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Where Is First Church In The World?

The first chuch in the world is Saint Pierre Church, the catholic church. It is situated in Antakya / Hatay / Turkey. It is a church in a cave with a 13 meters of depth, 9,5 meters of length and 7 meters of hight.

After the death of Jesus Christ, St. Piere the Apostle came to the city and preached between the years 29 and 40. the follewers of Jesus Christ were first called as “Christian” here.

They digged a tunnel to escape from Roman Soldiers. The tunnel has 3km length but some parts of it collapsed as a result of earthquakes. My friends Riza in the tunnels.

Pope Paul IV declared the Church as a place of pilgrimage in 1983. St Pierr’sDay is annually celeb rated on the 29th June.

Haron And The Virgin Mary Sculptures
Located onyl ten minutes away from ST Pierre Church, Haron is a carues stone relief dating back to reign of Antiahus IV Epiphones (175-164 BC) in the Hellenistic Period. This relief is called “the bootman of hell” in mitology. 
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Student City: Eskisehir

If you want to have a good time and sea beautiful places Eskisehir is the best city for you. The population of the students is as three times as local population. The students have many advantages in this city. You can go out anytime you want. You can eat out any hour you like. You can go to the cinema at late hours. You can walk in the streets safely.

There are two universities called Anadolu and Osmangazi. Anadolu University is one of the best five universities in Turkey. Every person who visits Eskisehir should see it. There are many sculptures, water jets and colourful flowers, making it worth to see. It is also the only university in Turkey which has a big market called Migros and a cafe. The city has many advantages for youngs.


There are two malls called Kanatli and Espark where you can find everything you want. They have many cafes, shops, stores, cinemas and also large parking garages. You can do shopping, buy toys, eat something at the restaurants and cafes, watch films at one of the cinemas. You can also find every technological item you want.

The city center is perfect. There is a river called Porsuk. It has a beatuful scene. The bridges are also perfect. While you are walking along it you feel like you are in Paris. There are also gondols and boats for who wants to board. There are many cafes around Porsuk River. You can eat and drink everything you want and have a rest there. There is a place called Hamamyolu which is worth to sea, too. It is Named after Turkish bath in it. There is also thermal spring in it. The scene is also perfect. There are small stores and bazaars there. You can find cheap clothes and some other items.

If you are  interested in history you can also visit the old hauses of Odunpazari, in Eskisehir. They had been built perfectly but because of having been harmed in the time they have all been restorated. there are some other historical places in other countries of Eskisehir.

There are many bars and discos in Eskisehir if you enjoy dancing and drinking alchol. Doors (222), Hayal, Buda are the bars which have discos. If you like rock, you can prefer Ares or Glow. Doors is the biggest bar. It has a disco, a cafe and a part where you can listen to live music.

There is a place called Kent Park. You can take the advantages of havin sports activities, entertainment and also resting. Eventough there is not sea, there is a human made beach in it. The beach has 350 metters length and it has two swimmingpools. Instead of sea they used the water of Porsuk. In summer people go there to swim and sunbath. It is a quite modern place. If you prefer Eskisehir, you can have the opportunities of a historical and cultural trip and also enjoy it.

Plane Museum:
Eskisehir Photos:
 
 
 Eskisehir Map:
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History Of The Turks

Contrary to what is generally believed, the Turks are in no way related to the Arabs. this misconception arose from the fact that they borrowed their religion and writing from the Arabs, while for centuries the dominated the Arab countries. This resulted in certain customs and practies of Arab-Moslem origin, but, while these have had a far from negligible influence, the can in no way be taken as indicating an assimilation of the Turks by the Arabs.
The Turks are neither Indo-Europeans, nor Semites, but are related to the peoples of eastern Upper Asia: the Toungoos, the Mongols, and the Manchus. However, the were differentiated from them by their successive migrations to the west, and their contacts with the peoples of Middle and Near East and of the Mediterranean finally lead to their being considered as more western than they were in fact.
The actual origin of the Turks is obscure: Chinese sources mention the appearance in Upper Asia, from the 2nd millennium on, of nomadic groups who may be considered as the acestors of Turks. Alittle before of Christian era appeared the Hiung-Nu people, whose history extends to the 5th century A.D. They were found first in north-east China, then in the region of the Orkhon (Upper Asia). In the 1st century A.D., they split into the eastern Hiung-Nu, who founded the western Hiung-Nu, who gradually advanced westwards and reached western Europe in the middle of the 5th century: these are the people who became known as the Huns.
In Central Asia, Turkish tribes succeeded in imposing their rule. these include the Tu-Kiu (from which the Turks got their name), who were in contact the Byzantines in the 6th century, and later on the Uigurs, who in the 9th century established a brlliant civilization in Upper Asia and Turkestan. In the State they formed, four different religions were practised: Buddhism, Manicheeism, Nestorianism, and Shamanism. The last of these -consisting in worship of forces of nature- was long the religion of the Turks. The turkish language has remained pure; in writen Turkish, the Uigurs replaced the runic characters used by the Tu-Kiu(Orkhon inscriptions, 8th century) by the Syriac characters introduced by the Nestorian and Manicheean monks and modified under the name of Sogdian characters.
Once installed in Turkestan, the turks came into contact with the Iranians, who were instrumental in the Turkish penetration of Middle East and in the conversion of the turks to ıslam. From the 10th century on, the Iranian Smanids incorporated az increasingly large number of Turkish slaves in their army. These Turkish slaves became converted to Islam, and acquired so much importance that one of them, Alp Tekin, independentley founded the Ghaznevid State in Afghanistan, which stretched from eastern Iran to western India. At the beginning of the 11th centurh, the Ghaznevid Mas’ud was defeated by Turkih newcomers, the Seljuks, to whom he had to cede the territory of Khorassan (eastern Iran) in 1035.

The Seljuks:
These Seljuks had come from Turkestan to Transoxiana and then to Bactriana towards the end of the 10th century. Converted to Sunnite Mohammedanism they rapidly showed themselves to Sunnite Mohammedanism they rapidly showed themselves to be conquerers and defenders of Moslem orthodoxy – and thus of the Abassid Caliphate of Baghdad against the Shiahs of Iraq and the Fatimids of Syria and Egypt. Under the loadership of Tughrill Beg, they set themselvesup as protectors of Caliph and entered Bagdad in December 1055. Tughril-Beg was made Sultan, married the daughter of the Caliph, and in effect took charge of the Abassid Caliphate. His nehew, Alp Arslan, launched expeditions to the west and occupied Armenia, northern Syria, and eastern Asia Minor, where he came up against the Byzantine. In August 1071, the Basileus Romanus Diogeneswas conqured adn made prisoner at Mantzikert (Malazgird, near Lake Van). This was  decisive defeat, since it enabled the turks to enter Asia Minor. while the main branch of Seljuks (“the Great Seljuks”) established its domination over Iran, Iraq, and the northern part of Syria, another branch konw as the Seljuks of Asia Minor, or of Rum, followed by other Turkish tribes (the Danishmends, the Saltuks, the Mengujeks, and the Artuks), penetrated into the Byzantine territories of anatolia, this being the beginning of the definitive occupation of the regions that ultimatly became Turkey itself.
After 1071, following the defeat and capture of Romanus Diogenes, anarchy reigned Constantinople; severel pretenders to the thore engaged in a struggle for power, calling on the services of Turkish mercenaries, including Sulaiman, chief of the Seljuks of Asia Minor, who finally obtained permission from Alexis Comnenus, who became Emperor in 1081, to settle in Central Anatolia and even in Nicaea, not far from Constantinople. the Danishmends had meanwhile taken over the Kayseri-Sivas-Amasya region; as for the Armenians, hitherto subjects of the Basileus, they became independent, under the leadership of Philaretes, in south-east Asia minor. Within the space of ten years, Bysantine domination in Anatolia had collapsed, and the Turks were the beneficiaries of the new situation.
But the embryonic State established by Sulaiman did not last very long for, on his death, following a defeat before Aleppo in 1085, his anatolian possesions were broken, adn his son Kilij Arslan – a minor at the time – was taken to Iraq. Returning in 1092, Kilij Arslan recovered Nicaea, but his Danishmend rivals exteded their territory at his expense. The struggle between the Seljuks and Danishmends for the domination of Anatolia lasted until 1175, interrupted only by the passage of the Crusaders, against whom they became temporary allies. Entering Asia Minor in 1096, the Crusaders took Nicaea and defaat Kilij Arslan at Dorylaeum (July 1097). The Turks wereforced out of western Asia Minor for more than two hundred years, adn the Greeks reocupied the lost territories. On their wayto Syria, the Crusaders of the Crusade temporarily took Konya and Kayseri. However, the Seljuks and the Danishmends united against the French reinforcements that arrived inAsia Minor in 1101. The Lombard and Bavaria were beaten and wiped out in turn. The Franks were refused any further passage through Anatolia, Kilij Arslan, taking advantage of a possessions. His attempt to take over part of eastern Anatolia failed, and he then founded the Seljuks Sultanate on the central plateau of Asia Minor, establishing its capital at Konya, the former Iconium.
Malik-Shah, Kilij Arslan’s successor, and his brother Mas’sud fought unsuccessfully against the Byzantines, with somewhat more succes against the Danishmend Ghazi, and most successfully of all against the second Crusade, opposing an impenetrable barrier to Conrad III and Louis VII.
Kilij-Arslan II (1155-1192), conqured at first by Manual Comnenus, declared himself the latter’s vassal and, freed from any anxieties about his western, turned against the Danishmends whom he finally subdued (1174-1175), and then against the Byzantines, whom he crushed at Myriocephalon in 1176, thus finally putting an end to their attempts at reconquest. At the end of his reign, Kilij Arslan had to cope with the armies of the Third Crusade, who had succeeeded in taking Konya – a victory that was carved up his Sultanate. The unity of the Seljuk State was reestablished only by Rukn ud-Din Slaiman (in 1204) and byKaikhosrau. After a few diffecult years, the Sultans Kaikaus of Rum to the peak of its glory; the second had a particularly brilliant reign not only from the military standpoint, but also from the standpoints of scholarship, art, and economics.
Hissuccessor Kaikhosru II had first of all to deal with a Turkoman revolt led by the dervish Baba Ishak – arevolt that was social, religious, and anti-aristocratic in nature – and then with Mongols attach in its eastern part. In addition rivalries breke out between members of the reigning family and between the sovereings and their viziers; one of the Sultanate’s unity and independence, but he wasput oto death by the Mongols in 1277. The pendence, but he was put to death by the Mongols in 1277. The end of the century witnessed the total disintegration of what remained of the Seljuks State and it finally disappeared in 1304. For some twenty years beforehand, the goverment of the Sultans had no longer had any authority, either in the east, where the Mongols were in command, or in the west, where local emirs had appeared and were increasingly seeking their independence. One of them – Osman – founded the Ottoman dynasty in the 14th century
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The Beginnings of Ottoman Power

The immediate consequence of the collapse of the Seljuks State was the autonomy – and subsequent indepance – of the oudj or frontier marches to the west, nort, and south of Anatolia. These were ruled by beys or emirs who turned their estates into emirates or beyliks. These beys were very acticefrom the begining of the 14th century both against Byzantium and their coreligions and sought aggradisement at the expence of their neighbours, whether Christian or Moslem. It was not until the second half of the 14th century that one of them attained an uncontested superioriority over the others. This happened when the successors of the bey Osman succeeded in eliminating pracrically all their opponents in Asia Minor and thus made possible the creation of an Ottoman Empire.

The principal beyliks that grew up in the western part of Anatolia were those of Karasi (region of Balikesir and the southern shore of the Sea of Marmora), of Saruhan of Aydin and of Menteshe (region of Mugla). The firstthree organized incursions into Byzantine territory; Umur, one of the beys of Aydin, was a remarkable diplomat and war leader and intervened in the internal conflicts of Byzantium, supparting John VI Cantacuzino against John V Palaeologus. Behind this first line of beyliks there were, from north to south, the beyliks of Osman (round Sogut), Sahib Ata (at Afyon Karahisar) and Hamid (Antalya-Egridir). the largest – apart from that of the Ottomans – was that ofGermiyan which was the principal emirate of west-central Anatolia. The emirate of Karasi disappeared round about 1345 when it was absorbed by the Ottomans, the others round about 1390 as a result of Ottoman conquest.
In the northern part of Asia Minor, along the Black Sea, were the beyliks of Isfendiyar, Pervane and Eretna. The first, which annexed the territory ofPervane (Sinop region) in 1322, stretched from Safranbolu. to Bafra; the last, the offspring of a Mongol province, held the regions from Samsun to Sivas; one of its rulers, Burhan ed-Din Ahmed, was a jurist and man of letters and also an excellent administrator. However, his beylik like that of Isfendiyar, was subjected by the Ottomans at the end of the 14th century.
The Ottomans themselves were the offspring of an Oguz tribe that came to Anatolia at the same time as the Seljuks or at the beginning of the 13th century. Little is konwn of their origins, which later chroniclers enhanced in order to flatter the powerful ghrul, the father of Osman family. It is probable that Ertughrul, the father Osman, was a minor military chief in the service of the Seljuk Sultan Kajkobad I, from whom he obtained as a fief the Sogut region on the Byzantine frontier, on the middle reaches of the Sakarya. His son, Osman, succeeded him round 1290. Ottoman historians have greatly stressed the influence of the religions circles surrounding him, and these were probably connected with movement of the Ghazis, a religious group aiming at the destruction of the Infidel. It was chiefly against the him to occupy the whole of central and eastern Bithynia. His sucriors who wanted to join in the struggle against the Greeks, and won him the active sympathy of the dervishes. Since he was the initiator of Turkish expansion, it is appropriate that he should have given his name to the dynasty of “Osmanli” which was corrupted into “Ottoman” by the West.
The exact date of his death is not konwn, but it was probably before 1325. In any case, his son Orkhan took over the command of the army as erly as 1317 and to him goes the credit of turning the bylik of Osman into a powerful state and especially of obtaining the first European footholds of the future Ottoman Empire. His first great exploit was the capture of Brusa (Bursa) which he made his capital and where he had his father buried. Iznik (Nicaea) fell into his hands in 1331 and Izmit (Nicomedia) in1337. He reached the shores of the Sea of Marmara and then occupied the beylik of Karasi (1345). Even more noteworthy is the fact that the Basileus John VI Cantacuzeno – after losing the support of Umur of Aydin – sought an alliance with Orkhan and gave him his daughter Theodora in marriage; in return, Orkhan sent his troops to help him against the Bulgars and Serbs. These troops were entrusted to Suleiman, the eldest son of Orkhan, who was thus the first Otooman to come into Europe (1346 and 1349). In 1353 Orkhan intervened inthe Byzantine dynastic disputes and took advantege of them to obtain possesion of Chimpe (Djimenlik). When an earthquake in 1354 destroyed the fortifications of Gallipoli, Suleiman conquered the town which – situated as it was on the European shore of the Dardanelles – constituted an excellent base for operations in Europe. The Ottomans consolidated their position by occupying a number of towns in eastern Thrace. In 1356 Suleiman died in a hunting accident; Orkhan himself died in 1359. His second son, Murad succeeded witout difficulty.
Orkhan was not only the true founder of Ottoman power but also the organizer of its administration. In this work he was helped by his brother Ala ud-Din and the chiefs of the principal families that had rallied to the Ottomans. He instituted the Divan where the cihief military and administrative officials met, created a coinage, the akche, and set up a strong regular army. Orkhan himself, on the other hand, was personlly modest, very close to his companions and the people of his tribe. Unlike his son Murad I, he called himself only bey or emir, and not sultan. But he had a strong personality, was astonishingly clearsighted, and nobody questioned his authority as ruler.

Murad I and Bayezid I 
Murad I alsowas noteworhty sovereign and one of the architects of Ottoman  expansion in eastern Europe. Thereatened at his accession by the Karamandis of the Ankara region, he drove back his enemies and crushed them so thoroughly that he colud turn his attention to Europe without fear. Between 1360 and 1362 he conquered the whole of Thrace, including the town of Adrianople (Edirne) which he made his capital in 1365, occupied southern Bulgaria, and in 1363 defeated a coalition consisting of the King of Hungray, the rules of Bosnia, Serbia and Wallachia, and Pope Urban V. The master of extensive territories in the Balkans, he recruited soldiers there as well as children who were brought up as Turks and enrolled in the corps of Janissaries or trained as pages for his palace or as administrative officials. For more than tenty years he advanced systematically in Balkans: Serres, Drama, Kavala, Nish, Sofia, and Salonika fell successively into his power. During a decisive battle against the Serbs at Kosova the was assassinated by a Serb, Milosh Kobilovich (20 June 1389). The Serbs were nevertheless defeated, while the Grand Vizier Ali Pasha, who had defeated the Bulgars, occupied the whole of Bulgaria.
In Asia Minor, Murad I had incorporated in his state a part of the territory of Germiyan, which had been brought as a dowry to his son Bayezid (1381) by th daugher of the bey of Germiyan, and the territory of Hamid. Thus, the bey of Karaman became his immediate neighbour to the east. At his death the Ottoman Empire was firmly astablished on both sides of the Sea of Marmora, stretching in Europe to the frontiers of Albania and Serbia and the confines of Constantinople; in Asia it extended over almost the whole of western Anatolia. All the conquered countries were divided into provinces or sanjaks under the authority of the beylerbeyi of Anatolia and Rumelia, who were themselves under that of the grand vizier, a post first created under Murad I. The first grand vizier was Hayr ud-Din Djendereli, whose son was also a grand vizier. By its conquests the Ottoman state had grown rich in men adn resources; the first monumental Ottoman buildings were being erected, marking the transition between the Seljuk buildings and the great Ottoman period of the 15th and 16th centuries.
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Hatay Museum of Archeology

The Second Biggest Mosaic Museum of  The World in Antakya / Hatay / Turkey.
The archeological resarch in Hatay has launched in 1932 under the supervision of the Louvre Museum, Baltimore Art Museum, Worchester Art Museum and Princeton University. In 1936, the representatives Fogg Art Museum of the Harvard University and Dumbarton Oaks College joined into the committee. Upon the request of French Inspector of Syrian Antiquities, M. Prost, it was decided to establish a museum in order to bring together all of items uneartled in the Sanjak. The museum plan was developed by M. Misel Eceser within the modern museum context. The characteristics of unearthed items were taken into consideration when the museum plan was improving. The construction was started in 1934 and completed in 1939.
Howard Crosby Buther from Princeton University had the excavations started. The excavations were carried out by the team of Charles Rufus Morey, Jean Lassus (archeeologist) and William Campbell. This team brought to light most of the mosaics which are on display today.
The Museum of Archeology houses some of the artifacts unearthed in the excavations carried out in Tell Cüdeyde, Tll Dahap, Catalhoyuk, Tell Taniat and Tel el Sheyik Mounds by the Chicago Oriental Institute between 1933 and 1939. Others were uncovered in El Mina location of Samandag Sistirict by Sir Leonard Wolley from the British Museum between 1937 and 1948. The excavations came to an end due to the World War II.
Excavated items had been kept in stores until 1939. Following the incorporation of Hatay into the borders of Turkey, the items were arranged in 9 years and the Museum of Archeology was opened for visitors July 23,1948. The museum was extended by an additional building which was constructed between 1969 and 1973. After that the museum exhibits were redesigned. The museum was reopened for the public on December 18, 1974. A new hall was designed for the Sarcophagus of Sidemera in 2000.
Mosaic: The history of mosaic goes back to the end of 4th millennium BC. Mosaics were firstley used as decorative element on the colums embedded in the walls in a temple at the ancient city Ouruk, southern Mesepotamia. These were the pieces of cockleshells, onyx and clay in geometric shapes. Their color were black, red and white. On the other hand, mosaics decorated jewels in Egypt.
Hatay Museum of Archeology occupies an importand place in the world in terms of its mosaic collection. It plays host tı the mosaics designed between second and fifth centuries A.D. Doro Levi, who put the mosaics into the chronological order, states that the characteristics of Hellenistic mosaic art such as naturalist appoach and richness in color survived with the Eastern style in Antakya. The common scenes on the mosaics were mythological and natural elements, daily life and abstract ideas. The names of artists are not encountered on the mosaics. It is known that the artists travelled for commercial purposes in the Ancient Period. The shadowing techniques and glass mosaics reveal the efforts of the Romans in order to reach perfection in the artof mosaics. The multicolored and figurative floor mosaics demonstrate the welfare in Antakya during the Roman Periond. Moreover, the trasition period between the Roman Period. Moreover, the transition period between the Roman and Byzantine Empires can be observed through the stylistic and iconographic aspects of the mosaics. More specifically, the changes in life style while paganism was replaced by Christianity can be caughe in the mosaics.

Mosaic of Okeanos Tethys

Mosaic of Okeanos Tethys, which was found in Harbiye, dates back to the 4th century A.D. The Sea God Okeanos was one of the 12 Titan children of Gaia (Mother Earth) while Tethys is the Sea Goddess, sister of Okeanos.

Mosaic of Soteria

Unearthed in Antakya, Mosaic of Soteria is from the 5th century A.D. It was decorating the floor of a bathroom.

The Mosaic of Dancers

Unearthed in Samandag, the mosaic is from the 2nd or 3rd centuries A.D. Dancers with bells in their hands are depicted.

Mosaic of Orpheus

Found in Tarsus, Mosaic of Orpheus is from the 3rd century A.D. In the first panel, Zeus is taking Ganymedes (the most beautiful among the mortals, from the king family in Troy) by force to Olympos. In the other panel, Orpheus is playing an instrument. Orpheus is poet and the founder of Orphism.

Heracles

Unearthed is Antakya, the mosaic is from the 2nd century A.D. It details Heracles strangling two boas.

Mosaic of Eros and Psyche

Unearthed in Samandag, the mosaic is from the 3rh century A.D. It depicts Eros sleeping under the tree which he has hung his arrows on. On the other hand, Psyche carrying a bow is reaching for the arrows slowly.

Mosaic of the Seasons

Unearted in Harbiye, Mosaic of Seasons belongs to the 2nd century A.D. It details nine scenes. Bellerophon-Stheneboia (between summer and autumn) Paris – Helena (between autmn and winter). Hippolytos – Phedra (between winter, spring and summer). Kalidon (Atalanta – Meleagros) (between spring and summer). At the centre are Iason, Medeia and Assyrtos.

Mosaic of Apollo and Daphne

Found in Daphne (Harbiye), Mosaic of Apollo and Daphne belongs to the 3rd century A.D. Daphne is the daugher of Thessalia River, Peneus. Apollo is the son of Leto and Zeus. The mosaic details the nymph, Daphne, who was changed into a laurel tree by her father, river god while she is escaping from Apollo according to the classical mythology.

Yakto Mosaic

Found in Harbiye, it belong to the 5th century A.D. The Great Spirit (Magalopsykhia) and mythological figures named as Akteo, Hippolytos and Meleagros hunting around the Spirit are depicted in the middle part. On the edges, human and building figures (merchants, tracellers, stadium, bath…etc.) which reflect the daily life in Antakya are detailed.

Where Is The Museum:

Show the biggest map
History of Hatay (Antakya): 
The first settlement in Hatay dates back to the Middle Paleolithic Period. Çevlik in Hatay-Samandag and Senkoy caves in the village of Meydan were the sites first settled. Dortyol-Kinet Mound was Neolithic settlement while the Amik Plain was inhabited in the Chalcolithic (5500BC) (Tell Kurdu Mound) and Bronze Ages. The region was dominated by the Akkadians in 3000BC. Then , it became under the sovereignty of the Yamhat Kingdom with Aleppo. Yarim-Lim administration was ended in the second half of the 18th century BC and the Hittite King Mursili I invaded the region in 1595 BC. Atcana region handed back and forth between the Egyptians, Mitannis and Hittites in the 15th century BC.
Niqmepa ascended to the thore with the suport of Egyptian Tutmosis III, then, however, the region become again under the rule of Mitannis. In 1370 Hittite King Suppiluliuma regained the control of the region. The flow of information about the history of region had been between 1200 and 900 B.C.

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The Capital Of Turkey: Ankara

The beating heart of Turkey which bares the footprints of many civilizations.
Ankara is located in the Central Anatolian Region, surrouned by the provinces of Kırıkkale and Kırşehir in the East, Cankiri in the North, Bolu in the Northwest, Eskisehir in the West, and Konya adn Aksaray in the South. Ankara covers an area of 26,897 km2 between plains formed by the Kızılirmak and Sakarya rivers at an altitude of nearly 890 meters. North from the centre of town lie the North from the centre of town lie the Northern and depression zones enclosed by mountains, which run from the Soutwest to the Northeast. The Salt Lake, a large shallow lake, and adjacent tip of the Ankara plains.

Ankara: Yesterday 
Archaeological excavations carried out in Ankara and its environs reveal that settlement in the region dates back to Prehistoric times. Bronze Age settlements such as Ahlatlıbel, Kocumbeli, Etiyokusu, and Karaoglan reflect the characteristics of the Central Anatolian culture of that time. Ankuva, frequently mentioned in Hittite sources, was probably located in the same place that Ankara is today.
Ankara was first settled as a city by the Phrygians. The capital of Phrygia was Gordion and it is one of the most impotant ancient cities in Central Anatolia. According to legend, Ankara was founded by Midas, the king of Phrygia. It was the Phrygians who gave the city the name Ancyra, which meant anchor.
The remains found in the region reveal the impotance of the Pyrygian settlements, especially between 750-500 BC. After the disintegration of Phrygia, the city was ruled by Lydians and Persians repectively. The city was a small trade centre on the famous Kings’ Road, built during the rule of the Persian king Darius I (522-486 BC) arrived in Ankara in 333 BC. Defeating the Persian king Darius III in a bloody battle, he brought the reign of the Persian kings to an end. Later the Tectoseges, a tribeof Galatians who settled in Anatolia from Europe in 278-277 BC, are konwn to have made Ankara their capital city.
Sites to See
Anitkabir (Ataturk’ Mausoleum): Lacated on an imposing hill in the Anittepe quarter ıf the city stands the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. Completed in 1953, it is an impressive fusion of ancient and modern archtectural ideas and remains unsurpassed as an accımplishment of modern Turkish architecture. There is a museum housing a superior wax statue of Ataturk; writings, letters and items belonging to Ataturk, as well as an exhibition of photographs recording impotant moments in his life and in the establishment of the republic. (Anitkabir is open everyday, and the museum every day except Mondays. During the summer, there is a light and sound show in the evenings.)

Museums
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations: The museum is close to the the citadel entrance, an old bedesten (covered bazaar) has been beautifully restored and now houses a marvelous and unique collection of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Hatti, Hittie, Phrygian, Urartian, and Roman works and showpiece Lydian treasures. (Open every day, expect Monday.)

The Ethnography Museum: The museum is opposite the Opera House on Talat Pasa Boulevard. There is a fine collection of folkloric artifacts as well as artifacts from Seljuk and Ottoman mosques (Open every day, except Monday.) The museum exhibits precious example of Turkish traditional handicrafs, such as wood, metal and fabric works from different region of the country. The museum also provides visitors with a library specializing in Anatolian ethnography, folklore and art history.
The Toy Museum: in Cebeci houses toys of all kinds made wood, metal, porcelain, paper etc. (Open wednesday and Friday from 10 am to 5 pm.)

Historical Monuments

Column of Julian: This clumn, in Ulus, was erected in 362 AD, probably to commemorate a visit by Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate. It stands fifteen meters high and has a typical leaf decoration on the capital.

The Roman Baths: The city’s Roman Baths are located on Cankiri Street, stretching between Ulus Square and Yildirim Bayezid Square. The palaestra, surrounded by porticoes on all sides, is a large square area. The frigidarium (cold room), tepidarium (warm room) and caldarium (hot room) are all connected to the palaestra. With its various yards, furnaces, service parts and water tanks, the building was a monumental structure. All that remains of the building today are the heating and service areas. Coins, inscriptions and Corinthian column heads found during excavations suggest that the baths were constucted during the time of the Roman Emperor Caracalla (211-217). They were used in the Byzantine Period after being restored. A large collection of Roman inscriptions collected from the city are exhibited in the plaestra.
The Republic Monument: Standing in Ulus Square, this monument was made by an Australian sculptor, Krippel, in momory of the heroes of the Turkish War of Independence. The base of the equestrian statue of Ataturk bears reliefs depicting Ataturk and his soldiers, along with figures symbolizing Turkish women and the young turkish Republic.
 

 Hatti Monument: Erected in the 1970’s in Sihhiye Square, this impressive monument symbolizes the Hatti dos and commemorates Anatolia’s earliest known civilization.

Parks

These parks are: Genclik Park (which also has an amusement park), the Botanical Garden, Segmenler, Anayasa, Kugulu, Abdi Ipekci, Guven, Kurtulus (for ice skating) and Harikalar Diyari (wonderland).

Thermal Spas

In the province of Ankara there are six thermal centers: Kızılcahamam Kaplica 80 km to the north, Haymana Kaplica 72 to the south, and to the northwest are Ayas Kaplica (57 km), Dutlu Kaplica (85 km), Meliksah in Cubuk and Malikoy in Polatli (80 km). All offer comfortable facilities in which to soak away your cares. The thermal baths have beneficial properties and are, of course, altogether pleasurable.

Don’t Leave Without
  • Visiting the Anitkabir, the Ankara Citadel and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations,
  • Tasting traditional pancakes and sipping tea at Pirinc Han,
  • Taking a walk in the Soguksu Nation Park,
  • Going to a thermal spa,
  • Seeing the houses of Beypazari
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Cappadocia Guide

What we call “Cappadocia” today, if only for simplicity, is only a small part of the Hellenistic Kingdom and subsequent Roman Province which bore that name. The original size of the miles further east and west.
Even now, when the valleys around eh town Urgup are relatively easy to reach (it takes about Ankara, or a similar time by car from Ankara), Cappadocia still seems like a lost world to the arriving traveller. It took the 20th century -and perhaps the invention of photography- to make people appreciate the landscape around Urgup. Several of the most important fathers of the early Church lived in this district, but none of them mentions what it looked like.
A 10th-century history tells us that its inhabitants were called troglodytes “because they go under the ground in holes, clefts, and labyrinths, like dens and burrows.” In the 18th century, a French traveler thought he saw pyramids being used as houses, and weird statues of monks and the Virgin Mary.
Three thousand rock churches: Many visitors only make a brief excursion to the cones and rock churches of Goreme, and an hour or two in perhaps Zelve or Ihlara. That’s a pity because Cappadocia is best explored in a leisurely fashion by car or even on horse. Severel local firms are now hiring out horses for trekking expeditions lasting up to eight days. No matter how often you go, no two trips need ever be the same. There are an estimated threee thousand rock churches in the area between Kayseri, Nigde, Gulsehir and Ihlara valley. New caves, new “under ground cities” and even churches are still being discovered from tme to time.
Other churches are isolated. One of the very best as far as wall painting goes is at Eski Gumus in Gumusler village just north of Nigde. Along detour via Mustafapasa and Soganli will take you there, and if you are a Byzantine art buff, it is well worth it. The church, which was restored by British archaeologists in the 1960s, has a completely preserved courtyard (the only one to survive in its entirety) and solemn frescoes in its interior which deserve to be better known. A room upstairs springs a surprise: a smoky wall coverd with non-religious pictures, mostly from Aesop’s fables. What it is doing in this monkish place is anyone’s guess.
Hacibektas: Not everything in Cappadocia is Byzantine, however one of the most impressive of all the antiquities of this region requires only about a 20 minutejourney to north of Gulsehir, at Hacibektas.
Hacibektas was the mother convernt of the Bektasi order of dervishes who served as the cahaplains of the Janissaries, the storm troops of the Ottoman Empire. They were so widespread that 200 years ago it was said that no corner of the Empire was more than half a day’s journey from a Bektasi lodge. The Bektasis were a free thinking, tolerant community. Where else in the world will you see a mosque with a drawing of man in it something normally regarded as taboo in Islam? At the tomb of the founder of the order, Haci Bektas Veli, you will usually see a group of local woman praying. In a separate shrine nearby is the Tomb of Ballum Sultan.
There are still those who remember their former homes in Crete and other parts of Greece with nostalgia and welcome those Greeks who from time to time revisit the places in Cappadocia where they were born towns such as Gelveri, now officially renamed Guzelyurt near Ihlara and Mustafapasa, famous a century ago as Sinassos, south of Urgup.
Sinassos-A Town of Paintings: Towns li Gelveri and the larger and morre magnificent counterpart, Sinassos, never really recovered from the blow they received when the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Urgup, a lively tourist center at the foot of a rock ridge riddled with old dwellings, serves as an excellent base from which to tour the sights of Cappadocia. In Urgup itself you canstill see how people once lived in homes cut into the rock. If you wish buy carpets and kilims, there is a wide selection available from the town’s many carpet dealers, who are as colorful as their carpets, offering tea, coffee or a glass of wine to their customers and engaging in friendly conversation. If sighseeing and shopping haven’t exhausted you, the disco welcomes you to yet another kind of entertainment. At the center of a successful wine-producing region, Urgup hosts an annual International Wine Festicval In October.

 

 

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Mardin Guide

Standing on a bluff above the Mesopotamian flats about 56 miles (90km) south of Diyarbakir is the town of Mardin, arguably the most Arab town -even more Arab than Antakya or Siirt- in Turkey. The vista afforded from the town’s citadel is nearly magical: below, the view stretches across the vastness of the Syrian plain, pancake flat but for the occasional tell of artificial hill desingnating the site of some ancient and forgotten city in the Fertile Crecent.
The area east of Mardin, especially Midyat, is the center of the 40,000 remaining Suriyanis, or Jacobite Christians who continue to speak a sort of proto-Arabic known to scholars as Syriac, erroneously assumed to be the language of Christ.
The Suriyanis of Turkey, unhappily, seem to be a community doomed to cultural extinction in the long run, as more and more of their members either migrate to Istanbul and celebrate mass, along with the remnants of the Levantine community there in the Latin or Armenian churches, and it is unclear just how long the monasteries of Der Zafaran and Mar Gabriel will continue to function as living entities and not as museums. It is, indeed, strange to run into these distant Christians, so deep into Anatolia, with the girls and boys in close contact and uncloistered, even in the villages. The Suriyanis of Midyat are known throughout Turkey as superb jewellers. Many of the top jewllers of the Covered Bazaar of Istanbul, for example, are Suriyanis from Midyat, and they are better off than their Muslim neighbors.
Mardin Photos:

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Diyarbakir Guide

     Locals like to call their city “the Paris of the East,” and claim its massive black basalt walls as second only to the Great Wall of Chine in length, breadth and height. Both erroneous claims should be discounted the city of Diyarbakir seems given hyperbole. But no visit to Turkey is complete without a visit to this ancient, walled city on the Tigris.

Known is classical times as Amidiya, the city was annexed by Rome in A.D. 297, and became an essential part of the line of defense between the Roman and Parthian/Sassanian empires of persia. It should be noted that in the (unsuccessful) siege of A.D. 359, the Persian, Shapur I, was aided by the proto-Turk Chionites, making their debut on the Anatolian stage. Ceded to the Persians after Julian the Apostate’s ill-fated campaign down the walls were breached by the Muslim armies of Khalid Ibn Walid (the Sword of  Islam) in A.D. 639 during the first great expansion of Islam. The city takes it’s current name from the Arab clan of Baqr, which was granted the town and it’s hinterland, dubbing it the “abode of the Baqr”, or Diyarbakir.
     The walls:Stretching for some three miles (five km) around the old city, and once possessing 82 defensive towers, the great walls of diyarbakır were first built during the reign of Constantinus and restored repeatedly, most notably by Emperor Justinian, as well as by the Seljuk prince of Isfahan, Malik shah. The main entrance to the old town on the north is the Harput Gate. Once known as the Bab al Arman or Gate is in good condition, with several inscriptions in Greek and Arabic.

      Entering the gate from the new town, a road to the west leads by the walls to the Urfa Gate, and beyond that, the Ulu Beden, where one has access to the top of the walls through passages which, unhappily, double as public toilets. With courage and a few goat-like leaps, one can continue nearly as far as the Mardin Gate to the south, overlooking the vast, festering slum of Ben-u-Sen outside the city. The walls, though battered by sundry armies throughout history, are in remarkably good shape in places, replete with inscriptions, geometrical and anima designs. From the basalt walls of the city, one can view the Tigris River ( Dicle in Turkish) meander along a valley east of the city. Some of the the biggest watermelons of the Middle East are grown along the river.

     For the adventurous only:Among its other charms, Diyarbakir also boasts one of Turkey’s rawest legal whorehouse districts, and a trip from the citadel gate via phaeton or horse-drawn carriage has a certain amusement value for those who crave the bizarre and reckless.Just announce the Genelev as your destination and a 10-year-old brute will settle you into a fly-infested carriage before mercifully cracking the whip to stir the air inside the claustrophobic cabin. The wooden spokes creak, the ill-oiled axles groan and the team of scrawny geldings squeal as the coach begins to crunch and bounce over streets which have never knows repair. The ride can be likened to galloping through the ill-fit, foggy back-streets of London’s Soho district in 1840, and should not be missed.
The whorehouse district itself seems nearly sedate and well-kept after the drive through the ghetto. The talent comes in various shapes and sizes, ranging from the fallen darlings to toothless, old hags. All, however, have the deadened look in the eyes of the souls of those who know they have hit the rock-bottom. A visit here costs about $5 and lasts that long.
For those who prefer to pay more for mere titillation, Diyarbakir alson boasts a few nightclubs or gazino north of town which can be warned that the girls working the bars are paid by the drinks they manage to get a customer to buy them.
Mosques, mosques and more mosques: The most distinctive of the town’s 22 older mosques (not counting the more intimate mescit or prayer rooms) is the Ulu Cami or Grand Mosque, the oldest place of Muslim worship in Anatolia. It is about halfway down Izzet Paşa Caddesi, Diyarbakir’s main drag, between the Harput and Mardin Gates on the north-south axis. Originally, the structure was not built as a mosque at all, but as the primary Syriac cathedral named Mar Touma or St.Thomas, until Diyarbakir was conquered by the Muslims, after which the church was converted into a mosque.

Similar in design to the, admittedly, much grander Umayyad Mosque in Damascus ( acity that Diyarbakir closely resembles), the Ulu Cami is packed with the pious on Friday for prayers-a good time to visit if one is not bashful. The mosque itself is built on the courtyard plan familiar to mosque in Arabia as opposed to the covered and domed mosque of the rest of Turkey. Note the fountain in the middle of the courtyard used for ritual washing before prayers, as well as the wildly different Corinthian columns at the back of the courtyard.
Up and down Izzet Pasha, one encounters dozens ıf buildings-either mosques, medreses or caravansaries- that alternating black and white stone blocks- giving the town a decidedly checkerboard look. The first of these structures is the Peygamber Camii or Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad, so named due to the vocal calisthenics of a 16th-century muezzin ( the one who calls the faitful to prayer from atop a minaret ), whose plaintive invocation of the Prophet’s name kept the neighbors awake. It was, in fact, built by Kasap Hajji Hüseyin (“The Butcher”) in 1530. Opposite the mosque, towards the left, is one of the major east-west axis in town, on which the popular Demir Hotel is located.
     And the end of the street is the entrance to the citadel or Iç Kale, and at the entrance of which is another checkerboard mosque, known variously as the Citadel Mosque, the Nasiriye Mosque and the Mosque of St.Süleyman. It was built in 1155 by Abu al-Qassim Ali in honor of the 24 early Muslim martyrs who first breached the walls during

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The importance of health insurance

Turkey has a very complex health care system because of the existence of different plans and departments involved in this sector. All health care and related social welfare activities are coordinated by  the Ministry of Health. Article 60 of the Turkish Constitution quotes: “Every individual is entitled to have social security. The State takes the necessary measures to create this confidence and organization.
Having health insurance is more important than many people realize. We all know that our health is our most valuable asset and the tragedy of illness or injury should not be compounded by not having a proper health care.
So why do you need to have health insurance? What is the benefit of having health insurance?

First of all, you should know that you can get medical help without coverage. But guess what? If you do not have health insurance you are going to be responsible for paying everything on your own. Obviously, that is not something that you want to do. As you can imagine, medical bills can add up in a hurry if something major were to happen to you.
Additionally, when you have good health insurance you are much more likely to go to the doctor when feeling bad. In turn, you will have a better chance of staying healthy. You may be able to get away with not going to the doctor, but catching some illnesses early on is the key to beating them.
Overall, health insurance is very important no matter what. Even if you have to buy your own policy, you should consider doing so.
Generally speaking, both people with and without coverage take health insurance for granted. Do yourself a favor and make sure that you never fall into this level of thinking. No matter who you are, it is very important that you always have some sort of health insurance coverage.