Göreme Open Air Museum

Submitted by Iza on Thu, 03/27/2025 - 16:25

Göreme National Park is one of those astonishing places in Turkey that have earned a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It was added to this prestigious list in 1985 as Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia. It is also one of the few such places in the world that have been included on the UNESCO list for both its cultural and natural heritage. The second such place in Turkey is the Pamukkale-Hierapolis complex.

A visit to Cappadocia cannot be considered complete without visiting Göreme Open Air Museum (tr. Göreme Açık Hava Müzesi), a one-of-a-kind museum with the most spectacular rock-cut Mediaeval churches. In a relatively small area, there are about 350 churches and chapels from the Byzantine era, carved in the soft rock characteristic of Cappadocia. Of this huge number, a dozen or so are located in the open-air museum, called the Göreme Open Air Museum.

Nysa on the Maeander

Submitted by Iza on Wed, 03/26/2025 - 10:24

Nysa was an ancient city in Asia Minor, located on the border between the lands known as Caria and Lydia. Today, it is a ruined ancient city, beautifully situated at the foot of a mountain called Messogis in antiquity and divided by a deep gorge that was carved by a stream flowing down from the mountains. Impressive in size and in a good state of preservation, the remains of Nysa are rarely visited by tourists, so it is very likely that you can wander here alone between the old buildings and the olive trees growing within the area.

Pirates of the Aegean - Julius Caesars capture

Submitted by Iza on Mon, 03/24/2025 - 10:35

Text by our correspondent from Didim, Jay Jean Jackson, with additional contributions from Chris Evans.

It is hard to imagine when you stare across the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coastline at the many islands dotted around that the area was once controlled by a ruthless bunch of pirates over 2,000 years ago.

According to Plutarch, the Greek philosopher, historian, biographer and essayist, the small Aegean Island of Pharmacusa (now modern-day Farmakonisi, Greece), south-west of Miletus, was where Julius Caesar, then a Roman nobleman, was held captive by these pirates for 38 days.

The Aegean coast of Turkey dotted with islands, view from the acropolis of ancient Erthrae

Reimagining Didyma's Sacred Way

Submitted by Iza on Wed, 03/19/2025 - 16:48

Text by our correspondent from Didim, Jay Jean Jackson, with contributions and edits by Chris Evans

Some 2,500 years ago, the annual spring festivities were starting in Miletus. They’d taken place, and would continue to do so, for many centuries. The atmosphere around Miletus and Apollo Temple would have been electric, as the crowds gather. It is a celebration to honour the Greek God Apollo, the God of music, dance and poetry, prophecy and oracles, archery, healing, and disease. The Cult of Apollo has begun.

The Ionic Stoa on the Sacred Way in Miletus

Çatalhöyük

Submitted by Iza on Tue, 03/18/2025 - 17:40

The first time I read about Çatalhöyük was a very long time ago, in Margaret Oliphant's book "The Atlas of the Ancient World", published in 1993. However, it would take 20 years before I was able to visit this extraordinary place in person. In 2013, the time came for my imagination to confront reality, and I could finally walk on the double mound that conceals traces of a settlement from over nine thousand years ago.