“Winged birds, geese, cranes,Flocks of long-necked swansRoam in herdsOn the Asian meadows,On both sides of Kaystros…” The train departing from İzmir towards Tire winds its way through the Asian meadows mentioned in Homer’s verse above. Beyond the crescent-and-star symbol stuck on the window, cloud-topped mountains accompany the view of the plain that juts inland like a gulf into Anatolia. It …
In Turkey, discussions around films like Nymphomaniac often stir controversy. While some can view such films as art or narrative exploration, others fear they might incite uncontrolled desires. Although the film was permitted at festivals, it was banned from public cinema screenings—even with age restrictions—on the grounds that it belonged to the “pornographic” category. But what if the very concept …
Guide to Urla, İzmir Urla, nestled in the province of İzmir, has emerged over recent years as a premier tourism destination. It is flanked by towns such as Güzelbahçe and Seferihisar to the east, Karaburun to the northwest, and boasts proximity to the stunning Çeşme to the west, overlooking the mesmerizing Aegean sea. Even though Urla is about 35 km …
Hagia Sophia has experienced many construction processes from past to present. The first construction was started by Emperor Constantius in the Byzantine period. After this was finished, Hagia Sophia was opened for worshiping. The building was built on the Temple of Artemis with the name Hagia Sophia; it was designed with a wooden roof and had traditional Latin architecture. When …
Combining truth and legend, with black eye patches and black skull flags, pirates are the fearful nightmares of sailors. Nowadays, pirates depicted in movies are barbarian haramis who seize the ships for the booty, especially in the open seas, and kill people mercilessly. However, the term Pirate in the Ottoman evokes many different meanings. Would it surprise you if we …
Allowing the Anatolian people to express the elegance, imagination, intelligence, and perspective of the world with its own unique structure, the traditional Turkish handicrafts shed light on the past with its heritage and products. Many handcrafts are transformed into a work of art as a result of our approach to everything with a fine point of view, while emerging from …
Woodcarving, which is one of the most popular artistic branches of Turkish handicrafts, has been used in the construction of the mosques, and our architectural history has brought dazzling works. Among these are the wooden mosques built without nails, which we have seen in Turkey. Here is a compilation of some of those mosques, which were made in Seljuk and …
Uşak in the Middle Aegean has always been a settlement since ancient times. The city dates back to the 4th millennium BC and has become a busy route, especially in the Bronze Age. In the 2000s and 2500s BC, the Hittites had an extremely rich history of civilization along with the Lydians, the Romans, and the Byzantines. It was an …
Located in Central Anatolia, Yozgat is one of the historic cities that stands out with its unique atmosphere and culture. Yozgat, which has a history of 5000 years, was transformed into a city in the period of the Hittites and was known as the Bozok sanjak during the Ottoman period. Yozgat is adjacent to Tokat, Amasya and Çorum in the …
Bitlis, located in the Eastern Anatolia Region, has a history dating back to 2000 BC. In the time of the Hittites, Assyrians and Urartians, the city was an active settlement. Later, Scythians, Medes and Lydians also came to the city. The historic city, which also hosted Alexander the Great, was transformed into Turkish homeland in the Seljuk and Ottoman times …