Turkey through a traveler’s eyes: Frances Elliot, an ‘idle woman in Constantinople’

Hippodrome, Sultanahmet

“The real beauty of Constantinople is in its water.
Water everywhere, clear, blue, and shimmering; away to the far south the placid sea of Marmora … To the north the long, low stretch of the Bosphorus teaming with steamers…and at hand the watery bosom of the Golden Horn cuts into the densest portion of the city, and disputes possession with the land.”
In these words at least I'll agree with their author, Frances Elliot. The self-styled “Idle Woman in Constantinople” visited the great city known today as İstanbul back in the May of 1892, and was more than justified in her assertion that the city's visual appeal derives, then as now, in large part from its situation astride these three great waterways.

Bleak and bigoted first impressions

But overall, Elliot is so negative about one of the world's great cities that it's hard to fathom why she bothered visiting at all, let alone writing a book about it; and that's allowing for the bigoted and imperious attitudes of the average Westerner of the period and the fact that the city was then, like the Ottoman Empire of which it was capital, in precipitous decline.
Arriving from Europe by train, her first impressions were scathing. The handsome Ottoman-era wooden houses, the surviving examples of which today sell for exorbitant sums to be transformed into boutique hotels and the like, Elliot decries as “common little buildings, not two alike in the whole city, piled one on the other. … The diminutive windows half-closed with wooden shutters to conceal the life of the harem.”
Of a city packed with splendid Ottoman-era mosques, fountains, bath houses and other buildings, she writes: “Ruin more complete, more ruthless, never was beheld. Absolute, sordid ruin, without dignity or pathos. Dust, dirt, neglect and noise everywhere.” About the vibrant hustle and bustle of a city at the crossroads of Europe and Asia she is equally dismissive: “No quiet, no repose! A train rushes by, a passing cart raises clouds of dust out of the dry soil, a troop of Turkish children try to finger you. … a dragoman at your heels, whom you must have for protection […] mumbles incessantly in a sort of pigeon English; the cries of the vendors of cakes and water. The grunts of Persian and Armenian porters with their heavy loads, the click of the laden horses and donkeys […] make up a discord enough to crush the spirit of the most enthusiastic stranger.”

Across the Golden Horn to Pera

Travelling only with her maid, Elliot was relieved to be met at İstanbul Sirkeci Terminal by a splendidly dressed Greek kavass (consular guard) sent by the British Embassy. He soon has all her luggage piled into a horse and carriage, which proceeds along “the most execrable road I ever was shaken on in my life,” reaching the Galata Bridge in the “full evening splendour of the setting sun.” Here at last she begins to appreciate the beauty of the old city on its peninsula, noting approvingly “the Moslem side crowned with a noble line of mosques with gilded minarets” and “the long dark point of the Seraglio [Topkapı Palace], running far out into the water, crowned with its dark mysterious groves, so weird and beautiful.”
She appreciates too the cosmopolitan hubbub of the Galata Bridge itself, with its “English with white umbrellas and low hats … Armenians, with coloured sash glaring out of rags … Greeks in white petticoats and gold embroidered vests … blind beggars in threadbare turbans… Albanian sellers of sesame, honey and sweets; Greek and Bulgarian fruit sellers (and oh! what tempting strawberries), dervishes in white turbans and long dark kaftans.”
These and a whole host of other colorful characters briefly lighten Elliot's spirits, but as her carriage proceeds up the narrow streets of Galata she is soon back to criticizing the city she has come to write about, with its “miserable-looking open shops, about the size of cupboards,” street dogs whose plight “became a great grief to me” and the “cynical desolation” of a Moslem cemetery they ride by. Even the British Embassy, just off the Grande Rue de Pera (today's İstiklal Caddesi), designed by the noted architect Charles Barry and completed in 1855, she castigates as “most incongruous in architecture. Tuscan Gothic, copied from the Palazzo Pitti at Florence! Now this for an Oriental capital strikes one as absurd.”

Exploring Sultanahmet

Elliot based herself in the long-gone Hotel Royal, situated near the British Embassy, and set off daily to explore the city. Like so many visitors both before and after her, Elliot makes the cathedral built at the behest of the sixth-century Byzantine emperor Justinian, the Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), her first port of call. You won't be surprised to earn that this iconic building fails to impress the peevish Elliot. Berating its “agglomeration of shapeless roofs” and the “four clumsy minarets” added piecemeal after its conversion to a mosque following the Ottoman Turkish conquest of 1453, she was “quite bewildered with disappointment” before she'd even entered the holy building.
On entering her mood was not improved by the “slippers, dirty and old” she is compelled to wear over her shoes on entering the church-turned-mosque, which are too large and “keep dropping off, which enrages the door-keeper.” The cavernous interior, glittering with gold mosaic, its soaring dome floating of ethereally 55 meters above the floor the nave, she dismisses summarily: “The squareness of the church detracts from its size. […] the openness of the church offends by its plainness […] it did not impress me, and I am bound to tell the truth.”
Of course, the art and architecture of the Byzantine period had yet to undergo a rehabilitation that did not begin until the 20th century, and the Victorian world, of which Elliot was a typical product, remained in complete thrall to Classical Greece and Rome. But to find nary a good word to say about one of the world's most important buildings feels harsh even when judged by the standards of her time.
Her next stop, the nearby Hippodrome (At Meydan) fares no better, despite having its origins in the late-Roman, rather than Byzantine, period. To Elliot it is “an oblong area of a most vulgar and unpleasant aspect” where “horses ready saddled stand in the dust for hire, held by Turkish youths, and a crowd of fiacres with tourists, arabas, and ox-carts are drawn up in the shade; sellers of Turkish delight, water carriers and beggars” make the ancient chariot racing arena “a most unclean spot, and bitterly disappointing.”
The adjacent Blue Mosque, built by Sultan Ahmed I in 1609 and today one of the most visited sights in İstanbul, she describes as an “ugly mosque, with its six heavy minarets and four great domes.” Of the city's renowned mosques in general, Elliot writes, “If you have seen one mosque you have seen all, the variations are so trifling, the absence of art complete and the monotony so excessive.” So much for the great works of Sinan and other notable Ottoman architects!

Trips up the Golden Horn and Bosporus

At least Elliot was moderately adventurous, heading up the Golden Horn by caique, then following the line of the fifth century land walls of Theodosius. At last she finds something to praise, noting, “The walls of Rome, of which we hear so much, are not to be compared in height, strength or picturesqueness with those of Constantinople.” She also clearly enjoyed the pomp of a spectacle denied to today's visitors to the city, that of the sultan (Abdülhamit) and his entourage making his way from his palace in Yıldız to Friday prayers, and also reserved rare praise for the Süleymaniye Mosque complex, “of which the Turks are justly proud. It is by far the most artistic among the mosques which crown the hills.”
Enervated by the city's June heat, Elliot abandons the Hotel Royal and heads up the Bosporus to Therapia (today's Tarabya) by steamer, noting en-route, “Taken as a whole, the Bosphorus, though the slopes never rise to commanding heights, is excessively picturesque.” Arriving at Tarabya she heads for the “comfortable establishment of Petali's Hotel, with a charming view from every window” and settles herself in “a suite of airy rooms.” Here she has a very pleasant time of it, picnicking in the Belgrade Forest and hobnobbing with the Persian and British ambassadors. Elliot's last trip was to attend a social gathering across the Bosporus at the Sweet Waters of Asia, close to the fortification of Anadoluhisarı. Next day she “bade adieu to Constantinople from the deck of the ambassador's launch, and steamed by Vienna home into the Western world.”
Turkish readers will likely be very offended by Elliot's bigotry about their race and religion, but her visit does provide some useful and colorful information about İstanbul in the late 19th century.

---

Frances Minto Elliot

Born in 1820 in Berkshire, England, Frances Vickriss Dickinson married John Geils of Scotland when she was only 18. The marriage was a disaster, and after seven years she moved to London and filed for divorce. During the acrimonious and long-winded divorce proceedings she began writing for several noted London magazines, and soon got to know some of Victorian London's leading writers, including Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Although the injured party in the divorce, she was ostracized from polite London society and moved to Italy, eventually remarrying an elderly widower, Gilbert Elliot, though this marriage too foundered. She wrote four books in the “Idle Woman in” genre, several other travelogues and three novels. Little known today, she was very popular in her time. Elliot died in Italy aged 78.
“Diary of an Idle Woman in Constantinople” is republished by Ulan Press through Amazon.co.uk

Haghia Sophia

Sirkeci train station (Photo: Sunday's Zaman)

Sirkeci

Keywords: Turkey , traveler

Cappadocia’s other churches

Saklı Church, Göreme (Photo: Pat Yale)

When it comes to Cappadocia, visitors are spoilt for choice of things to see and do. They can take to the skies in a hot-air balloon for a bird's-eye view of the spectacular scenery. They can explore the myriad valleys with their extraordinary rock formations on foot or on horseback. They can make their way to Avanos and try their hand at throwing a pot. Or they can delve beneath the surface quite literally in one of the many underground cities that riddle the area.
 But most of all, they can take time out to inspect some of the wonderful medieval churches hollowed out of the rocks during the centuries when Cappadocia was a remote province of the Byzantine Empire. These churches are astonishing, partly because of the extraordinary way in which they mimic the shape of conventional masonry churches right down to columns and domes that serve no structural function in a cave context. But most of all they are astonishing because of the colorful frescoes that cover the walls and ceilings -- utterly mind-blowing when you see them for the first time.

Some of the finest of the frescoed churches are to be found in the Göreme Open Air Museum where several are grouped together to form what must once have been a very lively monastic settlement. But what if you arrive at the museum and find the car park jam-packed with coaches as can easily happen especially over a bayram (public holiday)? Luckily, there are plenty of other stand-alone churches to explore. And there's a fair chance that you'll have some of them to yourself.

The following list offers a mere taster. There are many other rock-cut churches to discover especially in the Ihlara and Soğanlı valleys.

El Nazar Church, Göreme

If the car park at the Open Air Museum is indeed full, one of the easiest alternatives to find is the El Nazar Church, which is signposted to the left off the road leading back to Göreme. After a walk of perhaps 300 meters, you'll come to a conical formation that looks rather like an outsize molar. Inside, it is a small but impressively frescoed 10th-century church, its neat, small dome decorated with a painting of the Pantocrator (God the Almighty).

Aynalı Church, Göreme

Alternatively, you could head for the 11th-century Aynalı (Symmetrical) Church, which is uphill behind the museum and clearly signposted off the road to the right. In place of the frescoes of the El Nazar Church, it's decorated with lively red and white geometrical patterns. Like the Yusuf Koç Church in Göreme, the Aynalı Church appears to have been part of a monastery with a huge hall running back from the church and tunnels leading to other rooms at least some of which could be sealed off with rolling stones as in the underground cities.

Yusuf Koç Church, Göreme

If you're staying in Göreme, there are several impressively frescoed churches right on your doorstep. The closest is the 11th-century Yusuf Koç Church, named after a man on whose land it used to stand. The church is part of a rock-cut monastic complex that includes an open-sided cave with a rock-cut refectory table running along one side. But it's the church itself, accessed via a metal ladder, that is most impressive.

Inside, what looks just like any one of the fairy-chimney cones standing around it, you'll find a brilliantly colorful church with twin domes and the tops of lost columns hanging from the ceiling where they were probably axed at the same time as a pigeon house was sliced into the walls. Here you'll find a painting of St George spearing his dragon, a popular image in an area that revered him as its patron saint. Here, too, you'll see life-size portraits of Saints Helena and Constantine holding the True Cross, which she is believed to have discovered while visiting Jerusalem.

Durmuş Kadir Church, Göreme

Close enough to be visited together with the Yusuf Koç Church, the Durmuş Kadir Church probably dates back to the sixth or seventh century, making it one of the oldest in the area. It may lack the glorious frescoes that are such a pull but offers instead one of the best examples of the sheer ambition brought to bear on creating the cave churches since it's at least as large as many masonry ones. The church is also worth seeing for the free-standing ambo (pulpit) that dominates the naos (nave), the partially surviving stone screen, and the synthronon, a tiered bench ringing the apse that is a feature of the most impressive Byzantine churches.

Haçlı Church

If you're walking in the Güllüdere (Rose Valley), you should make a point of looking for the wonderful Haçlı (Cross) Church, accessible via a steep metal ladder at the back of a small café. Here you'll find some of the most wonderfully colorful frescoes, including a magnificent 10th-century Pantocrator painted onto the apse and virtually undamaged despite its great age. Visitable on the same walk, especially if you have a guide to show you the way, are the Üçhaçlı (Three Crosses) Church, with more damaged frescoes, and the Kolonlu (Columned) Church, which, like the Durmuş Kadir, is more impressive for its virtuoso architecture, including the soaring pillars from which it takes its name.

Church of John the Baptist, Çavusin

On the way to or from Avanos, you can easily hop off the bus at Çavuşin where, right by the road, you'll see a 10th-century church whose façade has sheered away leaving some of its paintings exposed to the elements. Once again, access is via a metal ladder that lets you inspect at close quarters the huge painted archangels thus exposed before stepping inside the church to swoon over a barrel-vaulted ceiling entirely painted with pictures showing Bible stories in continuous strips. More unexpectedly, here, too, are images of the Emperor Nicephorus Focas and his wife, who visited the area in the 960s.

 Church of St John, Gülsehir

If you have a car, it's an easy drive south of Nevşehir to Gülşehir where the Church of St John (AKA Karşı Kilise) lurks on the northern outskirts unpromisingly hidden behind a cluster of modern houses. From the outside, the cone that houses the church looks equally unpromising. Inside, however, the frescoes have been wonderfully restored. What's more, they're easy to view from a platform reached by a spiral ladder that brings you up close enough to admire the details, especially of the dramatic Last Judgment scene painted on the west wall, an image that is rarely shown in Cappadocia.

Some local tours take in this church, which can also be visited by bus from Nevsehir to Gülşehir.

Church of St Theodore, Yesilöz (Tagor)

Virtually impossible to reach without private transport, the Tagor Church is, not surprisingly, one of the least well-known marvels of Cappadocia, despite the fact that it has a unique upper gallery, perhaps intended for women worshippers, that overlooks the central naos. Windows let into the raised dome allow light to flood into the church, which probably dates from the late 1lth or early 12th century.

Sakli Church, Göreme

The Saklı (Hidden) Church is a small gem of a building tucked away beneath a plateau within walking distance of the El Nazar. Unfortunately it's obvious from the fractured state of some of the ceiling paintings that it is not entirely safe in its current state, so the church is kept locked unless the El Nazar custodian feels like showing it to visitors. Should you be lucky enough to get inside, you will discover more glorious frescoes painted with a more restrained palate than those of the El Nazar.

Church of Forty Martyrs, Sahinefendi

One of the finest of all Cappadocia's less-visited treasures is the superb Church of Forty Martyrs hidden inside one of the dramatic fairy chimneys dotting the roadside at Şahinefendi, a village too often whipped through by minibuses on their way to Soğanlı. Access is problematic despite the fact that the frescoes on the walls and ceiling are newly restored and that the church has been readied for visitors. For the time being, the keyholder also has to guard the Roman ruins at nearby Sobesos so may be reluctant to divert to unlock the gate. If he does, you will discover a dramatic rendering of the strange story of the 40 martyrs, a group of early Christians from Sivas who refused to give up their faith and were driven out onto a frozen lake to freeze to death. There's even an image of the one man who recanted being replaced by a local official who converted to Christianity and who is shown casting off his elaborate robe to join the men on the lake. Unusually, an inscription permits the paintings to be dated accurately to 1216.

Keywords: Cappadocia , church

 

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/travel_cappadocias-other-churches_358483.html 

Mushrooms with everything: Bolu and around

Beauty of Mudurnu (Photo: Pat Yale)

“We call this one grandfather's beard. This is the deer mushroom. And this one is called blonde girl.”
I've arrived in bolu in mushroom season and in front of the late 15th-century Kadı Cami, conspicuous only for its austerity, I bump into a man in a captain's cap wearing a T-shirt emblazoned “Yavuz Sultan Selim The Caliph.” He looks an unlikely mushroom advocate, but he rattles off the names of his products with all the enthusiasm of a car showroom salesman.

“We call it pretty girl, too,” cuts in a woman sitting beside him in the blue-and-red-striped şalvar that are the favored choice of local matrons. I look at the bowls and plates lined up in front of her. Some are filled with what look like sponges, others with what looks like seaweed. All of it, however, turns out to be fungus of one sort or another, and soon I'm being given a quick lesson in mushroom cookery.

The mushrooms are not the only things being sold in front of the mosque, though. Minutes later and I'm being handed raspberries and apples to taste. Bolu may have one of western Turkey's coolest climates, but clearly it makes for perfect market-gardening conditions.

Bolu is one of those towns that goes virtually ignored by foreign tourists, although it's popular with Turks who use it as a base for visiting the many lakes in the surrounding countryside and as an alternative base for visiting the ski resort at nearby Kartalkaya. In the last couple of years the entire town center has been redesigned to turn it into a pedestrian zone with a cycle path running down the middle. At one end brand-new restaurants and cafes dot landscaped parkland so designed that even the walls of the local branch of Burger King have plants running up and down their sides.

Unfortunately, the town remains low on serious tourist attractions. There's one old han and the slight remains of a Roman stadium, now hidden behind billboards. Otherwise the only thing that might draw a visitor in is the local archaeological museum. This showcases the finds from ancient Bithynia, which still crop up from time to time when new roads are being built.

Still, Bolu remains the best base for exploring the surrounding area with two significant caveats which are that the town-center hotels are disappointingly overpriced and old-fashioned, and that it's not at all easy for a visitor without a car to get to grips with the public transport system, with buses to local destinations leaving from different offices scattered all around town.

Mudurnu

Probably the single most interesting place to go from Bolu is Mudurnu, a delightful small town to the southwest that glories in all the historic attractions its larger neighbor lacks.

Mudurnu is one of those towns that has found itself washed-up by the tide of history. Once upon a time it stood on one of the old Silk Roads that crisscrossed Anatolia, hence the fine 14th-century Yıldırım Beyazıt Cami that still survives along with its hamam in the town center. Nearby the bazaar is one of those that still echoes to the sound of copper-beaters, although gradually some of its old shops are being refurbished to sell the sort of handicrafts more attractive to visitors such as jewelry made from oya, the beads that used to be used to decorate women's headscarves.

If Bolu is low on good hotels, Mudurnu is awash with them especially if you are the type of visitor who rates character more highly than the latest in high-tech gadgetry. These hotels are mostly housed in beautifully restored Ottoman mansions dotted about the town center, some of them boasting inviting courtyards or gardens. Finest of them all is probably the Hacı Şakirler Konağı, which still retains all its Ottoman decoration on the inside as well as the outside.

If you're planning a visit to Mudurnu, you might like to know that it is also home to a rather lovely tradition known as the Esnaf Duası (the Tradesmen's Prayer). Every Friday immediately before lunchtime prayers in the Yıldırım Beyazıt Cami, the men from the bazaar line up in two rows in front of their shops to share hunks of bread and squares of lokum (Turkish delight) before praying together in the street. It's a quietly moving sight.

Seben

Directly south of Bolu a spectacular wooded road winds through the mountains and down past Seben Gölü (Lake Seben) to the small town of Seben. In itself the town is of no great interest. However, in the vicinity it's possible to visit two abandoned cave settlements, one at Solaklar, the other at Muslar. Unlike the more elaborate cave settlements of Cappadocia in Central Anatolia that have continued in use until today, the cave homes of Seben are no longer lived in and are much more like simple prehistoric rock shelters without the modern add-ons that made it possible for people to continue to live in the Cappadocian versions. As so often, no written records survive to fill us in on the history of the sites, although it is believed that they were inhabited in Phrygian times.

Rather unexpectedly, there are also the remains of what must have been a fine Byzantine church near Seben at Çeltikdere. The road to reach it wanders through a sequence of attractive villages with half-timbered farmhouses before disintegrating into a track that winds down to a beautiful, peaceful gorge. Here the church stands in complete collapse with just its apse with its arrow-slit windows still standing. It makes the perfect backdrop for a picnic.

Mengen

Northeast of Bolu, the small town of Mengen was once the source of many of the chefs who cooked for the sultans in Constantinople. Today it still offers cookery courses in a department of the local university, although it can't be said that the restaurants around town offer anything to get too excited about. However, once a year cooks from all over Turkey descend on Mengen to take part in a lively festival, focal point of which is a pilav günü (rice day) at which visitors are served risotto from a giant cauldron. If you'd like to take a look make a note in your diary for the end of September next year.

Turkey's little Lake District

When it comes to lakes, foreign visitors tend to think first of the group of lakes in Western Anatolia around Eğirdir and Beyşehir, and then of Lake Van in the far east of the country. Turks, however, also think of the area around Bolu and in particular of Yedigöller, the cluster of small lakes in the forests north of the town. Rather surprisingly, given the amount of new road-building in the country, the roads to Yedigöller remain poor and no public transport serves the lakes.

This means that you may find it easier to visit either Gölcük, the pretty small lake just to the south of Bolu, or Abant Gölü (Lake Abant), the picture-perfect expanse of water set in woodland near Mudurnu. In high summer there are infrequent buses direct to Abant or you can take a taxi form Mudurnu. Several large hotels sit right beside the lake, but despite their five-star ratings they are not perhaps as modern as you might anticipate. Still, come here in the season when the water-lilies are in flower on the water (about now) and you probably won't be complaining. Alternatively, you can hold onto until a snowy winter day, then come here to be driven around the lake in a horse-drawn phaeton equipped with the equivalent of skis, a magical experience.

WHERE TO STAY
Hacı Şakirler Konağı, Mudurnu. Tel: 0374-421 3856
Hotel Kaşmir, Bolu. Tel: 0374-215 8614
Keyvanlar Konağı, Mudurnu. Tel: 0374-421 3750
Fuatbeyler Konağı, Mudurnu. Tel: 0374-421 2444

HOW TO GET THERE
Bolu is conveniently located midway between İstanbul and Ankara, with frequent buses from both towns. The new bus station is remote from the town center and poorly served by public transport.

Keywords: mushrooms , bolu

 

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/travel_mushrooms-with-everything-bolu-and-around_360614.html

 

Side has been attracting visitors for thousands of years

Temple of Apollo in Side, Antalya. (Photo: Cihan)

After thousands of years of settlement by newcomers ranging from the ancient Greeks, Romans and Persians to pirates, Arabs and Jews, the town of side on the Turkish Mediterranean coast is used to visitors.
Side (pronounced "see day") is on Turkey's southeastern coast, around 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the city of Antalya, a popular, developed tourist resort.
A peninsula just 1 kilometer long and 400 meters wide, Side is one of the most famous classical sites in Turkey.

(Photo: Cihan)
It is believed to have been founded by Greek settlers in the seventh century B.C., and its harbor and geography made it an attractive trade center for other occupiers, including Alexander the Great, Sicilian pirates and the Romans.
In the seventh century A.D. Arabs raided and burned Side, causing the beginning of its slow decline. Then, in 1895, Turkish Muslim refugees from Crete arrived and the revival began.
Here are tips from Reuters, whose 2,600 journalists in all parts of the world offer visitors the best local insights, for getting the most out of the Side area.

Explore the ruins

At the end of the road leading to the Old Town (Antik Side), an amphitheater on the left was built in the Roman style because Side didn't have a suitable hillside which could be hollowed out in the more usual Greek way.
Not as well-preserved as the one in nearby Aspendos, it still can seat up to 20,000 people and hosts jazz festivals, opera, and classical concerts during the summer months.

People watch the popular German entertainment show 'Wetten Dass...?' ('Bet it...?') hosted by Thomas Gottschalk at the ancient Roman amphitheatre of Aspendos. (Photo: AP)
Towards the Hellenistic main gate into the ancient city, you can stroll through the ruins of homes or shops, some of which still have their original mosaic floors.
Through the gate of the ancient city you come to a street flanked by colonnades. The remains of a Roman bath are here -- now a museum displaying Roman statues.
At the eastern edge of the peninsula, past the harbor to the left, stand the remains of the 2,000-year-old temple of apollo, at their most majestic at sunset. The Turkish government has been restoring the temple's columns, which saltwater has been eroding.

Getting around

The best way to explore Side is on foot. Its back streets hide small mosques, boutique hotels, quirky cottages and olive gardens.
At Side harbor you can get boat trips to Antalya, Manavgat or go on the trail of dolphins, which, if you are lucky, can be spotted off the peninsula.
On land, minibuses called dolmuş are a frequent, cheap and often entertaining way to get around -- if you are prepared to squeeze in. Taxis are available but set the price of your journey before climbing aboard.

Sun, sea, set sail

Side has long, hot summers and short, mild winters. In the peak season -- July and August -- temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) or higher. Spring and autumn are more comfortable times to visit, with temperatures in the 20s and 30s but maybe the odd thunderstorm and rain.
Sun worshippers have plenty of choice with stretches of beach on both the east and west sides of the peninsula.
The west side was regenerated around five years ago with a promenade lined with restaurants and five-star hotels. The sea here is shallower and therefore more popular with some tourists.
The east side is less crowded and attracts more locals, especially on Sundays. Lined with beach bars, there is a more relaxed feel. The beach is wider, a bit rockier and the sea is slightly deeper, great for watersports and parasailing.

Shop till you drop

The center of Side is the place for leather goods, hand-woven rugs, pottery, designer handbags, jewelry, watches and sportswear -- but be prepared to haggle and explore the side streets for the best deals.
Manavgat, a working town just north of Side, might not be as glamorous but has plentiful and cheap markets twice a week, as well as plenty of sportswear and clothes shops. This is the place to experience the juiciest strawberries, cherries, melons and figs -- at pleasingly low prices.

Eating and drinking

For cheap snacks sample fresh corn cobs, or try a durum, a wrap filled with typical döner kebab ingredients.
For a few Turkish lira you can pick up the Turkish version of a pizza, called lahmacun -- an oval, thin dough topped with minced meat, herbs and tomatoes.
Opposite the Roman Baths in the Old Town, the family-run Ocakbaşı restaurant offers good value Turkish food in a beautiful garden surrounded by ruins. Savor the generous portions of complimentary meze. (http://bit.ly/1w2mTCr)
For food with a more elegant twist and for excellent views of the sea, try Aphrodite in the harbor, or Karma directly behind it. (www.aphroditeside.com) (www.karmaside.com)
The Apollonik bar, named after the Temple of Apollo close by, has been in business for 55 years. The tiny building resembles something from Hansel and Gretel: grab a table outside under the sweet-smelling grape vines to watch the sunset and sample killer cocktails. (www.apollonik.com)

Explore

Just three kilometers north of Manavgat are waterfalls on the Manavgat River. Boat trips reach here from Manavgat town but you can also drive to the Oymapınar Dam, a thundering tower of water.

A waterfall on Manavgat River. (Photo: Cihan)
Nearby is the Green Lake, named for the color of the water. This is a peaceful spot to escape the heat. Restaurants are signposted where you can eat by the lakeside and swim from floating jetties.
If the ruins of Side whetted your appetite for more antiquity, Aspendos, said to have the best-preserved Greek amphitheater, lies between Side and Antalya. Further south, the ruins of Perge include an acropolis dating back to the Bronze Age.
South of Antalya and inland, Pamukkale, or "cotton castle" in Turkish, looks just that. A World Heritage site, hot springs pop out of vast terraces of carbonated minerals which were produced over thousands of years by flowing water.

Keywords: side , temple of apollo , Aspendos , Turkey , travel

 

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/travel_side-has-been-attracting-visitors-for-thousands-of-years_361885.html

 

Chasing the autumn sun: Fethiye versus Antalya

Kayaköy-Levissi (Photo: Pat Yale)

There's no getting away from it. The shorter days and falling leaves tell the usual story. Autumn is drawing to an end and winter will soon be upon us. So what better time to start planning a last-minute dash for the Mediterranean sun, especially as there's another holiday, the Cumhuriyet Bayramı (Republic Day, Oct. 29), in the offing.
 
Don't know where to go? Well, my money would be on fethiye or Antalya, which can be at their very best at this time of year. Antalya in particular is often nicer now than in the height of summer when the muggy heat can be pretty unbearable.

The two towns have a lot in common. Both sit in spectacular bays with mountainous islands shimmering on the horizon. Both offer easy access to a wide range of historic attractions in their backyards. And both have been in the tourism business a long time, which means that they have all the hotels, shops, restaurants and bars a visitor could possibly hope for.

So which to go for? It's a tough call, but here are the pros and cons.

Fethiye

Towards the western end of the Mediterranean Fethiye is much smaller than Antalya, something that has many advantages, especially in terms of the time it takes to get around the town center. However, it's still big enough to have a life beyond tourism for those who prefer not to stay in a visitor ghetto.

Fethiye's long waterfront was always very attractive but has been made even more so in recent years by new landscaping that extends it much further, with new cafes lined up to take in the extra views. Personally, I still like the heart of the waterfront where the wooden gulets (yachts) are lined up best of all. You don't have to take a boat ride, but you'd have to be pretty determined to pass up all the offers, whether it's just a quick whip round the bay on the “12 Islands” cruise, a run over to Göçek to shop at its Sunday market, or a real “blue cruise” taking in some of the sights along the coastline while sleeping onboard beneath the stars.

Behind the waterfront, Fethiye offers a sprawling bazaar area and an old hamam (Turkish bath). It's all pretty touristy but no less fun for all that, and if you wander into the old fish market area, select your fish, then have it cooked and served to you at one of the tables nearby, you're more or less guaranteed to have a good time.

The formal tourist attractions of Fethiye are relatively minor: the picturesque but not especially exciting Carian tombs cut into the rock at the back of town, the theater that has just been rather controversially restored and a museum housing the finds from nearby sites such as Tlos and the Letoon. But the surrounding area more than makes up for this. Indeed, you'll be spoilt for choice whether your tastes run to the Lycian archaeological sites at Tlos, Pınara, Patara and Xanthos-Letoon, the latter a world heritage site; to the glorious beach-fringed lagoon at Ölüdeniz; to the daredevil thrill of paragliding off Baba Dağı (Mt. Baba); to wading through ice-cold water in the Saklıkent Gorge; or to cruising along the river from Dalyan to İztuzu Beach where you can visit a hospital set up to care for injured loggerhead turtles. From Ölüdeniz there's also a wonderful boat ride to lovely Butterfly Valley where you'll just about have time to race inland to inspect a small waterfall.

The one excursion you should be sure to make is to the ruins of Kayaköy, as the old Levissi the place that inspired “Birds Without Wings” author Louis de Bernieres to set pen to paper. Levissi had to be abandoned in 1923 when the “Greek” Christians living in Turkey were forced to relocate to Greece while the “Turkish” Muslims in Greece came to live in Turkey. Fewer Turks arrived than Greeks departed and the settlement was eventually allowed to fall into ruin, its doors and windows scavenged for new buildings, its churches left to rot.

The reason why this excursion should top your list is that, not for the first time, plans are currently being floated to rebuild part of the settlement. Conceivably, if this was done slowly and carefully for non-commercial reasons, it might not be a disaster. However, talk of creating an “international brand” around the ruins has left many fretting about what might happen. If you're the sort of person who likes to wander amid ruins and let your imagination take wing then you might not have that opportunity for much longer.

The nearest airport to Fethiye is in Dalaman.

Antalya

Far bigger than Fethiye, Antalya will suit those who like to be able to indulge their usual urban habits even while holidaying near a beach. The waterfront of Fethiye is longer and prettier than the harbor area of Antalya. However, Fethiye has almost no old architecture while the Kaleiçi (Inner Castle) area of old Antalya is choc-a-block with lovely old Ottoman houses, some beautifully restored, some rebuilt, some still awaiting a savior. Mixed in with these houses are Roman remains, including the fine Arch of Hadrian that serves as one entrance to the area, as well as several attractive Ottoman mosques, one of them with a fluted minaret that crops up in many photographs.

When it comes to specific attractions within the town Antalya beats Fethiye hands down. The Antalya Museum is one of the finest in the country, showcasing the finds from the nearby ruins of Perge in particular, but in Kaleiçi there is also a lovely private museum, the Suna and İnan Kiraç Museum, partially housed in a disused church and emphasizing aspects of Turkish culture such as weddings and circumcisions. The town also boasts a fine new aquarium and a large aquapark.

As with Fethiye, so with Antalya, there's a wide choice of places to visit on local day trips. Organized excursions often take in the extensive Roman ruins not just of Perge but also of nearby Side and Aspendos, which is home to a beautifully restored Classical theater. You can also visit the beautiful seaside ruins of Phaselis and the mountainside ruins of Termessos, or the cave at Karain in which traces of prehistoric settlement have been found.

Slightly further afield you can ride the Olympos Teleferik, a cable car running up Tahtalı Dağı (Mt Tahtalı, 2365m) and offering splendid views (on a clear day) across the Beydağları (Bey Mountains) national park to the sea. Those with a private car can also drive to Olympos and Çiralı where the Chimaera, an inextinguishable flame, shoots up beside the rocky mountain path. You could even drive up to Sagalassos, another mountainside archaeological site where the old fountains built by the Greeks and Romans now flow with water once again.

If Fethiye is all about boat rides and paragliding, Antalya is best known for white-water rafting and golfing. The white-water rafting takes place in the lovely Köprülü Kanyon, a 14-kilometer-long canyon east of Antalya, which is one of the most popular places in the whole country for trying out the sport, not least because some of the runs are suitable for less experienced rafters.

The golfing takes place in Belek, which specializes in catering to those for whom no holiday would be complete without being able to hit a small white ball across a green. Belek also majors on huge hotels that are the antithesis of the boutique offerings of the Kaleiçi. Vast and frequently themed, they are mostly all-inclusive and perfect for family holidays.

Antalya has its own international airport with a second not far away in Gazipaşa, near Alanya.

Keywords: fethiye , Antalya

 

Source:http://www.todayszaman.com/travel_chasing-the-autumn-sun-fethiye-versus-antalya_361843.html 

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The best of the west

Pamukkale (Photo: Pat Yale)

The bad news is that recent events on the political front mean that tourism to the eastern parts of Turkey is likely to take a significant hit, at least in the short term. The good news is, however, that Turkey is a vast country, which means that there are more than enough alternative destinations for those in search of something a little less mainstream than a beach holiday. It has long been my opinion that Western Anatolia is one of the least appreciated parts of the country when it comes to foreign visitors. Now could be the time when it comes into its own.

Here are a few suggestions of where to visit in Western Anatolia, starting with the blockbuster destinations of Pamukkale-Hierapolis and Afrodisias that already receive their fair share of visitors and moving on to places such as Afyon and Gölhisar, which are waiting in the wings.

Pamukkale-Hierapolis

Why? Rare combination of man-made and natural beauty
Pamukkale is the site that launched a thousand dog-eared posters of tourists frolicking in the turquoise waters of the travertines that cascade down a hillside in front of the sprawling ruins of ancient Hierapolis, the place where St. Philip is believed to have been buried. With more than enough to occupy a day of anyone's time, Pamukkale is already a fixture on many tourists' itineraries. The sleepy little village at the foot of the travertines could do with more staying visitors, though, and those who do linger will find that there are plenty of other sites to see in the surrounding area including the increasingly impressive ruins of ancient Laodikya, site of one of the Seven Churches of the Revelation; and the beautiful old painted mosque at Akköy, within walking distance of Pamukkale village.

Afrodisias

Why? Magnificent Greco-Roman archaeological site good enough to rival Ephesus
Famously publicized by photographer Ara Güler, Afrodisias, the ruins of the city of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, once stood silent and forgotten around the village of Eski Geyre. Today some of the old buildings of Eski Geyre survive to serve as a café and exhibition center, but you'll probably be too busy racing out to the Classical ruins to notice them. Afrodisias has all the typical features of a Greco-Roman site (Theater? Tick. Odeon? Tick. Huge temple? Tick), although perhaps the most striking survivor is the glorious stadium, one of the best preserved in the world. In the end, though, the real winner these days is the restored Sebasteion, a temple to the Roman emperor as deity, the splendid carvings from which are now housed in a purpose-built gallery that shows them off to perfection.

Kütahya

Why? Ceramics with a backdrop of fine Ottoman housing
Once known almost exclusively as a place to come to eyeball the sort of ceramics that took over from İznikware in the 18th century, Kütahya is also a great place to come to explore a partially restored Ottoman townscape and stay in Ottoman style at the Ispartılar Konağı (tel: 0274-216 1975) in the renovated Germiyan quarter. It's also the best base for making a side trip out to the remains of ancient Aizanoi, appealingly scattered around the village of Çavdarhisar.

Afyon

Why? Drama of a hilltop castle combined with the pleasures of an old Ottoman townscape
Modern Afyon labors under the weight of its full name, which is Afyonkarahisar, a moniker that commemorates both the opium poppies (afyon) that grow hereabouts and the black castle (kara hisar) that looms above the town, daring visitors to make the ascent. Afyon's new archeological museum is way out of the center unlike its other great treasure, an Ulu Cami that belongs to a group of so-called “forest mosques,” their ceilings supported by a forest of columns carved from tree trunks. With Eskişehir, Afyon also makes a great base for exploring the newly waymarked Frig Yolu (Phrygian Way), centered on the remains of a great Phrygian temple at Midasşehri. Much of the lovely old Ottoman housing survives, some of it restored, some not. Stay at the lovely Şehitoğlu Konağı (tel: 0272-214 1313) to get the full effect.

Sardis

Why? Remains of ancient Lydian town where coins were first minted
Most easily visited on a day trip from İzmir, Sardis is nonetheless on the edge of Western Anatolia and easy to fit in if you're heading across country from Denizli. The remains of the ancient mint are pretty unmemorable, unlike the spectacular mosaic floors of what was once one of Anatolia's largest synagogues and the reconstructed Court of the Hall of the Imperial Cult. A short walk away from these obvious ruins lie the remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the four largest temples in ancient Asia Minor and beautifully sited against a mountain backdrop.

Turkish Lake District

Why? Glorious lakeside settings. Stopping point on waymarked St. Paul's Trail
If it's lakeside scenery you're after, then you should head straight for Eğirdır where you can either stay on the mainland in the shadow of a ruined castle or out on an island linked to it by a causeway where the strong breezes will act as a constant reminder that you're sitting in the middle of a lake. Surprisingly, there's little in the way of watersports development, not even in the form of boat trips out onto the lake. For that, you should head for equally lovely Beyşehir, where the ruins of a Selçuk summer palace sit right beside the water. Finally, you could stay in Burdur, where the lake is a couple of kilometers out of the town center, but where there's a great museum and a couple of lovely restored Ottoman houses open to the public.

Gölhisar (Cibyra)

Why? Newly excavated archaeological site you may well have to yourself
If you've popped your head into Burdur Museum, you will have seen some fine carvings depicting gladiators that were found south of town at the remote site of Cibyra, uphill from Gölhisar. Barely ready for visitors, the site nonetheless boasts another very impressive stadium as wall as a theater and bouleterion (council house) that are almost intact. An impressive mosaic showing the head of Medusa may or may not be visible when you visit.

Akşehir

Why? Nasrettin Hoca links make this a fun place to bring children
The small town of Akşehir is completely off the radar when it comes to foreign visitors, and yet it is a surprisingly pleasant place with several lovely Selçuk monuments. But what makes Akşehir refreshingly different from many other similar inland towns is that it is believed to be the last resting place of Middle Eastern funnyman Nasrettin Hoca, a fact enthusiastically celebrated in the local park with reproductions of some of his best-known stories dotted about.

Yalvaç and Antioch in Psidia

Why? Archeological site associated with St. Paul
Compared to Afrodisias and Hierapolis, Antioch in Psidia is very much an also-ran tourist attraction with few of the surviving ruins especially striking to the non-specialist visitor. On the other hand, the site has strong associations with St. Paul, who is believed to have visited on three out of four of his trans-Anatolian missionary journeys and for some people this will give it a particular poignancy. Yalvaç is the small town just up the road from the site. Here, in the Çınaraltı Meydanı, you'll find one of those lovely Turkish corners where a group of teashops are grouped together in the shade of a huge and ancient plane tree, in this case rumored to be more than 800 years old.

Eskişehir

Why? To appreciate what can be done with a so-so town with a bit of imagination
Not so long ago the large town of Eskişehir was not a place where anyone wanted to linger unless they were tempted to sample its thermal baths. Then came an imaginative administration led by Yılmaz Büyükerşen, and the next thing anyone knew there was a flashy new tram, gondolas and Amsterdam canal boats on the river, inviting public parks and the restored Odunpazarı district where Ottoman houses grouped around the attractive 16th-century Kurşunlu Cami had been restored to serve as cafes and restaurants. For anyone interested in urban regeneration projects Eskişehir is Turkey's most unexpected must-see destination.

Keywords: Western , Anatolia

 

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/travel_the-best-of-the-west_361199.html