 45 km from Aydın. The ancient city of Mastaura, founded between the highland villages of Bozkurt and Eyeli 3 km from Nazilli, was, in its time, one of the commercial centers in the Menderes river basin.

Söke: Located 59 km west of Aydın, it was founded on the banks of the Büyük Menderes river. A wealthy city with agriculture, trade, tourism and capital, it is located near the famous cities of Didyma, Miletus and Priene. The ancient city of Priene, sits on a natural platform on the southern slope of Mykale Mountain near the town of Güllübahçe 12 km from Söke.

Sultanhisar: Located 25 km from Aydın, it has a view of the Aydın mountains to the north. Nisa (Nyssa) was founded on the slopes of Malgaç Mountain north of Sultanhisar in a place of incredible natural beauty. There is a 3 km asphalt road which leads to the ruins.

Akaraka (Acharake) can perhaps best be described as a health center which still guards its sacred secrets. It is near the village of Salavatlı and according to ancient records was the worship center of a cult devoted to the gods Pluton and Charo (Kore).

Yenipazar: It is 41 km from Aydın. The ancient city of Orthasia (Ortosi) is 5 km to the east in the village of Donduran. It was founded by the Ionians, but was invaded by the Cimmerian horsemen from the steppes of Asia in the 7th century BC. Later it came under the rule of Lydia, Persia, Rome and the Byzantines.

Alanya Sports

Alanya is home to a woman's basketball team, Alanya Belediye, which started in the first division but was relegated after the 2002 season. The city hosts a second level soccer team, Alanyaspor, although soccer fans in the city are mostly divided between the three major Istanbul teams. The club was founded in 1948, and play home games at Milli Egemenlik Stadium. In 2007, the city began constructing a new soccer facility with the intention of hosting winter competitions between major teams. The public Alanya Municipality Sports Facility is located adjacent to Milli Egemenlik Stadium, which is one of thirteen facilities.

Alanya is perhaps more famous for the annual triathlon, part of the International Triathlon Union series, which has been held every October since 1990.[106] Alanya is also the regular host of The Turkish Open, part of the Nestea European Beach Volleyball championship tour, which takes place in May.[107] In 2007, the Turkish Volleyball Federation persuaded the European Volleyball Confederation to build a beach volleyball training facility in Alanya, and make it the exclusive "center of beach volleyball in Europe". The city is also a frequent host to national events, such as the annual beach handball tournament, and the finish of the seven-day Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey. Other cycling events include the Alanya International Mountain Bike Race. Additionally, the European Cycling Union will have its 2010 European road cycling championship and 2010 ordinary congress meeting in Alanya

Alanya Tourism

Since the first modern motel was built in 1958, considered the first year of the tourist industry in Alanya, hotels have raced to accommodate the influx of tourists, and the city as of 2007 claims 157,000 hotel beds.

Damlataş Cave, which originally sparked the arrival of outsiders because of the cave's microclimate, with an average temperature of 72 °F (22 °C) and 95% humidity, is accessible on the west side of the peninsula with trails from Damlataş Beach.[80] Many tourists, especially Scandinavians, Germans, Russians, and Dutch, regularly vacation in Alanya during the warmer months. They are drawn to the area because of property prices, warm weather, sandy beaches, access to Antalya's historic sites, and fine cuisine. Other outdoor tourist activities include wind surfing, parasailing, banana boating and Turkey's largest go-kart track. Hunting season also attracts some tourist for wild goat, pig and partridge hunting in area nature reserves.

Beginning in 2003, with the provisional elimination of restrictions on land purchases by non-nationals, the housing industry in the city has become highly profitable with many new private homes and condominiums being built for European and Asian part-time residents. Sixty-nine percent of homes purchased by foreign nationals in the Antalya Province and 29.9% in all of Turkey are in Alanya. This in turn has put pressure on the city's many gecekondu houses and establishments as property values rise and property sales to locals fall. A height restriction in the city limits most buildings to 21 feet (6.5 m). This keeps high rise hotels to the east and west of the city, preserving the central skyline at the expense of greater tourist potential. The fringes of the city however have seen uncontrolled expansion.

Economy of Bodrum

A quiet town of fishermen and sponge divers until the mid-20th century, Bodrum was popularized among Turkey's educated classes by a group of intellectuals centered around the writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, who himself had first come here in exile. Since then, Bodrum constantly endeavored to attract people with artistic backgrounds, encouraging them to choose the region as a location for their secondary residences and many of the these people gradually became regulars who would stay throughout the year. Bodrum now hosts many poets, singers, artists, as well as commercially-minded investors and package tourists. Differences between the sensitivities of the first groups of residents, adamant in defending Bodrum's heritage and soul, with the interests of the latters is an always imminent issue and one that surfaces frequently. For example, a group of trees felled in Bodrum for any reason is very likely to make local and even national news in Turkey.

The Bodrum region has attracted considerable foreign and domestic investment in real estate, specifically in second homes for customers from across Turkey as well as from Western Europe.

The current permanent population for the town of Bodrum was recorded as 32,227 in 2000 census although it is certainly much higher in reality, and reaches several times that figure in summer.

The sheltered anchorage contains yachts and locally-built gulets used by seafaring tourists.

History of Bodrum

The first recorded settlers in Bodrum region were the Carians and the harbor area was colonized by Dorian Greeks as of the 7th century BC and the city later fell under Persian rule. It was the nominal capital city of the satrapy of Caria. Its location ensured the city enjoyed considerable autonomy.

Herodotus, the historian, (484-420 BC) was born here.

Mausolus ruled Caria from here on behalf of the Persians, from 377 to 353 BC. When he died in 353 BC, Artemisia II of Caria, who was both his sister and his widow, employed the ancient Greek architects Satyros and Pythis, and the four sculptors Bryaxis, Scopas, Leochares and Timotheus for to build a monument, as well as a tomb, for him. The word "mausoleum" derives from the structure of this tomb. It was a temple-like structure decorated with reliefs and statuary on a massive base. It stood for 1700 years and was finally destroyed by earthquakes.[citation needed] Today only the foundations and a few pieces of sculpture remain.

Alexander the Great laid siege on the city after his arrival in Carian lands and its capture was, in all likelihood, completed by his ally, queen Ada of Caria.

Crusader Knights arrived in 1402 and used the remains of the Mauseoleum as a quarry to build the still impressively standing Bodrum Castle (Castle of Saint Peter), which is also particular in being one of the last examples of Crusader architecture in the East.

The Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes were given the permission to build it by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed I, after Tamerlane had destroyed their previous fortress located in Izmir's inner bay. The castle and its town became known as Petronium, whence the modern name Bodrum derives. Conveniently, the word "Bodrum" means basement in Turkish, and a common pun in reference to the town's liberal morals decline its name as "Bedroom".

In 1522, Suleyman the Magnificent conquered the base of the Crusader knights on the island of Rhodes, who then withdrew to Malta, leaving The Castle of Saint Peter and Bodrum to the Ottoman Empire.

History of Bodrum

The Hatchlings

The Hatchlings

The rays of the sun heat the beach, warming the turtle’s eggs buried in the sand. The eggs develop in the nest. They are ready to hatch in about two months. The patchlings pick at their shells with a small, sharp point at the front of their snout—this particular part will disappear after hatching. The hatchlings crack their shells. All must hatch at almost the same time, for all must share the work to escape from the nest. The baby turtles scrape away at the sand overhead. The sand falls upon their empty shells, forming a platform that allows the hatchlings to rise. In a few days, they have scraped their way up to the roof of the nest. Then at night, or in the early morning, little dark heads and flippers wriggle out onto the beach. Two-inch long hatchlings crawl away and look for the sea.

Race To The Sea

The hatchlings sense the direction of the sea. The birghtness over the water attracts them. They stream from the nest and begin their race to the sea. Full of life, but defenseless, they struggle clumsily across the beach. Their shells are soft and offer little protection. Swift lizards attack them. Armies of crabs pick them off. Sea birds gather and catch the tiny turtles in their sharp beaks and feast on them. Few hatchlings make it to the water. And most of these will be eaten by fish: snappers, groupers, jacks, and sharp-toothed barracudas. Only one or two of the hatchlings may live. Where they go to spend their first year of life is a mystery. It is one of nature’s many secrets. Green turtles, for example, are not seen again until they are one year old when they are found feeding offshore in turtle grass beds. They are then as big as a dinner plate.

Where Sea Turtles Nest

Sea turtles nest in a wide, warm belt around the world. They all return to the same beach where they themselves hatched in order to lay their eggs when they reach maturity. This ability to swim sometimes thousands of kilometers to reach their beach of origin is still a mystery to the scientists who think that their sense of smell plays an important role in this. All sea turtles in the world—the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Pacific populations are endangered species. Turtle specialists think that sonme of the Mediterranean sea turtles migrate from the Atlantic whereas some only stay in the Mediterranean basin.

Conservationists and researchers try to determine sea turtle migration routes by placing special talgs on the turtles.

Sea Turtles? Or Turtle Products?

The sea turtle is disappearing. And once it is gone, it will be gone forever. One reason it is disappearing is because people use parts of turtles for food or, more often, to make different products. The hawksbill is prized for its carapace to make tortoiseshell combs, brush handles, eyeglass frames, buttons, hair clips, and jewelry. Hawksbill and green turtles are killed so they can be stuffed and hung on walls as decorations. Green turtles are slaughtered for their meat and in order to make turtle soup. The skin from the neck and flippers of greens and olive ridleys is made into leather for purses and shoes. Fat from turtle bodies is used in soaps and makeup creams. Instead of using plentiful resources for these products, the world’s few remaining sea turtles are taken.

Turtle Hunting

People who live near the shore have always hunted sea turtles to help feed their families. A fisherman might harpoon a sea turtle and take it home to eat. Groups of men netted sea turtles when they rose to breathe and brought them back to their villages for food. For years, when sea turtles were plentiful, such hunting seemed to have little effect on the numbers of turtles. But the demand for sea turtles kept growing. Money could be earned hunting and selling sea turtles. Money could be earned selling things made from turtles. Turtle hunting became profitable. So hunters took hundreds of turtles in the sea and even on the land, when they were nesting. Fewer and fewer sea turtles were left until they were almost all gone. Laws now protect sea turtles and forbid trade in turtle products. But not everyone obeys these laws.

Trawlers and Turtles

Commercial fishing boats around the world provide food from the sea for people. These vessels cruise coastal waters, dragging large nets along the sea bottom to gather in their catch. Trawling or scraping of the sea bottom is very detrimental to sea life in general because it destroys the breeding grounds of fish, shrimp and all marine life. Unfortunately, sea turtles are often caught accidentally in these nets. The great funnel-shaped nets of shrimp trawlers, for example, trap many loggerhead turtles. The turtles are swept along in the nets with the shrimp. They are not able to come up to the surface to breathe, and they drown. So the small numbers of sea turtles are reduced even further. A way has to be found to solve the problem. Shrimp fisherman along the southeastren coast of the United States are helping to find an answer. They are testing newly-designed nets that let the shrimp in but keep the turtles out.

No Place To Nest

A loggerhead turtle crawls from the sea to the edge of a beach in Side on the Turkish South Coast. She pauses. What does she see? Apartment houses and hotels take up much of the beach. Only a narrow strip of sand remains, and it is crowded with people. In some places cement has been poured across the sand clear to the edge of the water. There is no place for the turtle to nest. The turtle goes back to the sea and returns at night. Hundreds of lights shine out from windows. The beach is bright. Elsewhere, along the coast, another turtle finds a small, undeveloped piece of beach and lays her eggs. When they hatch, the young turtles crawl toward the brightness, but it is not the sea. It is the light of street lamps along a road that passes nearby. The hatchlings will die in the burning sun later that day. Once there were hundreds of miles of open shore for loggerhead sea turtles to nest on safely. It is different now.

From "Sea Turtles in every Aspect",
a publication of The Society for The Protection of Nature