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Turkey & Syria Tours & Accommodation 2008
Turkey and Optional Syria Spectacular Tour & Accommodations
We are offering Spectacular Turkey Tours with Accommodations
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Spectacular Turkey Tours & Accommodations |
THIS YEAR'S TOUR
MT.NEMRUT AND BEYOND,
EASTERN TURKEY AND SYRIA
COSTS
Cost $5500 for single supplement $780 plus component for Syria (TBA)
Tour includes transfers and transport, all meals in Turkey, but does not include items of a personal nature such as tips, drinks and laundry. There is the possibility of several meals with local people for which charges will be made separately. (Optional)
TOUR INFORMATION
TOUR DEPARTS MELBOURNE 5th SEPTEMBER 2008
DEPARTS ISTANBUL 6TH September 2008
DEPARTS ISTANBUL TO AUSTRALIA 15th October 2008
TURKISH ROUTE includes:
Istanbul, Ankara,Amasya,Corum,Trabazon and the Black Sea, Artvin, Kars, Dogubeyazit, Van, Bitlis, Diyabakir, Mardin, Hasankeyf, Adiyman, Nemrud Dag, Urfa, Harran, Gaziantep, Hatay, Antioch.
SYRIAN ROUTE includes:
Aleppo, Hama, Damascus, Krak de Chevaliers, Palmyra, Saladin’s Castle etc
RETURN TO TURKEY
Adana,Konya, Cappadocia, (Optional balloon flight A$360.00 ) Istanbul
DETAILED ITINERARY
DAY 1 Saturday 06 September Arrive ISTANBUL
On your arrival at the airport you will be met by your guide and bus and taken to your hotel which is in Sultanahmet in the centre of the Old City. After dinner you are free to walk out and take in the sights and sounds of Istanbul by night. Sip a Turkish coffee, or puff on a nargileh in one of the main coffee shops in Sultanahmet. There are ATM’s in the Hippodrome Square in front of the Blue Mosque, but you might like to wait until the morning when we can use banking facilities. Dont bother with travelers cheques as these are only a nuisance. Better to have a credit card and a debit card (in case you lose one) as there are ATM’s around the country. Don’t forget to notify your bank that you are going to Turkey between such and such dates as they may block access to your money for security reasons.
Hotel Tria in Sultanahmet Overnight (D)
Tours, Accommodation & 2008
DAY 2 Sunday 07 September ISTANBUL
Your guide and driver will escort you to various highlights of the Old City. The Roman Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, the Mosaic Museum, the Museum of Islamic Arts and Crafts, after lunch we will visit Topkapi Palace. The remainder of the day is at leisure. For those of you who have been to Istanbul before the Yerebatan Saray or underground cistern, the little church of St Sergius and St Bacchus are nearby or wander through Gulhane Park to look at the spectacular view of the Bosphorus Bridge where the waters that divide East and West converge. Take a tram out to wander along the City Walls. Or a tram to Taksim and walk down the Istiklal Caddesi which never closes. This is the main street of Istanbul on the Pera side. Have a Mado icecream (delicious) or try a selection of Baklava in one of the many shops that front the streets. The main book shops are here including antiquarian and you may be lucky to visit the convent of the Whirling Dervishes at Galata, with its surrounding Muslim cemetery. Although Istiklal never closes the buses do stop midnight.
Hotel Tria in Sultanahmet Overnight ( B.L.D)
DAY 3 Monday 08 September ISTANBUL / ANKARA
Today we depart the exotic city of Istanbul for our scenic drive to Ankara enroute we will stop at the town of Bolu famous for the hand made Turkish Sweets. On arrival Ankara you have a choice of The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, or the Citadel of the Old City and its surrounds, Ataturk’s Mausoleum and the museum which is attached to it. Here you will find the records, photographs and artifacts from the Ataturk period, including interactive displays of the First World War and the War of Independence. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk or Father of the Turks was their great leader, the man who saved Turkey from the intended carve up of Anatolia by the invading Allies after World War One and the person responsible for bringing an end to the ailing Ottoman Empire and initiating the modern Republic of Turkey.
Hotel Buyuk Surmeli Overnight ( B.L.D)
DAY 4 Tuesday 09 September ANKARA/ HATTUSAS/ AMASYA
After breakfast we depart Ankara and journey to the remains of the capital of the Hittite Empire at Hattusas and Yazilikaya
Small crevices in the rocks were held to be sacred to the gods and Hittite priests carved their images in procession on the rock faces. Stone lions guard the entrance to the capital. The Hittites are mentioned in the Bible, one of their princes was murdered on the way to marry an Egyptian princess: many of their artifacts are to be found in the wonderful museum in Ankara. We drive on to Amasya via Corum on our way to the Black Sea.
Maden Otel Amasya, Overnight ( B.L.D)
DAY 5 Wednesday 10th September AMASYA / TRABAZON
Along the Black Sea coastline are craggy, heavily forested areas with small villages whose population exists on production of tea and hazelnuts. Cherries are said to have originated in Giresun. The road winds along the sea shore where Jason and the Argonauts are said to have traveled in search of the Golden Fleece. Having traversed most of Anatolia, Xenophon and His Ten Thousand are supposed to have caught their first glimpse of the sea at Trabazon (Trebizond). This city was a Greek colony and later capital of the Byzantine state of Pontus in the 13th C.
We visit the Byzantine stone church of Hagia Sophia , still with some frescoes intact. And climb up the high cliff face to the Monastery of Sumela, about 6th C ,known then as Our Lady of the Black Mountain. For those who want to walk, the climb through the forest takes about an hour, but the rest of us can take the bus to a certain point and walk the rest of the way. The monastery contains wonderful if damaged frescoes and the view down into the gorge is superb.
Buyuk Surmeli Hotel Overnight (BLD)
DAY 6 Thursday 11th September TRABAZON / ARTVIN
The town of Artvin sits defensibly at the head of another gorge where the cold waters of the Pontus Mountains rush down past Georgian and Armenian churches with their “kumbet”style, conical roofs. White water rafting is popular here.
Karhan Hotel
Overnight (BLD)
DAY 7 Friday 11th September ARTVIN / KARS
Kars is our next stop, the black walls of the citadel still stand guard over the town. Near Kars is Ani, the former capital of Old Armenia. The ruined cathedrals decorated in stone, soar into the heavens, reaching up to commune with God The complex started life as a fortress with surrounding walls in the 5th C AD and once housed palaces and monasteries, bathhouses and caravanserais and all the paraphernalia designed to house a population of 100,000. Now the city blindly gazes through its ruined churches across the Arpa Cay (river) into what is now Armenia the former USSR.
Hotel Karabag Oteli
Overnight (BLD)
DAY 8 AGRI DAG /DOGUBEYZIT /VAN
The road to Van skirts the mountain where it is said Noah and his Ark landed after the Great Flood. Hopefully we will get a good view of its snowy peak and if you look carefully you may even catch a glimpse of the Ark! This beautiful mountain and its little sister (little Agri Dag) were volcanic cones whose lava flowed out into the plateau of Eastern Anatolia making the surrounding area fertile. The great rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates rise in these mountains, and we can well imagine why succeeding generations called the area the Garden of Eden. The Armenians who have lived in this area for millennia, hold this mountain to be sacred. And the cones are visible on the other side of the mountain in Armenia. Armenia became one of the first Christian nations when its king converted to Christianity.
DOGUBEYAZIT, was a busy trading post on the Silk Route into Iran. We visit Ishak Pasha’s palace on the Tabriz- Erzerum Road in rugged mountain country. Ishak Pasha who began building this palace was an Ottoman general in the service of the Sultan in 1789. It is a huge monumental fortified structure complete with chapels, a mosque, a palace complete with Harem, hamams, kitchens and stables. The buildings are made of a pinkish stone carved with the delicate work of master stonemasons. Vines and tendrils, capitals and columns give rise to the idea of a fairytale castle perched in the high reaches of the Anatolian plateau.
It also has a wonderful view down into the plain.
VAN
Lake Van is set into rugged area which produced the Kingdom of Van of the Urartian culture which flourished in the 13th Century BC. It was a literary culture whose cuneiform writing looks as sharp and clear today as it must have been many millennia ago. However the writing was restricted to promoting power and prestige for its rulers rather than for accounting and trade. Van also known as Tushpa, was the capital of the Urartian Kingdom. The Urartu who built fortresses and castles from monumental stone were also master bronze smiths as well, casting gods and fierce mythical animals. We will see their work at Cavustepe and Adilcevas and massive fortresses such as Van citadel. The museum at Van, if we have time, houses fine seals and other artifacts. The Urartian kingdom finally perished in the fires of the Assyrian onslaught.
Buyuk Urartu Hotel
2 nights (BLD)
AHKTAMAR
On the island of Ahktamar in Lake Van is the Church of the Holy Cross, a 10thC Armenian church, with fine stone carving of Biblical characters such as Adam and Eve, Jonah and the whale. This is one of the highlights of Eastern Turkey and the island is reached by boat. Inside are paintings of Christian scenes, the Marriage at Canaan, the Baptism of Christ.
A little further around the lake is the Selcuk cemetery at Ahlat, a large medieval city. Round or octagonal tombs called kumbet, with conical roofs, brought by Turkmeni nomads from their Central Asian homelands during the Selcuk era (app 13thC) are found from Eastern Turkey to Konya. They generally contain a crypt, a prayer room and a cenotaph. We will also see the stelea or headstones carved with beautiful Selcuk Kufic characters from the 12-14th C.
TATVAN Overnight (BLD)
DAY 11 TATVAN /BITLIS/ DIYABAKIR
We continue our journey through the towns of Tatvan and Bitlis to Diyabakir where medieval walls of black basalt, 12m high and 5 km long surround the old part of the city. Begun in the 4th C the walls have four main gates, with inscriptions and carvings and 80 towers and buttresses overlooking the plain of the Tigris River. Inside the walls we find several important mosques and a Byzantine church, caravanserais and marketplaces and the Citadel.
Dedeman Hotel
Overnight (BLD)
DAY 12 DIYARBAKIR / MARDIN
Mardin is famed for several Syrian Orthodox monasteries which have survived from the earliest period of Christianity. In earlier times the Christian fathers dominated this part of the world including Syria and
Palestine, but the ravages of time and war have diminished the once indomitable presence of this aspect of Christianity. We will visit the Byzantine monastery of Deir Zaferan of the Tur Abdin.
Oztoprak Hotel
Overnight (BLD)
DAY 13 MARDIN / HASANKEYF /ADIYAMAN/ KAHTA/ NEMRUD DAGI
We wend our way through the South East Region, close to the Gap Project which supplies water to the whole region, damming the Euphrates at some levels. Coming to Mt Nemrud, we climb to see one of wonders of Turkey. Mt Nemrud with its tumulus is supposedly the burial place of the King of Commagene. Mt Nemrud has near its man-made summit a rocky ledge on which are huge statues with their heads now resting on the ground. On the other sides of the tumulus are terraces containing what may have been an ancient fire altar temple, stelae and sculptures. The site was constructed in the 2nd C AD, by Antiochus 1 of Commagene to commemorate his reign and as a place of worship. The spectacular views over the Ant-Taurus mountains are truly wonderful stretching mile after mile into the blue distance. The site shows a mixture of Hellenistic, Iranian as well as to those Anatolian cultures which pre-date it.
Hiotel Mt Nemrud
DAY 14 MT.NEMRUD / HARRAN / URFA
The Old Testament tells us that God showed Abraham the way to Canaan from this area. Local tradition may show us the cave in which he was born. And we are told that other characters from the Bible, Rebecca, Rachel and Joseph were familiar with this place. Certain it is that many generations since then have lived and toiled with their herds of goats and sheep, eeking out an existence in this dry land. The beehive houses of Harran are said to preserve all sorts of foodstuffs for a long time and have been inhabited until recent times. Urfa, the ancient Edessa, also has its myths connected with biblical characters. There is a famous mosque with a pool full of huge golden carp that nobody is allowed to eat. The bazaar is famous for its copper and silver and the food starts to become hotter as well as the weather.
URFA / GAZIANTEP
Antep has been given the name Gazi or Hero from its difficult defense against the French in World War One. In Gaziantep’s museum we stop to look at the remains of Roman mosaic pavements rescued from Zeugma, a Roman garrison town which once lay at the crossroads between Syria, Mesopotamia and South East Turkey and which now lies under the waters of the Gap Project along with many other sites now lost.
Efforts by Turkish archeologists, Australians and the Swiss and French backed by important international institutions have secured for posterity information and artifacts from what was then the Roman-Iranian border towns of Apameia and Seleucia. The battle site of CARCHEMIS
Tugcan Hotel
Overnight (BLD)
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DAY 16 GAZIANTEP / HATAY
We come to Hatay or Antioch where St Peter and St Paul both preached in the cave church we can still see today. Antioch on the Orontes river was the capital of Seleucia, founded by one of Alexanders generals.It was a Roman city with villas, palaces decorated with frescoes and mosaics. Here in the little museum we are able to see the highly decorative mosaic floors of the Roman pleasure city. Classic scenes such as Dionysus and Ariadne, Io and Argo, and most unusually from Euripidean tragedy. It was considered to be one of the most important cities of the East and in Byzantine times was involved in the schisms of the early church, based on the Divine Nature of Christ.
Hotel Orontes
Overnight (BLD)
DAY 18 HATAY / ALEPPO
We enter Syria at the border crossing between Turkey and Syria. At this stage we do not know whether we will need visas or not. Before we get to Aleppo we will take a look at St Simeon Stylites, where the saint stood for 36 years on top of an 18m column in the desert! Unfortunately,as people down the centuries have taken home their piece of the pillar there is only a short section left.
The town of Aleppo on the river Chalys has been designated a World Heritage site. This is the place they say most resembles an oriental medieval city, its maze of souks covered by sunbleached awnings and cool stone vaulting In the 16th to 18th Centuries when it was an Ottoman province Turks, Arabs, Jews and Christians traded along the silk route. In fact throughout history, its position on the silk route was what gave Aleppo its commercial appeal. It vied with Damascus in trading silks, spices, precious metals and gems. These days Aleppo olive soap is sold in all sorts of shapes and sizes, there is antique copper and brass, jewellery and gold, carpets, cloth and textiles.The famous citadel still stands on its hill, the Great Mosque built by the Umayyad dynasty, an Armenian cathedral, a 6th C Byzantine monastery and an original old working hamam, well patronized by the locals complete the picture.
3 nights (BLD)
Where possible our hotels will be chosen from old Ottoman houses, Armenian mansions and similar
Our 8 - 10 day tour of Syria will include:
• Saladin's Castle, Ugarit and Lattakia, Margab Castle, and Krak de Chevaliers, the Crusader stronghold.
• Damascus, the Mosque formerly Byzantine Basilica Church, covered with Byzantine mosaics where according to ledgend lies the head of St John the Baptist! in a golden casket.
• The bazaars and hammams, Saladins tomb, tomb of the great mystic and philosopher Ibn Arabi, old Damascene houses and the sweetmeat bazaar.
Our route from Damascus to Antakya includes:
• The famous water wheels of Hama.
• The pink sandstone city of Palmyra, famous ruined Roman city where Queen Zenobia once ruled an empire which reached far into Asia Minor and down into Southern Syria.
• Lady Hestor Stanhope visited Palmyra swathed in Bedu robes, with her entourage of hundreds of Beduoin horseman, vast embroidered tents and provisions for all. Lady Jane Digby
• On our way we will have time to visit local museums containing evidence of very early Mesopotamian civilizations such as the Ebla tablets. and the ancient sity of Apamea.
Return to Turkey, taking our mini-bus to Istanbul via Adana,Tarsus,Konya, Cappadocia and Ankara.
Our tour ends back at the Hotel Tria in Istanbul, about the 13 – 15th October, from whence you may go on to Europe or other destinations. Most of our guests will leave Istanbul on 15th October.
Tours, Accommodation & 2008
TOUR 1:
19 DAYS TOUR STARTS FROM 16 MAY 2008 (green line)
COST: AUD$4,150.00
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ART TOUR
19 DAYS ART TOUR INCLUDING 3 ART WORKSHOPS STARTS FROM JUNE 2009
COST: AUD$5,195.00
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TOUR 2:
30 DAYS TOUR (TBA) (blue line)
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TOUR 3:
36 DAYS EASTERN TURKEY TOUR STARTS FROM 5 SEP 2008
PLUS 8 DAYS OPTIONAL TOUR TO SYRIA (red line)
AUD$5,775.00 plus the option of Syria approx 8 days extra cost of this (to be advised)
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Ayasofya Turlips
Tours, Accommodation & 2008
TURKEY TOUR AND ACCOMMODATION
CRADLE OF CIVILIZATIONS
From the dawn of civilization to the present day vibrancy of modern TURKEY
From the ANCIENT MOTHER GODDESS and CYBELE,
From DIANA of the Ephesians to the VIRGIN MARY, Mother of Jesus.
Visit the battle fields of ancient TROY , where shades of ancient Trojans and Greeks lie side by side with their brothers from GALLIPOLI, over the DARDENELLES. Walk the Medean Road with XENOPHON and his Ten Thousand and see the plain of CARCHEMISH, the last resting place of HITTITE and Egyptian forces , ISSUS where ALEXANDER fought the PERSIANS, where CRUSADER knights built their castles. Where SELCUK and BYZANTINE forces clashed until the OTTOMANS captured CONSTANTINOPLE in 1453.
Turkey 's wealth of history underpins her touristic delights. Ancient Greco-Roman cities vie with the delights of modern vibrant bustling cities like ISTANBUL (formerly Constantinople ) and ANKARA the last resting place of MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATURK, the Founder of the modern TURKISH REPUBLIC .
Geographically the country rises from delightful coastal resorts on the MEDITTERANEAN and the AEGEAN boasting jewel like islands set in a Turquoise Sea . SAMOS , PATNOS AND RHODES are nearby and the hidden sun rings black CYPRUS in a lake of fire.
Sail the TURQUOISE COAST from KUSADASI, MARMARIS and BODRUM in a traditional GULET or sail boat, delicious meals prepared on board by the crew, swim and dream the days away, calling into pristine coves and tiny villages. (BLUE VOYAGE) Take a mud bath or climb up into butterfly valley. Visit the natural wonders of PAMMUKKALE where warm thermal springs cascade over glowing white terraces of petrified rock. Swim amidst Roman marble columns. Hang gliding, sailing, rock climbing and water sports complete the picture.
Turkey Tour: Trabazon St Sophia
It is said that there are more Greco-Roman ruins exist in Turkey than in Greece or Rome . The most extensive of these is of course the ancient city of EPHESUS , where ST.PAUL preached against Diana, starting riots. In April the cyclamens spring up from emerald green fields. See the library of CELSUS; stand in a real ROMAN room its plastered walls decorated with frescoes and lined with mosaic floors. A small stone house nearby, visited by the POPE stands nearby. It is said that MARY the MOTHER of JESUS spent her last days here. Wishing trees with their paper prayers flutter in the breeze. Pilgrims drink the water of the sacred spring. Other ancient marble cities surrounded by unspoilt countryside and olive groves hover like ghosts MILETUS,DIDYMA,APHRODISIAS, ASPENDENDOS with its intact Roman theatre, PERGE and SIDE where CLEOPATRA bathed in asses' milk. The ancient harbours of ANTALYA and ALANYA lie on the Mediterranean . Not far is the Byzantine church of ST.NICHOLAS , patron saint of Christmas and born in Turkey , LYCIAN rock cut tombs lie nearby, while the Greeks worshipped the everlasting fires of the CHIMERA near Olympus .
In CAPPADADOCIA the rock formations called locally Fairy Chimneys were the last homes of cave dwelling ANATOLIANS, housing themselves ,their animals and their birds. Have lunch with a village family, bread and other dishes cooked in the tandoor or below ground oven. Visit frescoed caves and churches where the monks of the early Christian era lived and worshipped. Here ST.BASIL and ST.GREGORY formulated the essentials of the Early Christian faith for the later NICENE CREED in the solitude of GOREME VALLEY . Underground cities, complete with store rooms provided refuge for countless thousands escaping from the ARABS and the MONGOLS.
From high above in your balloon the pinnacled valleys seem like a lunar landscape, the only sound- peaceful silence and the twittering of birds.
KONYA , ancient ICONIUM is the home of the MEVLEVI sect of the WHIRLING DERVISHES. Dressed in flowing white robes they twirl in ecstasy as they commune with the Infinite. The lavishly decorated tomb of MAULANA CELADDIN RUMI in the centre of the town is surrounded by mosque and medresses or theological colleges where the dervishes danced and the remains of SELCUK tiled palaces. Visit caravanserais on the OLD SILK ROAD or a Master feltmaker . CATALHOYUK, ancient birthplace of the Mother Goddess is being excavated. Ancient signs of bull and sun worship decorate the walls. Her sacred animals the deer and the sun disk are to be found in the MUSEUM of EARLY CIVILIZATIONS in the capital ANKARA .
Night Shot of Blue Mosque Sultan
ISTANBUL formerly Constantinople until captured by the TURKS in 1453 has a history going back thousands of years. It was the capital of the western Roman empire and built by CONSTANTINE the GREAT, later it was the capital of the Byzantine Empire , and then the Ottoman Empire , stretching its limit from Morroco , Egypt , Syria , Iran , Medina and Mecca to dominate Greece and Hungary until it was finally repulsed at Vienna .
Turkey Tour: Cave Dwellings, Cappadocia
Since Turkey became a republic in 1923, Istanbul is now a bustling cosmopolitan city, well served by public transport and big business, Istanbul still holds charm and variety. All manner of delicious TURKISH FOOD can be found here, local wines are excellent and fine dining over the water, a speciality . Take a trip up the Bosphorus , the waterway dividing East from West. The GOLDEN HORN takes its name from the Golden light which bathes it at sunset making the stained glass windows of the TOPKAPI PALACE gleam red and gold in the sunset and the light fades gradually on the ancient WALLS, while hundreds of martins circle the battlements and swirl around the floodlit bridges.
The famous city with its skyline of mosques and minarets provide a romantic backdrop to your tour of the city. Don't forget the CHURCH of the HOLY WISDOM or AYA SOFYA, the BLUE MOSQUE radiant with its walls of blue tiles. The ancient HIPPODROME where the Emperors watched the chariot races and successive Sultans held parades of all inhabitants of the empire with floats, dancing and entertainments.
The Museum of Islamic Arts holds treasures from the work of centuries of master craftspersons . The city is famous for its art galleries and museums, from CALLIGRAPHY to the MEHTER or Military Band, the first one of its kind.
Take a tour on a ferry boat up the wide channel of the BOSPHORUS to the Black Sea , lined with the mansions and palaces of the wealthy and the court, from this and preceding centuries. The 19 th Century DOLMABACHE PALACE is home to a vast collection of porcelain, crystal bannisters and the biggest chandelier of the time is worth a visit.
Shopping may take up much of your time in Istanbul . Home to all manner of goods from East and West, turquoise and amber, antiques and costumes. Spices and cordials, 18 th Century sweetmeats, Turkish Viagra, nuts and fruits of all kinds are sold in the SPICE BAZAAR and the surrounding areas. Take home an IZNIK plate or a BELLY DANCE outfit. Sip TURKISH coffee and smoke a NARGILAH like the PASHAS of old.
The battlefields of GALLIPOLI are reached by bus or car from Istanbul . Whilst thousands of young men from Britain , Australia and New Zealand and the British Commonwealth , the Turks also lost their young men. Embattled on all sides by the Allies and by Russia a generation of Turkish men and women gave their lives and their children to the cause of saving Turkey from the enemy. After the WAR of INDEPENDANCE the Turkish people had regained their independence but lost their empire. Nevertheless the result was that from the ashes of this conflict the modern nations of Turkey and Australia were born. The friendship between these two nations began at this time has gained strength. Thousands of Australians And New Zealanders flock to ANZAC COVE for ceremonies on the 25 th of April each year.
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EASTERN TURKEY
Eastern Turkey has a wealth of natural beauty ranging from the pine forests and tea plantations of the Black Sea resort of TRABAZON, a former BYZANTINE Kingdom where on a high cliff lies the frescoed monastery of SUMELA. While white water rafting, trekking and spotting GEORGIAN churches are popular in the gorges of ARTVIN. ANI, the ancient cathedral city of ARMENIA , now in ruins, looks over a high escarpment into Georgia . In the foothills of MT.ARARAT are DOGUBEYAZIT and the beautifully carved walls of the ISHAK PASHA Palace .
Lake in Black Sea Region - Turkey Accommodation Information
LAKE VAN, where the VAN CATS like to take a swim in the lake, surrounded by high mountains has a natural rugged beauty .Some of the earliest CUNEIFORM writing is to be found on the walls of Van citadel. CAVUSTEPE is an URARTUAN archeological site, AKDAMAR, an Armenian Church with primitive carvings of ADAM and EVE lies on an island in Lake Van , reached by boat. On the road to BITLIS and TATVAN are Seljuk cemeteries at AHLAT.
The view from the heights of MT. NEMRUD is fantastic at sunrise. Row upon row of mountains stretch into the blue haze. A COMMAGENE king wanting to vie with the gods built his tomb, they say, on the top of Mt Nemrud. He also built a stone platform dedicated to fire worship with huge statues on top. These statues can still be seen where they were built but were damaged in an earthquake, their heads taller than a man now rest at their feet.
DIYABAKIR'S high Roman walls are decorated with towers and battlements. GAZIANTEP contains the preserved mosaic floors of ancient ZEUGMA now covered by the waters of the GAP PROJECT and the ATATURK DAM, which provides water to the agricultural districts of South Eastern Anatolia. Not long ago, YORUK nomads with their flock of goats used to roam the high plateau, living in black goat hair tents.
Local Turks brought up in the spirit of the ABRAHAMIC tradition, will show you the cave where according to legend ABRAHAM was born. A host of Biblical characters once lived in South Eastern Turkey, REBEKAH, RACHEL and JACOB. Still today the round stone BEEHIVE HOUSES of their descendants can be seen near SANLIURFA, old EDESSA , famous for its copper ware and hot spicy food. Early SYRIAN ORTHODOX monasteries at MARDIN still contain the earliest records of the Christian church, while down along the coast in ANTIOCH is the church where ST.PETER once preached. See vivid mosaic floors of Roman pleasure mansions and early granite quarries which provided stone for Roman carvers.
Along the Mediterranean coast past ADANA is the CRUSADER CASTLE of ANAMUR, the Gates of Heaven and Hell at SILIFE and seashore caves where prehistoric hunters first made shell necklaces.
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A Potted History of Damascus
Tradition has it that DAMASCUS was founded by SHEM, the son of NOAH and could have been in the original
GARDEN OF EDEN. ABRAHAM may have lived in its caves and had the Oneness and Unity of God revealed to him there. Muslim tradition holds that Mary and Jesus took refuge there "And We made the Son of Mary and His Mother a sign and gave them shelter on a pleasant plateau" (Jebel Qassioun - a tableland looking out over the city)
The Prophet MUHAMMAD referred to Damascus as the nearest thing to a PARADISE on Earth.
Property owners and developers have ravaged much of the charm of the citrus groves and orchards which used to surround Old Damascus but in the old part of the city one certainly can feel swept back into the caravan city of early times. (now a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE)
Damascus was first recorded as DIMASQUE in the famous MARI and EBLA Tablets (the sites of the ancient cities can still be visited)in 2500bc.
The AMORITES, the EGYPTIANS (in the TELL AMANA Tablets) and the ARAMEANS all held sway over the city which was famous for its TEMPLE of HADAD on the site of the GREAT UMAYYAD MOSQUE. The ASSYRIANS were next. ("The Assyrians came down like a wolf on the fold and its cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold...)"
Cyrus the Great (Persian) and Alexander the Great (Macedonian) took Damascus as did the NABATEANS from PETRA.
Then the ROMANS swept in, clanking with their armour and spears, they stayed 700 years. (some of the time spent fighting QUEEN ZENOBIA of PALMYRA in the north.
THE STREET CALLED STRAIGHT features next in our story. ST.PAUL escaping over the walls of the city, by being let down in a basket.
The Emperors HADRIAN and SEVERUS built aqueducts and temples and encouraged trade in the city.
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT (BYZANTINE emperor of CONSTANTINOPLE) adopted Christianity and converted the Roman TEMPLE OF JUPITER (site of Hadad) into the Cathedral of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
The Muslims under the first caliph took Damascus in AD 637 and made it their first capital (UMAYYAD dynasty)
SALADIN made Damascus his headquarters (AYYUBID dynasty). However the MONGOLS destroyed it in 1260 but things were evened out a bit under the MAMELUKES (Turkish slave dynasty) and it became their second capital after Cairo. TAMERLANE destroyed the city again in 1400.
The Turkish OTTOMANS were next in 1516, using Damascus as the major staging post on the all important PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA.
Damascus fell to the Allies in 1918 but the Arab dream of nationhood fell when Syria was handed over to the French (part of the spoils of war against the Ottoman Empire) The locals revolted and after WORLD WAR 2 the French left and Damascus became the capital of an INDEPENDENT SYRIAN ARABIC REPUBLIC
SYRIA TOUR AND ACCOMMODATION
Turkey shares a border with Syria. At this point we cross over into Syria to Aleppo , the ancient citadel still stands on its hill. Under shady awnings a maze of souks cover the town , provide goods to generations of shoppers. Silver and copper are specialities .
Palmyra is known to the 19 th Century English lady writer Jane Digby, stands out in the plain, its columns gleaming in pink and gold.
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