Famous Landmarks
AYASOFYA
 The
Basilica of Hagia Sophia was constructed by Roman Emperor
Justinian in 537 AD. This was the largest church in the
Christian world for a thousand years.Its immense dome
rises nearly 200 feet above the ground and its diameter
spans more than 100 feet. The mosaics covering the walls
are among the most important works of art that have
survived to this day of the Byzantine era.
Large
round buildings had been successfully covered by domes
before, but Hagia Sophia had a rectangular floor plan, and
covering a large rectangular structure by a huge central
dome was being tried for the first time in history. The
dome collapsed and repaired many times.
The Ottomans converted the basilica to a mosque in the 15
th century after the conquest of Istanbul. Recognizing its
historic and universal importance, the Turkish Government
turned it into a museum in 1935
SULTANAHMET MOSQUE
 Sultanahmet
Mosque is the most famous monument in both the Turkish and
the Islamic worlds. It was built in the classic Turkish
architectural style between 1609-1616 by the architect
Mehmet. The building is more familiarly known as the Blue
Mosque because of its magnificent interior paneling of
more than 20,000 blue and white Iznik tiles.
The inside is a single immense space into which the light
pours from 260 windows. The dome 141 feet high, is
supported by four enormous circular pillars 16 feet in
diameter and are known as elephant feet. As it is located
across Hagia Sophia, the mosque was designed to be as
large and as magnificent as this Byzantine structure.
TOPKAPI PALACE
 Topkapi
Palace is certainly the most important historical site to
be visited in Istanbul. It is one of the most frequently
visited museums of Europe and is the most visited one in
Turkey. The Palace served as the administrative center of
the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years between the 15th
and 19th centuries. Its principal parts were finished in
1478, then altered and enlarged by new additions in the
reign of each succeeding sultan. The Palace was abandoned
in 1855 when Sultan Abdülmecit I, 31st Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire, moved to the new Palace of Dolmabahçe. In
1924, it was turned into a museum upon the orders of
Atatürk.
Palace is
a complex of buildings spread out over one of the seven
hills of Istanbul. It consists of courtyards serving
different purposes which are separated from each other by
monumental gates. Pavilions, each used for different
purpose, surround these courtyards. The total area of the
Palace is twice the area of Vatican and half of Monaco in
size.
 Besides
being the official residence of the Sultan, the Topkapi
Palace served as the headquarters of the government. It
also housed the state treasury and the archives. The mint,
as well as the highest educational institution were
located on the Palace grounds.
On exhibitions are the imperial collections of crystal,
silver and Chinese porcelain; imperial handmade costumes
worn by the sultans and their families, the famous jewels
of the treasury; the richest collection of clocks in the
world; the sacred relics of Islam including the swords of
Muhammed, his bow and his mantle; priceless collection of
miniatures and many other priceless objects. One of the
largest diamonds in the world, the Spoonseller Diamond, is
displayed in a special showcase in the hall. The rooms are
exquisitely decorated and tiled.
DOLMABAHÇE PALACE
 Dolmabahçe
Palace, built in the mid-19th century by Sultan Abdülmecit
1, stretches for 600 meters along the European shore of
the Bosphorus. The palace has survived intact with its
original decorations, furniture, silk carpets, curtains
and everything else. It is said that 14 tons of gold and
40 tons of silver were used for the decoration of the
palace.
The
palace contains 285 rooms, 43 salons and six baths. Its
walls and ceilings are covered with paintings by the
famous artists of that age. Rare handmade art objects from
Europe and the Far East decorate every room in the palace.
The ballroom is the largest of its kind in the world. A
4.5 ton giant-sized crystal chandelier with 750 bulbs
hangs from the 120 feet high dome. The floors are parquet,
of exceptional quality and are laid with high-quality silk
carpets, hand-woven in the Imperial Factory of Hereke.
Atatürk
used to stay in this palace when he visited Istanbul. He
died here in 1938. All the clocks in the palace were
stopped at 9:05 am, the time of his death, in memory of
this great Türk.
The Palace which is a museum today is open on certain days
of the week, and it is one of those historic places in
Istanbul that must be visited.
KARIYE MUSEUM ( The Chora
Church )
 The
Kariye Museum is, after Hagia Sophia, the most important
Byzantine monument in Istanbul. The existing building was
built towards the end of the 11th century and dedicated to
Christ the Savior.
After the Turkish conquest, the church remained deserted
for a time, and was turned into a mosque in 1511 by
addition of a minaret. It became a museum in 1948 and its
frescoes were cleaned and restored by the American
Institute of Byzantine Research.
The walls are decorated with superb 14th century mosaics,
illustrating scenes from the life of Christ and the Virgin
Mary. These are the finest masterpieces of Christian
religious art to be found anywhere in the world.
Paintings, rocks and architectural designs seen in the
background make the pictures three-dimensional. The scenes
are made with special care for them to look daily, lively
and ordinary. The scenes are enriched with explicating
stories near them.
 ELSEWHERE
IN TURKEY
TROY
Ancient
city of Troy is located 30 km south west of Çanakkale
province in the Marmara Region of Turkey. This is one of
the most important historical cities of Anatolia.
Archeological excavations have revealed nine separate
periods of settlement at this site, including ruins of
city walls, house foundations, a temple and a theater. The
earliest settlement dates from five thousand years ago and
the last coincided with the late Roman period. Famous
Trojan wars, depicted in Homer’s epic Iliad took place
here at about 1200 BC. A symbolic wooden horse at this
site commemorates this legendary war.
EPHESUS
The ruins
of Ephesus is one of the world’s greatest archaeological
sites. It is located 75 km south of Izmir.In Hellenistic
times, Ephesus became the most densely populated city in
Anatolia with a population of more than 200 000. The city
reached the peak of its glory under the Roman rule and
became a very important centre of trade and commerce. A
majority of the monuments that exist now date to that
period. It was also the leading political and
intellectual centre, with the second school of philosophy
in the Aegean. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was one of
the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Ephesus also emerged as one of the main centers of early
Christianity. St. Paul remained in the city for three
years during his third missionary journey (53-57).The
Apostle John also came to Ephesus to live and was finally
buried here. Ephesus was one of the Seven Churches
mentioned in his book of Revelation.Tradition has it that
St.John brought Virgin Mary to Ephesus after Christ’s
crucifixion and that she lived and died in a small wooden
house located about three miles away in the forested
mountain above Ephesus at the age of 101. In the year 431
the Third Ecumenical Council was held in the Basilica of
the Virgin Mary in Ephesus. In the following century,
Emperor Justinian(527-565) built a massive church at the
spot where St John was believed to have been buried. It
became an important site of pilgrimage throughout the
Middle Ages.
The city ruins include the agora, theater, gymnasium,
stadium, Church of the Virgin Mary, Temple of Serapis,
Temple of Hadrian, Fountain of Trajan, Scholasticia Baths,
Temple of Domitian and terrace houses that once belonged
to rich Ephesians, as well as the Celsus Library. The
Cathedral of St. John is on the Ayasuluk hill above the
city.
 The
Celsus Library (shown in the picture) is the most
impressive building of them all. According to
inscriptions in Latin and Greek on the wings of the front
steps, the Library was erected in AD 110 by the Consul
G.J.Aquila for his father, G.J.Celsus Polemaeanus,
formerly Roman Consul and governor of the Asian
province.The library was completed in AD 135 by his heirs.
Its façade was two-tiered; the interior consisted of a
single large hall, measuring 10x16 m, comprising the
Celsus library itself. The burial chamber under the floor
contains the marble sarcophagus of Celsus in an excellent
state of preservation.
The
reading room destroyed in a fire in the second half of the
3rd century, but the façade did not suffer damage. For a
time, the library was left filled with the resulting
debris. About AD 400, the area in front of the building
was converted into a pool. The façade served a decorative
purpose, with its beautiful silhouette mirrored in the
water.
The monumental façade as it stands today is the result of
restoration work begun in the 1970s, completed and the
whole opened to the public in 1978.
APHRODISIAS
 The
impressive remains of this once-splendid city are situated
on a high plateau, within Aydin Province. As its name
suggests, Aphrodisias was named after Aphrodite, a goddess
of nature, love and fertility and was the site of one of
her most famous sanctuaries.
Although
the history of Aphrodisias stretches farther back in time,
it rose to prominence in the first century BC and enjoyed
a long period of prosperity. Besides being a significant
religious site, it was also a cultural and intellectul
center to which students and scholars flocked from all
over the ancient Hellenistic world. With an excellent
marble supply, perhaps the finest available anywhere, the
city became the center of a school of sculpture that
flourished for a period of six hundred years.Many of its
marvelous works of art are now housed in the local museum.
The Temple of Aphrodite was the focal point of the city in
antiquity, as it still is today with its fourteen standing
columns. The stadium, located in the northern end of the
city, is probably the best preserved structure of this
type in the Mediterranean. It could accommodate as many as
30,000 people. The theater, odeon (concert-hall), Bishop’s
Palace, Baths of Hadrian are among other ruins.
East of the temple, one of the most attractive landmarks
of Aphrodisias is a decorative gateway (in the picture)
datable to the middle of the second century. It consisted
of four rows of four columns and its main access was from
the east, with a front row of spirally-fluted Corinthian
columns facing a main north-south street.Its sixteen
columns have been repaired and re-erected and upper
portions partly replaced.
PERGAMON
Pergamon
(or Pergamum), once a great center of culture, survives as
one of Turkey’s finest archeological sites. It is located
100 km north of Izmir.The city experienced its golden age
until the end of the 3rd century AD during Hellenistic and
Roman times. In the Acropolis, above the modern town, are
the remains of the library, a steep and impressive
theatre, the temples of Trajan and Dionysos, the
monumental Altar of Zeus, the sanctuary of Demeter, a
gymnasium and the Agora. The Asclepion, located to the
southwest of the lower city, was a medical center
dedicated to the god of health, Asclepios. Patients were
treated with water and mud baths, with massages and with
medicinal herbs. The center also had a small theather, a
library, a sacred fountain, temples as well as two meeting
rooms and lavatories for women and for men.
The site of Pergamon was first excavated by the German
archaeologists between 1878 and 1886. It was during this
time that the magnificient reliefs of the Altar of Zeus
were discovered and carried to Berlin and now displayed in
Berlin Museum.
Ancient authors tell us that the Pergamon library at one
time contained 200 000 volumes. Mark Anthony carted them
off to Egypt as a gift for Cleopatra, to replace the ones
that had been lost when the Alexandrian library was burned
during Caesar’s campaign. In the middle of the library’s
main reading room is the podium on which there stood at
one time the 3.5 meter high statue of Athena that is now
in the Berlin Museum.
CAPPADOCIA
 The
ancient region of Cappadocia lies in Central Anatolia
between the cities of Nevsehir, Kayseri and Nigde.
Three million years ago, violent eruptions of the nearby
volcanoes covered the surrounding plateau with a deep
layer of solidified mud, ash and lava. The winds, rivers
and rains have eroded this soft volcanic rock into
hundreds of strangely shaped pillars, cones and fairy
chimneys, creating a vast outdoor museum of stone
sculptures in an incredible variety of shapes,
layering, textures and colors.
Since the most ancient of times, men have been carving
dwellings in this soft rock; the early Christians made
countless cave churches, chapels and monasteries. There
are more than 200 churches in Capadocia scattered through
the valleys, with their impressive frescoes and art works.
 The
most amazing speciality of Cappadocia is the underground
cities which are still being discovered. The ones in
Kaymakli and in Derinkuyu are the most famous ones. These
cities with 8-9 floors underground have been completely
carved in volcanic tuff and were used by Christians as
places to retreat to and live in until danger from their
enemies had passed. The narrow tunnels which could be
blocked by millstones at times of escape, the ventilation
systems, and the hidden rooms of these cities show a
perfect planning and construction. But the absence of
inscriptions and decorations of any kind makes it
difficult for the art historians to determine the dates of
construction.
The
horses and the stud farms of Cappadocia have been famous
throughout history. The word Cappadocia comes from the
word “Catpaducia” meaning “the land of beautiful horses”.
MEVLEVI CONVENT AND
MUSEUM
 Founder
of the Mevlevi Order known in the West as the Whirling
Dervishes, Muhammed Celaleddin lived in Konya from 1228
until his death in 1273. He was given the name Mevlana
(Our High Master) by his followers.
The
nearly 6500 m2 land, on which the convent lies, used to be
a rose garden belonging to Seljuk Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat.
He gave the area to Mevlana’s father, Bahaddin Veled. as a
gift. Bahaddin Veled was buried here in accordance with
his will. From that day on, this place became a popular
visiting spot. The building of the tomb began in 1274,
only after the burial of Mevlana beside his father. In
1396, the tomb was covered by a cone shaped dome decorated
by exquisite turquiose tiles.
The building has gone through many modifications during
different periods in history and it has turned into a
collection of buildings, an institution. In 1926, the
Mevlana Convent opened as a museum. The artifacts
presented to the convent throughout the centuries are on
display. The most interesting section of the museum is
under the green dome where the sarcophagi of Mevlana and
his son, Sultan Veled, stand. The museum contains 65
sarcophagi of the members of Mevlana’s family and his
followers. On display are hand-written copiess of the
sayings and books about Mevlana and Mevlevi order, musical
instruments, metal glass and wooden objects, carpets and
kilims. In the former dervish cells, the garments of the
order are exhibited.
 PAMUKKALE
This
sight of spectacular beauty is located in the inner Aegean
region. The terraces over 300 feet in height composed of
layers of the accumulated limestone sediment have been
gradually formed in the course of the ages. For thousands
of years a deep underground spring on the hills above has
been pouring out streams of hot, mineral-saturated
water.As the water has flowed down the mountainside, the
water’s rich mineral content has coated them in a smooth
layer of white calcareous rock. Since these white slopes
resemble castles when observed from the plain, the area is
called Pamukkale which means cotton castle in Turkish.
Several Roman emperors came to bathe in these thermal
pools. The area is still one of the leading hot springs in
Turkey
 SAFRANBOLU
Safranbolu is a small town in the Western Black Sea
Region. Some of the most beautiful traditional old homes,
unique in Turkey for their outstanding design and
construction are found here. Some of them have been
restored and are now used as hotels
 MT.NEMRUT
Antiochos
I, ruler of the Commagene Kingdom in the first century BC,
built himself this funeral monument on top of Mount Nemrut
in eastern Turkey. It consists of a tumulus and a dozen
gigantic statues representing Antiochus I, eagles, lions
and ancient gods. Lion and eagle statues were used as the
guardians. The tumulus is 50 m high and 150 m. in
diameter. Although the inscriptions at the back of the
thrones on east and west terraces record that Antiochos I
had chosen the hierothesion as his sacred last resting
place or a place where his body will sleep for endless
eternity, sysmic research did not show any grave chamber
or large cavity in the tumulus. The average
height of the statues is 26-33 feet. These are made of
stone, too heavy and large to be carried to the muesum and
remain where they were originally erected. Time has
inflicted heavy damage on the sculptures- their bodies sit
with their beautifully carved heads at their feet.
SANLI URFA- HALIL RAHMAN
MOSQUE
 This
province in southeast Turkey is known as the “city of
Prophets”, because the Prophets Job, Abraham and Suayb,
whose names are mentioned in the holy books and who lived
before the emergence of the three monotheistic religions-
Judaism, Christianity and Islam – resided here. According
to Muslim tradition, Prophet Abraham was born in a cave on
the northern side of Sanli Urfa castle. Today the cave is
a pilgrimage site.
There is a fish lake in the center of Sanli Urfa filled
with sacred fish and surrounded by Halil Rahman Mosque.
According to legends, Abraham believed in a single god and
tried to spread this belief. For his refusal to follow the
worship of idols, Abraham was condemned to be burned.The
cruel King Nimrod had Abraham launched from a catapult
from the city’s citadel to fall into a pile of burning
wood. God intervened and turned the fire into water and
the wood into fish, which make up water and fish in the
pool.
ISTANBUL, SAFRANBOLU,
MT.NEMRUT, TROY, PAMUKKALE AND CAPPADOCIA ARE REGISTERED
ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST TO HELP PRESERVE THEM FOR
FUTURE GENERATIONS.
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