Iznik (Nicaea) has remained in the leading role in the pages of history for thousands of years. it is a unique city which hostted the capitals of four empires. Every piece of land is interrmingled with the residue of centuries of ancient cultures. Iznik is a township of Bursa and it is located on the eastern shore of the lake which bears the same name. Footprints of civilizations dating back to 2500 BC are found in the tumuli around İznik with s...

The name of Caesarea was given to the city under the reign of Tiberius (14 - 37) in memory of the great Roman emperor. But the city, birthplace of Saint Basil (330 - 379), has changed its name several times in the course of its troubled past. Strabon was the first to mention the city, called Mazaca at the time. Curiously, Kayseri, the capital of Cappadocia, is not on the tourist circuits. Out of the way and visited very little, in spite of its...

Soğanlı harbors churches in their most beautiful natural environment. The village, hidden in the middle of poplar trees, has kept all its authenticity. «In this solitary valley so capriciously decorated by nature, the imagination can wander and populate it and make these strange and silent rocks come alive. Certain of these peaks resemble women with Bressan hats. Other rocks look like strange birds, frozen forever in their flight of stone. ...

Like Sinassos, Gelveri changed its name to Güzelyurt, «the beautiful country», when the exchange of populations took place. Formerly known as Karbala, near which Gregory of Naziance was born around 330, this large village is situated in the heart of an agricultural region and serves as an ideal point of departure for visiting the Ihlara valley. Several of the old Greek houses have kept their columns, lintels, and sculptures, vestiges of their ...

Where to find information before leaving Tourist office in France : 102, avenue des Champs Elysees, 75008 Paris. Tourist office in Switzerland : 82, Talstrasse, 8001 Zurich. Tourist office in Belgium: at the embassy, rue Montoyer, 4B, 1000 Brussels. For all other countries, request information from the embassies. Where to find information on the spot Most cities in Cappadocia have a tourist office. Local travel agencies can also p...

The Basilica of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), now called the Ayasofya Museum, is unquestionably one of the finest buildings of all time. Built by Constantine the Great and reconstructed by Justinian in the 6th century, its immense dome rises 55 meters above the ground and its diameter spans 31 meters. Linger here to admire the building's majestic serenity as well as the fine Byzantine mosaics. (Open every day except Monday). The Archeological Mu...

Across from Hagia Sophia stands the supremely elegant Imperial Sultanahmet Mosque with six minarets. Built between 1609 and 1616 by the architect Mehmet, the building is more familiarly known as the Blue Mosque because of its magnificent interior paneling of blue and white Iznik tiles. During the summer months an evening light and sound show both entertain and inform visitors. The cascading domes and four slender minarets of the Imperial Süle...

In this topic i'll share the Ceddin Dede Music of Ottoman Army (Janissary) Band. They are playing it in Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. Please share us your feelings about video. ...

On a finger of land at the confluence of the Bosphorus, the Golden Ham and the Sea of Marmara stands the Topkapı Palace, that maze of buildings that was the focal point of the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and 19th centuries. In these opulent surroundings the sultans and their court lived and governed. A magnificent wooded garden fills the outer, or first, court. In the second court, on the right, shaded by cypress and plane trees, stand the p...

Istanbul embraces two continents with one arm reaching out to Asia and the other to Europe. Through the city's heart, the Bosphorus, course the waters of the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn. The former capital of three successive empires, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman, Istanbul taday honors and preserves the legacy of its past while loaking forward to a modern future. It is Istanbul's endless variety that fascinates its ...