The following excerpt is from my recently updated Turkey page, www.photoseek.com/Turkey.html :

Ephesus

The nearby sanctuary of Cybelle/Artemis helped the town of Ephesus (or Efes in Turkish) become a prosperous port and cultural center by 600 BCE. Greek goddess Artemis was akin to the Phrygian goddess Cybele, the ancient Anatolian mother goddess worshiped since Neolithic times. At various times, Ephesus was controlled by Lydia (King Croesus), Persians, Hellenists (Ancient Greeks from Athens), and Alexander the Great (334 BCE). Eventually Ephesus became capital (population 250,000) of the Roman Province of Asia Minor (ancient Greek Anatolia, or modern Turkish Anadolu). Ephesus declined from greatness as its port silted, and the city center moved to nearby Selçuk.

Left: Ephesus: The Library of Celsus, built 114 CE, was named in honor of a Roman governor of Asia Minor (the area known as Anatolia in Greek). [Published in the Moon Turkey Handbook (external link) by Jessica Tamturk, to be published 2008 or 2009 by Avalon Publishing Group.]

   
Below right: The Library of Celsus, at Ephesus.
 

Left: Cybele was an ancient Anatolian and Phrygian mother earth goddess worshipped since Neolithic times. This human sized marble statue of Cybele is found at the Ephesus Archaeological Museum in Selçuk, adjacent to Ephesus. Cybele was akin to the later Greek goddess Artemis (also called Cynthia, named from her birth place of Mount Cynthus on Delos Island). Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister, daughter of Zeus and Leto. Artemis was also akin to the later Roman goddess Diana. The multiple rounded protuberances on the chest of Cybele are actually not breasts, nor are they sacrificed bull testes. Excavation at the site of the Artemision in 1987-88 identified these as tear-shaped amber beads, which adorned her ancient wooden xoanon (carved cult image).

Below right: Ephesus is full of history:
     The column on the right foreground was pieced together from the few remains of the Temple of Artemis (or Greek: Artemision; Latin: Artemisium; or the Sanctuary of the “Lady of Ephesus”), which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (originally described by Antipater of Sidon). Greek goddess Artemis was akin to the earlier Phrygian goddess Cybele, the ancient Anatolian mother goddess, worshiped since Neolithic times. Artemis was also akin to the later Roman goddess Diana.
     The large Temple of Artemis (measuring 300 by 150 feet) was finished about 560 BCE, after 120 years of construction, started by the notoriously rich Croesus of Lydia on the ruins of a smaller temple designed by Chersiphron. A fame seeker named Herostratus burnt down the Temple of Artemis in 356 BCE. The Ephesians eventually rebuilt it larger, measuring 425 by 225 feet, four times larger in area than the existing Parthenon of Athens (228 x 101 feet; completed 431 BCE).
     In 262 CE, the Temple of Artemis was razed again, this time by Goths. Ephesians rebuilt again, until in the year 401, St. John Chrysostom had it torn down. The stones were reused in other buildings — some of the columns in Hagia Sophia originally belonged to the Temple of Artemis.
     The domed building at middle left is the Church of Jesus Christ, which now serves as a mosque.  To the right and behind is the 6th century Church of Saint John the Apostle. On the hill at top left is Selçuk Castle, a Byzantine construction from the 6th century CE.
     Christian note: Paul of Tarsus (Paul the Apostle) stayed 27 months as a missionary in Ephesus. A few years after 51 CE, he delivered a Christian sermon condemning pagan worship in the theater in Ephesus, where local silversmiths feared loss of income from the sale of silver statues (idols) of the goddess Artemis; the resulting mob almost killed Paul (Acts 19:21–41, in the New Testament) and his companions. After that, Paul avoided Ephesus. Paul died about 64-67 CE in Rome during Nero’s Persecution. However, centuries later, the tide turned in favor of Christianity. During the fourth century, most Ephesians probably converted to Christianity, as all temples were declared closed by Theodosius I in 391 CE.

Left: Corinthian order columns at the Great Theatre of Ephesus. [Published in the Moon Turkey Handbook (external link) by Jessica Tamturk, to be published 2008 or 2009 by Avalon Publishing Group.]

The Great Theatre of Ephesus, the largest outdoor theatre in the ancient world, was begun during Hellenistic times (probably during the reign of Lysimachos in the third century B.C.), and was altered and enlarged from 41-117 CE, by Roman emperors Claudius, Nero, and Trajan. The Greek builders dug out a space from Mount Pion (present-day Panayir Dagi) to fit the 30-meter (100-foot) high theater, which accommodated 25,000 people, or 10 percent of the population of Roman Ephesus at its peak. The theater exhibited the fights of wild beasts and of men with beasts. Some year soon after 51 CE, the Apostle Paul (Paul of Tarsus) delivered a Christian sermon condemning pagan worship in this theater, which roused the idol-making silversmiths and followers of the ancient Anatalian goddess Cybele to riot, almost killing Paul and his companions. After that, Paul avoided Ephesus. Over several centuries, the Cayster River filled the harbor of Ephesus with silt, creating a malaria-infested swamp, pushing the sea 4 kilometers away and cutting off the city’s commerce and wealth. By the 6th century CE, Emperor Justinian decided to build the Saint John Basilica 3 kilometers away, which effectively moved the city center to Selçuk.

Below: The Great Theatre of Ephesus.

Olympos

Left: Olimpos (or Olympos), Turkey: I recommend visiting the ancient natural gas fires of the Chimaera, a remarkable wonder of the natural world. The Chimaera will spontaneously reignite even after you smother the flames! In ancient times these natural fires burned more vigorously, so bright as to be visible by sailors along the nearby coast. In Greek mythology, the Chimaera was the monstrous son of Typhon, and grandson of Gaia.  [Published in the Moon Turkey Handbook (external link) by Jessica Tamturk, to be published 2008 or 2009 by Avalon Publishing Group.]

Below right: Two gulets anchor at Phaselis, offshore of Mt. Olympos (2375 meters or 7792 feet elevation ; Turkish name Tahtalı Dağı). The area around Phaselis and Olympos Valley was one of the most beautiful on our coastal cruise of southwest Turkey. [Published in the Moon Turkey Handbook (external link) by Jessica Tamturk, to be published 2008 or 2009 by Avalon Publishing Group.]
     A gulet is a two-masted wooden sailing vessel traditionally from the Turkish Riviera (or the Turquoise Coast), and today commonly serves as a tourist charter. This motor sailboat design, varying in size from 14 to 35 metres, is also found throughout the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Most gulets are powered by diesel, and many are not properly rigged for sailing.
     Nearby is the ancient city of Olympos (or Olimpos), one of the six leading cities of the Lycian federation (168-178 BCE), located in Olympos Valley, 80 km southwest of Antalya city near the town of Kemer. This coastal peak is the tallest of the several different mountains named Olympos (or Olimpos) in Turkey, but not as tall as the more famous Mount Olympus, the tallest peak in Greece (9,568 feet, or 2918 meters), known to the ancient Greeks as the home of god Zeus. [The highest peak in Turkey is Mount Ararat, an extinct volcano on the eastern border, with a height of 16,854 feet (5,137 meters), also called Buyuk Agri, meaning "Great Pain” in Turkish.]

Ancient Lycia

Left: Lycian tombs (or necropoli) from about 400 BCE can be seen by boat on the Dalyan Çayı River, above the ancient harbor city of Caunos, on the Turquoise Coast, near the town of Koycegiz, in the Republic of Turkey. Dalyan means “fishing weir” in Turkish. The Dalyan Delta, with a long, golden sandy beach at its mouth, is a nature conservation area and a refuge for sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and blue crabs. [Published in the Moon Turkey Handbook (external link) by Jessica Tamturk, to be published 2008 or 2009 by Avalon Publishing Group.]

Below right: Our group seeks shade on a hot day at the Greek theatre at the ancient Roman city of Caunos, Turkey. Caunos was founded in the 800’s BCE, and became a Carian city 400 BCE.

Left: The Church of Saint Nicholas is located in modern Demre (ancient Myra), Turkey. The present-day church was constructed mainly from the 8th century onward. A monastery was added in the second half of the 11th century. An ancient Greek marble sarcophagus had been reused to bury the Saint; but his bones were stolen in 1087 by merchants from Bari, Italy, where today his remains rest in the cathedral, Basilica of San Nicola. [Published in the Moon Turkey Handbook (external link) by Jessica Tamturk, to be published 2008 or 2009 by Avalon Publishing Group.]
 

Click here to continue this blog page about “Turkey: The Turquoise Coast / Turkish Riviera” … (more…)

The following travel notes on Istanbul and Mount Nemrut are excerpted from my page on traveling in the Republic of Turkey, www.photoseek.com/Turkey.html :

Image on right: Nimrod (or Nemrut)Mountain National Park: A six-foot tall head of Zeus commemorates the lofty aspirations of pre-Roman King Antiochus (64-38 BCE). Earthquakes toppled these stone heads from their seated bodies long ago, but this Turkish National Park may make restorations. You can visit this area as an overnight trip from Malatya in central Turkey. Image published in 2001 & 2003.

  
Above: Four photographers photograph sunrise on Mount Nimrod (Nemrut Dağı).

Image below right: Rooftop dining at the Side Hotel & Pension in İstanbul, by the Blue Mosque (also called Sultanahmet Mosque).

Neither earthquakes nor reckless taxi drivers stopped us from enjoying the amazing Republic of Turkey, where my wife and I encountered the friendliest people whom we have ever met. To our Western eyes, Turkey is more exotic than its well-touristed neighbor Greece. We hiked the Kaçkar Mountains, danced with Hemşin and Laz people, drank lots of tea, sailed the Aegean Sea, and even witnessed a total eclipse of the sun! We traveled for 6.5 weeks in Turkey, from July 24 to September 9, 1999.  

Turkey offers a rich variety for travelers:

• Turkey has the lowest travel costs in Europe.
  • Easy, cheap, and comfortable travel on the extensive bus system.
  • Carol and I recommend traveling without a tour package to better experience the wonderful local hospitality and moments of serendipity. You will meet more people on your own.
  • High quality gold jewelry costs half of US prices.
• Turkey offers fascinating historic cities where East meets West. İstanbul makes a fabulous destination for a week or more.
• Turkey offers majestic architecture and ruins from an amazing 9,000 years of Anatolian history (see Turkey Page 2).
  • The Turks came to Anatolia from Central Asia after 1000 CE (and are not culturally related to Arabs or Persians).
  • The sweeping story of Anatolia includes the Hittites, Romans, Saint Paul the Apostle, Süleyman the Magnificent …
• Turkey was the the cradle of Christianity and now hosts popular Christian tours, such as to the birthplaces of Saint Paul the Apostle and Saint Nicholas (”Santa Claus” himself).
• Turkey’s geography ranges from the warm and beautiful Turquoise Coast, to icy Mount Ararat 16,854 feet (5,137 meters).
• Turkey’s people are the friendliest I have ever met:
  • Turks actively practice the Muslim value of hospitality towards visitors, and serve you tea in little tulip-shaped glasses at every opportunity.
  • When travelling on our own away from the big cosmopolitan cities, local folks often showered us with curious attention, making us feel like rock stars in the spotlight. On six different occasions, locals had us take a group photo to mail to them later.
  • The people of Turkey hunger for connection with the world. Most Turks strongly desire joining the European Union (EU) to connect with the world and market their remarkable variety of food and industry.
  • Advice for women:
    • As a Western visitor, my wife Carol only needed a head scarf when entering a mosque.
    • Carol and I dressed conservatively (see our rooftop dining photo above right) and had no problems with unwanted attention (aside from us feeling like rock stars pursued by curious fans).
    • However, in smaller towns and rural areas, Carol felt uncomfortable culture shock by noticing mostly men and very few women on the streets. A common Muslim tradition in rural Turkey is for women to stay at home, or only go out in groups, conservately dressed, usually with a head scarf. This sex role difference is most pronounced in Turkey away from the cosmopolitan cities. We were relieved to experience an exception in the Kaçkar Mountains, where men & women mixed in a more relaxed fashion, and we danced with the local Hemşin and Laz people.
    • Solo female travelers need to be extra confident in the face of assertive male attention in Turkey, and may enjoy the trip better by traveling with a companion of either sex (or with a group). American movies and TV shows shown worldwide have unfortunately portrayed American (or Western World) women as having loose morals, which can encourage amorous men.
• Turkey has low crime:
  • The crime rate in Turkey is lower than in the United States.
  • The risk of terrorism for tourists is very low — no more risky than being struck by lightening. See my discussion of the Kurds (and more general “World Travel Risks”).
  • Tourism in Turkey has been hurt by negative press and misperceptions, and the resulting empty hotel rooms and uncrowded sights make Turkey very attractive for spontaneous visitors.
  • The tragic August 17, 1999 earthquake in İstanbul’s poorly-built suburbs did not damage the airport or any tourist areas. Your chances of experiencing an earthquake are no different than for visiting California. 
• Turkey has fresh & tasty food:
  • Fresh peaches, watermelons, böreks, baklava, meatballs, breads, a hundred eggplant dishes, and more.
  • Turkey is the world’s biggest producer of hazelnuts, figs, & apricots.
  • Turkey is one of only 7 countries in the world that can feed itself without imports.
• Turkey is a democratic, secular, western-looking, rapidly modernizing, capitalistic, NATO ally of the USA.

Click for larger Turkey map.

Left:  A man slices döner kebap at a “self-servis” cafeteria, where the welcome is warm, and the food is tasty and cheap. Döner kebab is a Turkish dish made of meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order. The meat may be lamb, mutton, beef, or chicken. Alternative names include kebap, donair, döner, doner or donner. Döner Kebab is the origin of other similar Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes such as shawarma and gyros. This image is from Trabzon, the largest port on Turkey’s Black Sea coast.

İstanbul (right): First Bosporus Bridge (or Bosphorus) rises behind Ortaköy Mosque(Büyük Mecidiye Camii). In 1854, the architect of the Sultans’ Dolmabahçe Palace designed the Ortaköy Mosque, in an eclectic-baroque style for Sultan Abdül Mecit.  

Built in 1973, the First Bosporus Bridge connects Europe with Asia and is one of the longest bridges in the world. İstanbul is the world’s only city which spans two continents. 3% of the Republic of Turkey is in Turkish Thrace, in Europe on the Balkan Peninsula, and 97% of Turkey is Anatolia (Asia Minor/Anadolu).
      The Bosporus Strait separates Europe from Asia and has determined the history of İstanbul and its empires (or Istanbul Strait; in Turkish: İstanbul Boğazı; in Greek Βόσπορος). As the world’s narrowest strait used for international navigation, the Bosporus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara (which is connected by the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea, and thereby to the Mediterranean Sea).

Ethnic harmony and conflict:
In the suburb of Ortaköy, a Jewish synagogue, Islamic mosque, and Christian church have been peaceful neighbors for centuries, through today. After Ottoman Turks conquered the city of Byzantium in 1453 and renamed it İstanbul, the Ottomans’ millet system of distinct religious communities allowed Jews, Greeks, Armenians, and Kurds to continue to live in relative harmony for centuries, as they had in Byzantine times. In the 1400’s and 1500’s, many Jews who fled from the Spanish Inquisition took shelter in Ottoman İstanbul, which welcomed their advanced knowledge of science and economics. In modern times, many of these Jews were attracted to Israel, leaving only 24,000 in Turkey today. As the Ottoman Empire weakened and ethnic nationalism rose at the turn of the 20th century, Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds yearned to assert their own control over claimed homelands, and they separately fought bitter but unsuccessful battles against the staunch Turks.

Left: Rumelihisarı, or the “Fortress of Europe” or “Fortress on the Land of the Romans”, is in Istanbul, in the Republic of Turkey, located on a hill at the European side of the Bosporus just north of the Bebek district, in the “Rumeli Hisari” quarter. Rumelihisarı was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, for controlling the narrowest reach of the Bosporus in a siege of Byzantine Constantinople, which he conquered in 1453. After just one year of use, it never again served as a fortress. The Bosporus strait forms the boundary between the European part (Rumelia) of Turkey and its Asian part (Anatolia).

Above: İstanbul, viewed from Galata Tower: The Golden Horn, one of the great natural harbors of the world, carries a large share of Turkey’s trade through its connection to the Bosphorus Strait (out of the picture to the left).

Left: Four minarets embrace the Hagia Sofia (Aya Sofya Museum) in İstanbul. The minarets were added after Muslim conquest. Hagia Sofia served as a mosque from 1453 to 1935, after which Atatürk, the father of the modern Republic of Turkey, declared it a museum.

Hagia Sofia (Aya Sofya Museum)

Emperor Justinian built the Hagia Sofia from 532 to 537 CE in Constantinople on the site of a former Hagia Sofia on the acropolis of the former Byzantium. The 102-foot diameter dome perches an amazing 180 feet above the floor (rivalling the scale of the 144-foot high and wide concrete dome of Rome’s Pantheon, built earlier from 118-125 CE). An earthquake collapsed the dome after only 22 years, and it was rebuilt several times by later Byzantine emperors and Ottoman sultans. 30 million gold mosaic tiles covered the dome’s interior in Byzantine times. Hagia Sofia reigned as the greatest church in Christendom for nearly 1000 years, until the Islamic conquest of Constantinople by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453. A church with a larger dome, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, was not built until 1506. Hagia Sofia served as a mosque from 1453 to 1935, after which Atatürk, the father of the modern Republic of Turkey, declared it a museum. İstanbul’s Hagia Sofia still stands as one of the architectural marvels of the world.

Left: Christ the Pantocrator (”ruler of all”) is portrayed in one of several gold mosaics in the Aya Sofya Museum, in Istanbul, Turkey (in Greek, it is called Hagia Sofia, or Sancta Sophia in Latin, which means “Divine Wisdom.”) The Christian mosaics were covered with plaster by Muslim conquerors after 1453, but several have been uncovered and restored.

Above right: The Aya Sofya Museum is lit brightly at night, in İstanbul. In Greek, it is called Hagia Sofia, or Sancta Sophia in Latin, which means “Divine Wisdom.” The minarets were constructed after the Islamic conquest of 1453.

Left: We approach the Blue Mosque (or Sultanahmet Mosque) through attractive gardens.

Below: Sultanahmet (or Blue) Mosque interior and ceiling, was built 1609-1616 in İstanbul (Istanbul), Turkey.

Left: Architect Sinan built Süleymaniye Imperial Mosque on Golden Horn harbor in İstanbul from 1550-1557. Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife are buried here. In the West, he is known as Suleiman the Magnificent. In the Islamic world, he is known as the Lawgiver (in Turkish “Kanuni”; making his formal Turkish name of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman), because he completely reconstructed the Ottoman legal system.

Below right: Arabesque arches at Süleymaniye Imperial Mosque.


Left: This garden and pond are at Dolmabahçe Palace (Dolmabahçe Sarayı in Turkish; English spelling Dolmabahce) in Istanbul, Turkey, located at the European side of the Bosphorus Strait. The palace served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1853 to 1922, except for a twenty-year period (1889-1909) in which the Yıldız Palace was used. In style, the palace is baroque, rococo and very French. Dolmabahçe means “filled garden”, referring to the palace being built from 1843-1856 on land reclaimed from the sea.

Below: The magnificent Throne Room of Dolmabahçe Palace.  [Published in the Moon Turkey Handbook (external link) by Jessica Tamturk, to be published 2008 or 2009 by Avalon Publishing Group.]

Turkey index page 1 of 2 on photoseek.com: Introduction , Anatolia’s fame , Christian sights , silk , total solar eclipse ; İstanbul & history ( Hagia Sofia , Süleymaniye Mosque ) ; Turquoise Coast ( Santa Claus – St. Nicholas , Lycia , Ephesus , Gemile Island , Kayakoy , Arycanda , Perga ) ; Cappadocia ; Eastern Turkey ( Black Sea Coast , Kaçkar Mountains , Nemrut Mountain )

Turkey page 2 of 2 on photoseek.com:   Anatolia’s History , Islam , Atatürk , Turks , Kurds , Armenians , Greek/Turk War 1919-1922

See related page on photoseek.com:    Greece: Greek War of Independence 1821-1829