Musicians announce their approach. The roar of the crowd and the noise of music can be heard outside the arena and even in distant neighborhoods of the city. Dressed in magnificent rented costumes the gladiators descend from their litters for the first and perhaps the last time. Seated in the state in the tribunes, magnates, […]
The sea around Datca is just as the poet Can Yucel has described: ‘Greener than seaweed when you remain still, and blue when you swim.’ Datca lies on the Resadiye Peninsula, which in geographical terms marks the confluence of the Aegean and Mediterranean. But it is better described as a heaven on earth, a place […]
According to Sumerologist Dr. Muazzez Ilmiye Cig, celebrating the New Year’s Eve is not something new for Turkish people. It has rather been a culture to decorate the pine tree which also represents the “Tree of Life” that rose in the sky from the center of the earth. What Comes Around Goes Around The celebration […]
Located on the northwest of the city in Arnavutkoy district, The New Istanbul Airport (ISL) is the largest in the world. The airport was inaugurated on 29th October 2018 after speeding up the construction process as a total of 42 months to open the first stage of 90 million passengers capacity, second and third stages […]
Most of Istanbul’s children do not realize that Hans Andersen, whose stories have opened the doors to a world of fantasy, visited Istanbul. The Danish writer describes his first sight of the city with a metaphor worthy of a storyteller, likening each mosque with its dome and minarets to Noah’s Ark. Istanbul is a city […]
The Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I, whose reign marked the height of power and prosperity for the Anatolian Seljuks, died in 1237. From that time on the state slid into decline. As if repeated Mongol incursions were not enough, internal power struggles undermined the foundations of the state and sectarian quarrels divided the population. When […]
Turkey is a land which has been home to many civilizations, and even in its remotest mountains and valleys are found traces of a past going back thousands of years. Some of the civilizations are well known, but others still guard their secrets. Hundreds of archaeologists labor ceaselessly to discover them. With picks, spades, and […]
For thousands of years, Turkic people spread far and wide across Eurasia, but Mongolia is of particular importance in the study of Turkish history on account of the numerous ancient monuments which provide valuable evidence for archaeologists, linguists, and anthropologists. The inscriptions on these monuments are the earliest documents in the Turkish language and throw […]
Under a white carpet of snow, Cappadocia is, if possible, even more beautiful. Wandering through Guvercinlik Valley with its stone spires or climbing the icebound steps of Uchisar Castle, you feel as if you have come to a magical winter wonderland. In the still cold air, you can see your breath and hear the whisper […]
Theirs was a tranquil land. They engaged in no great battles that changed the course of history, boasted of no marvelous achievements, nor put up heroic stands against conquering armies that became the stuff of legend. Instead, they busied themselves in their fields and produced olive oil. Compared to their neighbors, the enterprising Ionians, they […]
