Just a few kilometers from Ihlara Valley lies the little town of Güzelyurt, dramatically set beneath the snow-capped summit of Hasan Dağı. We came here for its stone houses, refuge caves, and underground city. It was a prosperous Ottoman-Greek town specializing in farming and goldsmithing...
We parked in the southwest Cappadocia next to a canyon rimmed by high cliffs that hide rock-cut churches. The 15 km long and up to 150 m deep canyon was formed in prehistoric times by the Melendiz River. From the 7th century AD, the valley was settled by Byzantine monks who dug their...
We drove through the stark and stunning high-altitude Aladağlar national park, featuring glacial lakes, waterfalls, and wildlife. Its four major peaks, all above 3000m, draw trekkers and climbers, while less ambitious nature-lovers like us can hike through its valleys. We made short two...
Adana, the country’s fourth largest city, is situated in the plain of Cilicia, on the Seyhan River. We parked in the center just next to the highlight of Adana – the largest mosque between İstanbul and Saudi Arabia. The six-minaret Sabancı Merkez Camii rising gracefully from the left bank...
Before visiting TEMSA Global bus factory, we stopped in the city center of the historical city of Tarsus. The compact old city includes a beautiful 60m-long stretch of Roman road and a labyrinth of alleyways hemmed by Tarsus Historical Houses, many crumbling. Just southeast are several...
Our next stop was Kızkalesi, where we visited its fortress rising from an island 250m offshore. Kızkalesi Castle (🎫 20 TRY) has mosaics of birds and trees in the central courtyard, where there are the remains of two chapels side by side and a vaulted gallery with 13 arches. The castle was...
Near Narlıkuyu, a road winds north for 2km to several caves (🎫 75 TRY) – sinkholes carved out by a subterranean river and places of great mythological significance. The mammoth underground Chasm of Heaven (Cennet Mağarası) – 250m long, 110m wide, and 70m deep – is reached by 450-odd steps...
We spend an hour at the little village Narlıkuyu, built around a placid cove lined with seafood restaurants. A Roman benefactor, Poimenios, built a bathhouse here in the 300s AD. A small museum on the village square houses its mosaics of the Three Graces Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosine...
Again, we arrived in the night at the Anemurium’s sprawling and eerily quiet ruins, the gate was closed, so we parked at the nearby wild pebble beach with crystal clear waters. Founded by the Phoenicians in the 4th century BC, Anemurium suffered several devastating setbacks...
We spent one day in Turkey’s most conservative and religious city, located south of Ankara in the Central Anatolia region at an elevation of 1027 meters. Konya treads a delicate path between its historical significance as the home town of the whirling dervish orders and a bastion of...