bioneural.net

A journal covering 15 days spent in Eastern Turkey, May 2004, on an Explore! itinerary...

Sunday 16 May

Arrival in Istanbul.

Monday 17 May

In Istanbul we first visited the Blue Mosque, so called due to the blue motifs on the wall tiles. Unusually for a mosque it has 6 minarets.

Opposite was the much-photographed Haghia Sophia, a converted Byzantine church, unfortunately closed during our visit.

Topkapi Palace was the seat of the sultans during the Ottoman Empire. It offers views across the Bosphorus to the Asian part of Istanbul, and to the Maiden's Tower. Control of this waterway contributed to the power and wealth of Byzantium, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, later renamed Constantinople and subsequently Istanbul.

Basilica Cistern, a vast underground water store, was built during Byzantine rule in 532AD. It lay undiscovered by the Ottoman Turks for the first century of their rule.

Basilica Cistern

The Grand Bazaar is a vast vaulted market where traders have done business for over 500 years.

The smaller Spice Bazaar seemed more genuine and less geared towards the tourist.

Tuesday 18 May

We caught an early morning flight to the Black Sea port of Trabzon where we visited a Byzantine church, also called Haghia Sophia, and famous for its frescos.

Inland at Sumela is a monastery perched on the high cliff face of Mount Mela. Inhabited from 400 AD, it was abandoned in the 1920s during a forced population exchange with Greece resulting from the establishment of the modern Turkish state.

Sumela Monastery

A long bus journey took us to Erzurum, a mountain-locked town at nearly 2000m on the Anatolian Plateau.

Wednesday 19 May

Attractions in Erzurum included a museum inside a traditional Muslim school, or medrese, a twin-minaret medrese, and a 5th century citadel with views over the town and to the snowy peaks beyond.

Citadel in Erzurum

In the afternoon we drove to Kars, a frontier town near the Armenian border.

Thursday 20 May

We spent the morning in Ani, the former capital of the Armenian kingdom, which was abandoned in the 13th century due to earthquake damage and shifting trade routes.

Church of the Redeemer in Ani

We followed the Armenian border heading south, to arrive in Dogubeyazit, just 17km from the border with Iran. During the trip we passed several Kurdish encampments, and were rewarded with a view of Mount Ararat as it freed itself of cloud cover.

Friday 21 May

In the morning we visited the site of the alleged remains of Noah's Ark, but found the location's wild flowers of no less interest.

Today's main attraction was Isak Pasha Palace, built in the late 18th century on a caravan route. It is constructed from honey-coloured sandstone and has many ornate details carved by Armenian craftsmen.

Isak Pasha Palace

The afternoon was spent on the road to Van, stopping at the local picnic area of Muradiye, popular for its waterfall.

In Van we stopped at the Urartian fortress on the Rock of Van, where we saw cuneiform inscriptions and watched the sun go down.

Saturday 22 May

We paid an early morning visit to Van Museum to view artifacts from the Urartian period.

This was followed by a visit to the Kurdish castle of Hosap, with foundations of stone topped by mud brick. The Kurds are historically a nomadic people who have lived in what is now Eastern Turkey and neighbouring countries since about 3000 BC. It was Saladin, a Kurdish ruler, who united Muslim forces against the Christian crusader armies.

Next up was an Urartian ruin, characteristically located on a long ridge, now called Cavustepe. The irrigation canal built by the Urartians, who established their kingdom in 1000 BC, is still in use. Impressive stone foundations, deep cisterns, the royal toilet, stone basins, and pottery storage vessels were preserved by the collapsed mud brick upper walls.

After lunch at a lakeside restaurant, we crossed the turquoise waters of Lake Van to the island of Akdamar. The island's 10th century Armenian church is one of the most photographed buildings in Anatolia, with elaborate reliefs depicting biblical scenes. The lake itself has no outlet so turned alkaline and became the highest salt lake in the world.

Akdamar on Lake Van

Sunday 23 May

A long journey took us initially along the shore of Lake Van, then into green valleys filled with trees, daisies, poppies, streams, military checkpoints, and litter. After lunch in the oil town of Batman we came at last to Hasankeyf, shortly after sighting the Tigris river, which together with the westward Euphrates defines Mesopotamia—the cradle of civilization.

The Tigris river at Hasankeyf

People have dwelt at Hasankeyf since neolithic times, and later inhabitants have included the Romans, Syrian christians, Kurds, Seljuks, Ottomans, and modern-day Turks. A massive programme of dam-building will soon see this site flooded. In the evening we continued on to Mardin.

Monday 24 May

On the outskirts of Mardin, the Saffron Monastery started life as an Assyrian temple, the flat roof of which is comprised of stone blocks held in place only by lateral pressure. The Assyrian empire had established a network of trading colonies throughout the region by 1900 BC, and introduced cuneiform writing. Syrian christians converted the site to a monastery during the 5th century AD and continue to hold a service in Aramaic, the language used by Jesus.

The town of Mardin overlooks the Mesopotamian plains and lies within sight of the Syrian border. The town boasts a number of interesting stone buildings, including the Old Post Office, and a mosque featuring a translucent alabaster niche.

Mesopotamian plains

It also features a lively bazar where traders ply their wares and foodstuffs, and craftsman exercise their skills—ranging from metalwork to the manufacture of donkey saddles. There is even a donkey park for this popular form of transport.

A short drive brought us to Diyarbakir, a modern sprawl enclosing an old town within a black basalt Roman wall. The black basalt was used in the construction of other buildings we visited, such as caravanserais and the Great Mosque. Situated on the Tigris at the limits of navigability, Diyarbakir was an important trading post.

Tuesday 25 May

A three hour drive westward is the town of Sanliurfa, formerly Urfa under the Ottomans and earlier still Edessa under Alexander the Great and Roman rule.

The town's claim to fame is being the alleged birthplace of the biblical figure of Abraham. Legend tells that God saved him when he was thrown from the citadel for preaching monotheism, as the fire into which he was cast was transformed into a lake, and the embers into carp—the overfed and sacred descendants of which are protected by the "fish police".

The birth cave, where baby Abraham was supposedly hidden from King Nemrut's murderous attempt to circumvent prophecy, is entered via separate doors for men and women.

Sanliurfa's covered bazar is considered to be one of the best in Turkey, and although not unpleasant, did not live up to this billing.

These historic sites are overlooked by the high walls of the citadel, which was built during reconstruction of the city wall in 814 AD. It contains two columns probably erected in the first half of the third century.

Citadel at Sanliurfa

Wednesday 26 May

The first half of the day was spent visiting Harran, an ethnically Arab village known for its "beehive" style houses. These are constructed from mud bricks with vertical walls topped by one or more domes depending on the size of the house.

The Grand Mosque, the oldest in Anatolia, was a centre of learning over many centuries where texts in ancient languages were translated into Arabic. Built in the mid-700s by the caliph Merwan II, it was destroyed by the invading Mongols in 1260.

We took tea with the family of an acquaintance of our tour leader, Alex.

There has been a citadel at Harran at least since Roman times, built perhaps on top of the temple of the Moon God, Sin, who had been worshipped here long before the Romans arrived.

Leaving Harran we stopped to view the Ataturk Dam on the Euphrates River, the largest of the GAP project dams built to provide electricity and irrigation to the deprived and predominantly Kurdish eastern regions.

We continued on to the memorial grave at Karakus, which dates from the 1st century BC and contained three female members of the Commagene royal family, although the burial mound was plundered by the Romans. The site is overlooked by Mount Nemrut in the distance.

Septimus Severus Bridge at Cendere was built by the Romans in the third century and still serves as a pedestrian bridge today. One of its four columns was deliberately removed by Caracalla in order to obliterate the name of his brother, who had lost the contest to become caesar.

By way of a scenic route we arrived at Nemrut Dagi in time to catch the muted evening light illuminating the re-erected stone heads at the summit. The heads and other structures form the remnants of the temple mausoleum of Antiochus I, the first century BC Commagene king who desired to be worshipped as a God. Unfortunately for Antiochus earthquakes laid waste to his memorial and divine aspirations.

Head of Antiochus

Thursday 27 May

After breakfast with a view at our hotel near the summit, we set out on the long road to Urgup in the Cappadocia region.

Breakfast with a view

Friday 28 May

Our accommodation in Urgup was a stone building with vaulted ceilings in the rooms giving it an almost monastic feel. Many of the surrounding buildings are built from the same stone in the Greek style, indicative of Greek settlement prior to the aforementioned population exchange.

The area around Urgup is known for its concentration of distinctive rock formations known as "fairy chimneys", the less eroded of which feature a cap of harder material or a lump of basalt.

Fairy chimneys near Urgup

Goreme Open Air Museum is in a valley with concentration of cave churches. Most spectacular was Karanlik, the Dark Church, dating from the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century.

The region's soft rock is actually hardened volcanic ash, easily eroded, but also easily carved. Kaymakli is one of several multi-level underground cities where the Christian builders could seek refuge to escape persecution by raiding Arabs. The city features subterranean rooms for the accommodation of people and animals, for the preparation and storage of food, wells for water, and air vents to the surface.

Uchisar provides panoramic views over the bizarre Cappadocian landscape.

An hour-long walk from Uchisar to Goreme presented us with an array of wild flowers, towering rock formations, cave dwellings, chattering birds, and a lost puppy.

At Pasabagi there is a distinctive fairy chimney with three caps.

Saturday 29 May

A one-and-a-half hour balloon flight shortly after dawn provided an alternative perspective on the geology of Cappadocia

Valley below

At Hacibektas is the shrine of the town's namesake, Haci Bektas-i Veli. The shrine is a place of worship for the Allevi, a moderate Islamic Shiite sect with an affinity for his teachings.

In Ankara the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations included artifacts from the cultures we had encountered. The Hittite sculptures were of particular interest, as although the Hittites ruled Anatolia for a time we did not otherwise come across the physical remnants of their culture.

Sunday 30 May

Departure to London.

Special thanks to Alex (tour leader), Mesut (driver), and Diren (local guide).