With the coming of cold winter days, Turkey’s cake and pudding shops begin serving salep in place of ice cream. On the ferryboats which ply their way between the European and Asian shores of Istanbul with smoke trailing from their funnels and chased by flocks of seagulls, many of the passengers order steaming cups of […]
Turkish Alparslan (“Courageous Lion”), the original name ‘Adud Al-Dawla Abu Shuja’ Muhammad Ibn Da’ud Chaghribeg, the second sultan of the Seljuq Turks (1063-72), who inherited the Seljuq territories of Khorasan and western Iran and went on to conquer Georgia, Armenia, and much of Asia Minor (won from the Byzantines). Who is Alp Arslan? His personality, […]
History is full of curious contradictions: heroic acts born of cowardice, and sparks of compassion amid ruthless conflict. One such example is Florence Nightingale, who not only transformed health care for soldiers during the Crimean War but whose work changed the whole concept of nursing and hospital care throughout the world. The Ottoman Empire, which […]
As you approach Sereflikochisar southeast of Ankara, glinting light to the west tells you that the Tuz Golu (Lake Salt) is approaching. The intense whiteness and sparkle of the salt crystals look deceptively like snow and ice. Even when you reach the edge, you still brace yourself for a freezing sensation as you take off […]
Milas lies on the lower slopes of Mount Sodra, from whose quarries came to the marble which adorns so many ancient cities in southwest Turkey. This region between the Buyuk Menderes (the ancient Meander) and the Dalaman rivers was controlled by the Carians. They were succeeded by the Persians, Macedonians, and Seleucids before becoming part […]
On the beautiful photogenic peaks of the Turkish Black Sea, at Kackar Mountains or Ayder, heliskiing has been a great alternative activity for more than 10 years now. WHAT The idea is simple. The helicopter takes the skiers up to the peak like taxi and till the evening, you will be able to explore some […]
Paul was a 1st century Jew who, after being the bitterest enemy of the Christian Church, became its leading missionary and possibly its greatest theologian. His letters, the earliest extant Christian documents, antedate the Gospels of the New Testament. More than half of the Acts of the Apostles deals with his career, and this, together […]
The three most diverse and sophisticated cuisines in the world are said to be the Turkish, French and Chinese. All three are characterized by a fusion of their own strong culinary traditions with influences and borrowings from other cultures with which they have come in contact over the centuries. At the same time, like all […]
It was Cevat Sakir Karaagacli, known as the Fisherman of Halicarnassus, who introduced Bodrum to Turkey and the world. Born in 1886 in Istanbul, Cevat Sakir worked as a journalist in his hometown during World War 1 and was sentenced to internal exile in Bodrum for a story that he wrote. Exiled to Bodrum, of […]
We do not exactly know the date of his birth, but we presume it to be between 1465-1470. Piri Reis was born at Gelibolu or Gallipoli as the Anglo-American world calls it, a lovely coastal town on the Marmara Sea, which was then used as a naval base. He was named Muhiddin Piri. His father […]
