Our first stop in Armenia was a beautiful monastery occupying a commanding position overlooking the Debed gorge. Founded around 976 by Queen Khosrvanuch, who funded the construction of the domed Church of the Holy Cross (Surp Nishan) at the center of the complex, it saw a building boom in...
We did overnight in one of the oldest settlements of Transcaucasia, Mtskheta, a town located at the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi rivers, just northwest of Tbilisi. Mtskheta was the capital of Georgia from the 2nd to the 5th century AD. We visited the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, the...
We arrived late, so we parked in front of Hotel Aşıkoğlu in Boğazkale, where we took dinner (Tomato soup – 30 TRY, French fries – 60 TRY, Chicken skewer – 110 TRY, Tea – 10 TRY). The following day we visited remainings of the Hittite capital of Hattuşa (🎫 20 TRY). In the Bronze Age, the...
Surrounded by epic sweeps of golden, moonscape valley, this remarkable touristic village hollowed out of the hills with the central “downtown” strip full of restaurants and travel agencies surrounded by boutique cave hotels. After we arrived in little Göreme, we walked to the viewpoint (🎫...
Another famous ancient multi-level underground city is located in Derinkuyu (🎫 100 TRY). It has cavernous rooms spread on seven levels reached by long skinny tunnels extending to a depth of approximately 85 meters. It is large enough to have sheltered as many as 20,000 people together...
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...
It was an ancient Phrygian city in southwestern Turkey, about 10 kilometers north of the ruins of Laodicea (🎫 200 TRY). Situated on the Coruh River, a tributary of the Buyuk Menderes River, it was probably established by Eumenes II of Pergamum in 190 BC. It became a sacred city, its chief...
Pamukkale has been made eternally famous by the gleaming white calcite travertines overrunning with warm, mineral-rich waters on the mountain above the village. It´s not allowed to roam freely around the photogenic travertines, but walking down remains one of Turkey’s singular experiences...
We spent a few hours discovering the lost ruins of Aphrodisias (🎫 70 TRY). This remote site in the Anatolian hinterland trumps many of Turkey’s ancient sites for its sheer scale and lushness. It was an ancient city situated on a plateau south of the Maeander River. Sulla and Julius...
Ephesus was the most important Greek city in Ionian Asia Minor. It is one of the grandest and best-preserved archeological sites in Turkey (🎫 200 TRY, Taxi to upper gate 100 TRY). Ancient Ephesus was a great trading city and a center for the cult of Cybele, the Anatolian fertility goddess...