Category: Turkey

Turkey’s new Troy Museum to draw 1 million tourists, celebrities; Daily Sabah

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Turkey – Archaeological Site of Troy

The new Museum of Troy in Turkey’s western Çanakkale province is expected to draw 1 million tourists in its inaugural year, including several Hollywood celebrities who were invited by the Turkish government.

Turkey’s government declared 2018 the “Year of Troy” in honor the 20th anniversary of the ancient city’s recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The 10,000-square-meter museum which cost TL 50 million will showcase archeological findings of the ancient city, as well as 24 gold pieces known as the treasures of Helen of Troy, which were returned to Turkey from the United States after 125 years.

The Hollywood actors who starred in the 2004 movie Troy, including Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom, have been invited to visit the museum by Tourism and Culture Ministry.

The ministry has planned multiple events to mark the “Year of Troy,” including war reenactments, symposiums and Trojan-themed performances.

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Turkey to restore world heritage site for visibility; Anadolu Agency

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Turkey – Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape

Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape listed as a World Heritage Site in 2015

Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape’s magnificence will soon be visible to tourists.

The Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality has prepared a project to remove the visual pollution around the historical fortress and make it visible for tourists.
The project, approved by the Protection of Cultural Property Board, will provide landscape designing for a 71,000 square meters (around 764,000 square foot) area.
There will be 12 spots for visitors to take pictures of the walls, and the bastions. Paths for pedestrians and bikers will also be built.

UNESCO added the building to its tentative list in 2000, and it was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2015 along with the Hevsel Gardens.

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Ancient city of Aphrodisias in Turkey becomes UNESCO world heritage site; Daily Sabah

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Turkey – Aphrodisias

Known for monumental sites from the Roman era, including a sculpture school, a theater and an ancient temple, the ancient city of Aphrodisias in Aydın province has been included on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List, following the inclusion of the ancient city of Ephesus and the Diyarbakır ancient city walls in 2015 and the Kars Ani archaeological site in 2016.

According to the UNESCO Turkey website, the ancient city of Aphrodisias is a settlement that reflects the architectural and urban aspects of the Greek and Roman period. A magnificent site situated in the Karacasu district of Aydın, Aphrodisias is famous for the Temple of Aphrodite, which dates back to the third century B.C. and was built one century before the ancient city itself. Having been home to many civilizations and protecting the splendor of these civilizations until the sixth century A.D., Aphrodisias has witnessed many significant developments.

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Ancient Greek site of Aphrodisias in UNESCO World Heritage List; Tornos News

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Turkey – Aphrodisias

The Aphrodisias archaeology site in southwestern Turkey has been included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, eu.greekreporter.com notes in the following article:

Aphrodisias, named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love was a small ancient Greek city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Anatolia, in modern day Turkey.

The Temple of Aphrodite was a focal point of the town, but the character of the building was changed when it became a Christian basilica. The Aphrodisian sculptors became renowned and benefited from a plentiful supply of marble close at hand.

At the ancient site there is a wonderful amphitheater that must have been the setting for great performances of culture and arts.

There is also an ancient Greek stadium described as “the largest ancient stadium in the world and one of the best preserved.”

It is 270 meters long.

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Architectural And Spiritual Symbols Of Mimar Sinan’s Masterpiece; İngilizce Haberler; Turkishny

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Turkey – Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex

Selimiye Mosque, a masterpiece of Mimar Sinan’s mastery period as well as Ottaman-Islamic civilization, is admired for new meanings attributed to its structure and its architecture

It is rumored that Prophet Muhammad appeared in a dream to Ottoman Sultan Selim II and pointed to Edirne to build the Selimiye Mosque; thus, Selim ordered the structure to be built in Kavak Square.

It took six years to construct the Selimiye Mosque, which was designed by Mimar Sinan. He called this work of art, which he built for the 11th Ottoman Sultan Selim II, “My masterpiece.” It is unsurpassed in terms of architectural and aesthetic value and was built at a time when Turkish-Islamic civilization had reached its peak in the Ottoman Empire. The historic mosque is admired by visitors and art historians and has tremendous significance.

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Separation of Church and State in Medieval Anatolia; Hugh Jeffrey; Brewminate

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Turkey – Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği

The Çaltısuyu, a tributary of the Euphrates, flows through the dramatic canyons of eastern Anatolia. At around 1,225 meters above sea level, it emerges onto a barren highland plateau overlooked by the crumbling remains of a medieval castle. The small town of Divriği lies on the gentle slope beneath. Although its ornate thirteenth-century mosque has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, few tourists make the journey to this remote and mountainous region.

Accessibility is usually something of a prerequisite for the establishment of a new town. Quite the opposite was true for Divriği. This site was first settled around the middle of the ninth century CE by a group of religious dissidents known as Paulicians.

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Rare 8,000-year-old figurine of a voluptuous woman is found at the site of one of the world’s first cities; Abigal Beall; AP & Daily Mail

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  • Figurine is one of thousands previously discovered at the Catllhoyuk site
  • The city, established around 7,000 BC, was home to 5,000 people 
  • This artefact is special because it is fully intact and made of stone, not clay
  • It could represent a fertility goddess or an older woman with high status

Archaeologists have uncovered a rare stone figurine of a woman at a dig in Turkey’s central province of Konya.

The woman, with her sagging breasts and belly, is thought to represent either a fertility ‘mother goddess’ or an older woman who has achieved high status.

An expert says the figurine, dating back 8,000 years, is one of only handful of statuettes of the era ever found in one piece.

By 2009, nearly 2,000 figurines had been unearthed at the site in Catalhoyuk, Turkey.

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