Europe Travel Guides

Points of interest

Mt Ararat

A highlight of any trip to eastern Turkey, the twin peaks of Mt Ararat have figured in legends since time began, most notably as the supposed resting place of Noah's Ark. For many years permission to climb Ararat was refused because of security concerns, but this fantastic summit is back on the trekking map, albeit with restrictions.

Permit and guide are mandatory and you'll need to apply at least 45 days in advance. Several guides and hotel staff in Doğbayazıt claim they can get the permit in a couple of days. Don't believe them. It's much safer to follow the official procedure, even if you have to endure the excruciatingly slow-turning wheels of bureaucracy.

Despite the difficulties and costs, climbing Ararat is a fantastic experience. You'll be rewarded with stupendous views and stunning landscapes. The best months for climbing are July, August and September.

You can also do daily treks around the mountain. Provided you stay lower than the village of Eliköyü (2500m/8200ft), you won't have to go through as much official hoohah, but you still need permission from the local jandarma (police) - it's best to go with a local agent.

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Aya Sofya

Emperor Justinian (527-65) had the Aya Sofya (known as Haghia Sofia in Greek and also called Church of the Divine Wisdom) built as part of his effort to restore the greatness of the Roman Empire. Recognised until 1453 as the greatest church in Christendom, Mehmet the Conqueror had it converted into a mosque until 1935, when Atatürk proclaimed it a museum.

On entering his great creation for the first time almost 1500 years ago, Justinian exclaimed, 'Glory to God that I have been judged worthy of such a work. Oh Solomon! I have outdone you!' Entering the building today, it is easy to excuse his self-congratulatory tone. The interior, with its magnificent domed ceiling soaring heavenward, is so sublimely beautiful that many seeing it for the first time are quite literally stunned into silence.

Traditionally, every mosque had a hamam (bath) included in or around its complex of buildings. Aya Sofya was no exception and this elegant symmetrical building known as the Haseki Hürrem Hamamı (Baths of Lady Hürrem), was designed by Sinan in 1556-57 and built just across the road from the great mosque. The hamam was one of 32 designed by Sinan and is widely thought to be his best. It operated until 1910 and now houses a carpet shop run by the Ministry of Culture.

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Devrent Valley

Many Cappadocian valleys boast collections of strange volcanic cones, but the ones near Aktepe in northern Cappadocia, known as the Valley of the Fairy Chimneys, are the best-formed and most thickly clustered. While geologists might congregate to appreciate the effects of differential erosion, everyone else just likes their other-worldly appeal.

Most of the rosy rock cones are topped by flattish, darker stones of harder rock that sheltered the cones from the rain that eroded all the surrounding rock. This process is known to geologists as differential erosion but you can just call it kooky.

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Safranbolu

Hidden away in hill country, Safranbolu boasts a glorious collection of old Ottoman houses so beautifully preserved that it qualifies as a Unesco World Heritage site, on a par with Florence. It's a place to slow down and enjoy ambling along narrow cobbled lanes, observing traditional trades and crafts practised just as they were in Ottoman times.

During the 17th century, the main Ottoman trade route between Gerede and the Black Sea coast passed through Safranbolu, bringing commerce, prominence and money to the town. During the 18th and 19th centuries Safranbolu's wealthy inhabitants built mansions of sun-dried mud bricks, wood and stucco, while the larger population of prosperous artisans built less impressive but similarly sturdy homes. Safranbolu owes its fame to the large numbers of these dwellings that have survived.

The weather, too, can play a part in this unique experience: summer thunderstorms periodically close over the sunken valley like a heavy black lid, and you can watch the lightning-pierced darkness drawing on inch by inch until finally the light is gone and the rain bursts down onto the tiled roofs. Simply magic.

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Ephesus

Ancient Ephesus was a great trading city and a centre for the cult of Cybele, the Anatolian fertility goddess. Under the influence of the Ionians, Cybele became Artemis, the virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon, and a fabulous temple was built in her honour. When the Romans took over, Artemis became Diana and Ephesus became the Roman provincial capital.

Of Turkey's hundreds of ancient cities and classical ruins, Ephesus is the grandest and best preserved. Indeed, it's the spunkiest classical city on the Mediterranean and the ideal place to get a feel for what life was like in Roman times.

In 356 BC the Temple of Cybele/Artemis was destroyed in a fire set by Herostratus, who claimed to have done it to get his 15 minutes of fame, proving that modern society has no monopoly on a perverted sense of celebrity. The Ephesians planned a grand new temple which, when finished, was recognised as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

To avoid the heat of the day, come early in the morning or in the late afternoon, when it's less crowded. If you can, avoid public holidays all together. Bring water with you as drinks at the site are expensive.

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Attractions

Istanbul

Straddling the Bosphorus, its skyline studded with domes and minarets, İstanbul is one of the truly great romantic cities. Its history tracks back from Byzantium to Constantinople to its place at the head of the Ottoman Empire. Today it hums as Turkey's cultural heart and good-time capital.

In this sprawling, continent-spanning city you can tramp the streets where crusaders and janissaries once marched; admire mosques that are the most sublime architectural expressions of Islamic piety; peer into the sultan's harem; and hunt for bargains in the Kapalı Çarşı (Grand Bazaar).

Side by side with Old İstanbul you'll find hip bars and clubs, flashy executives, malls and haute cuisine. And then there is a rich arts culture - opera, music, cinema - which nods its head to the Ottoman and Byzantine ways while taking cues from Europe. All this history, hustle and bustle coexists around the spine of the Bosphorus, a constantly busy, heaving mass, dotted with ships and ferries, which provides the link between Europe and Asia.

Whatever your interest - architecture, art, nightlife, cuisine, history, religion, shopping - İstanbul has more than enough of it, at prices which are among the lowest in Europe.

Gallipoli Peninsula

The site of many a ferocious battle, it is surely the WWI melee of Atatürk's troops and the Allies that stands out. Today the Gallipoli battlefields are peaceful places covered in scrubby brush, pine forests and farmers' fields, but this strategic peninsula has always held the key to Istanbul.

Gallipoli is a fairly large area to tour, especially without your own transport (it's over 35 km (22mi) from the northernmost battlefield to the southern tip of the peninsula). The two best bases for a visit are Çanakkale on the eastern shore, and Eceabat on the western, both are covered by tours.

The great battles of Gallipoli are commemorated each year during March (usually from the 12th to 19th) and it can be a bit tricky getting a hotel during this time. Ferries run from Eceabat, 45km (28mi) south-west of Gelibolu, across the Dardanelles to Çanakkale.

Ankara

Turkey's capital is a sprawling urban mass in the midst of the Central Anatolian steppe. It's very different from the Ottoman town of Angora which preceded it on this site, a quiet place known for its fluffy jumpers of knitted goat fleece. Several significant attractions make it worth a short visit

Most visitors head straight for Hisar, the Byzantine citadel atop the hill east of the old city, and the nearby Museum of Anatolian Civilsations. Just south is Atatürk's mausoleum, a monumental building, spare but beautiful, that echoes the architecture of several great Anatolian empires.

The Presidential Mansion is preserved as Atatürk used it, with decor and furnishings of the 1930s including billiard table and cigar-and-brandy nook. There's a lot of ancient history around too. Roman Ankara was a city of some importance, and Roman ruins are dotted in amongst the mosques and monuments of Muslim Anatolia. Most of the cheaper hotels and restaurants are in old Ankara, just northeast of the train station.

Events

The dates for Muslim religious festivals are celebrated according to a lunar calendar. Only two religious holidays are public holidays: Şeker Bayramı, a 3-day festival at the end of Ramazan (30 days when a good Muslim lets nothing pass the lips during daylight hours), and Kurban Bayramı which commemorates İbrahim's near-sacrifice of İsmael on Mt Moriah. In commemoration of God permitting İbrahim to sacrifice a ram instead of his son, every Turkish household who can afford a sheep buys one, takes it home and slits its throat right after the early morning prayers on the actual day of the bayram. Family and friends immediately cook up a feast. You must plan for Kurban Bayramı: most banks close for a full week, transportation will be packed and hotel rooms will be scarce and expensive.

Secular festivities include camel-wrestling in mid-January, in the village of Selçuk, south of İzmir, and National Sovereignty Day, April 23, a big holiday to celebrate the first meeting of the republican parliament in 1920. Celebrations abound in summer: there's a sloppy oiled wrestling festival in early June at Sarayiçi, near Edirne; the country Kafkasör Festival near Artvin in northeastern Turkey in the 3rd week of June; the International İstanbul Festival of the Arts (late June to mid-July); Bursa's Folklore and Music Festival in mid-July and Diyarbakır's Watermelon Festival in mid or late September. The whole country stops, just for a moment, at 09:05 November 10, the time of Atatürk's death in 1938.