The City Where
Two Continents
Meet at Breakfast.

Istanbul (population 15 million — the largest city in Europe and the Middle East — the only city on Earth that straddles two continents — the historical peninsula (the original city, bounded by the Bosphorus, the Marmara, and the Golden Horn) containing more UNESCO-listed monuments per square kilometre than almost anywhere on Earth — formerly Byzantium (founded 657 BCE), then Constantinople (330 CE — the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for 1,123 years), then the Ottoman capital from 1453 to 1923) is the city that most visitors to Turkey never fully reckon with on a first visit — and return to specifically to reckon with on subsequent ones. Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya — the Byzantine church completed in 537 CE under Emperor Justinian I — the largest building in the world for nearly a thousand years — converted to a mosque in 1453 by Sultan Mehmed II (who reportedly wept at its beauty after the conquest) — converted to a museum by Atatürk in 1934 — reconverted to a functioning mosque in 2020 — the dome (55.6m high, 31.2m diameter — the engineering problem it solved (a circular dome on a square base — the pendentive — the triangular curved surface in each corner that transitions from the square walls to the circular dome — an architectural solution that Justinian’s engineers developed and that every subsequent domed building in the Western tradition, including St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, has referenced directly)). Topkapı Palace (the Ottoman imperial palace — governing the empire from 1465 to 1856 — the Harem (the 400-room residential complex for the imperial household — the most misunderstood architectural label in Ottoman history — the Harem was the domestic quarter of the palace (the Arabic ḥarām meaning “forbidden” — forbidden to unauthorised entry — not a salacious entertainment complex) — the guided Harem tour (separate ticket — essential — the rooms are extraordinary and the social history of the Ottoman household is genuinely complex and surprising)). The Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı — 61 covered streets, 4,000+ shops — established 1455 — one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world — the correct approach: ignore the tourist-facing carpet and lamp stalls at the main entrances, walk toward the interior districts (the jewellers’ quarter, the antiques lanes, the copper market) where the bazaar functions as a genuine wholesale and retail market rather than a tourist attraction). The Bosphorus (the 31km strait — the ferry from Eminönü to Anadolu Kavağı (the Asian shore — the Yoros Castle at the junction of the Bosphorus and the Black Sea — the fish restaurants on the quay) — the standard tour and the correct morning activity from Istanbul).

• Hagia Sophia 537 CE · pendentive dome · 1,487 years continuously used
• Topkapı Harem · separate ticket · 400 rooms · book ahead
• Grand Bazaar interior · jewellers’ + copper quarters · not the entrance stalls
• Bosphorus ferry Eminönü–Anadolu Kavağı · Europe to Asia in 15 minutes
• Turkish breakfast (kahvaltı) · Karaköy · the 40-dish spread · the best meal of the day

Cappadocia (the volcanic plateau in central Anatolia — Nevsehir Province — the landscape formed by volcanic eruptions of Erciyes and Hasan volcanoes approximately 10–30 million years ago, depositing thick layers of ash and lava (tuff) that subsequently eroded into the extraordinary forms visible today: the fairy chimneys (peri bacası — the tall conical rock formations, many with a harder basalt cap that protected the softer tuff column below from erosion — giving them the distinctive mushroom profile — the valley of fairy chimneys at Paşabağ (Monks’ Valley) being the most concentrated example), the valleys (the Rose Valley (Güllüdere), the Red Valley, Pigeon Valley — each named for the colour of their tuff and the uses of their cave systems), and the underground cities (Derinkuyu — the underground city descending 85m below the plateau surface — 18 floors — estimated capacity for 20,000 people — originally used by early Christians for shelter from Byzantine and later Arabic raids — the ventilation shafts (1,200 air shafts in Derinkuyu alone) and the millstone doors (rolled to block corridors in the event of attack) are the engineering elements that make the scale of the underground system comprehensible)) is the destination in Turkey that most visitors describe as the most visually surreal experience of their lives — before they have been in a hot air balloon at dawn. The Cappadocia hot air balloons (approximately 150–300 balloons take off from the Göreme region on a typical clear morning between 5:30–7am — the largest concentration of hot air balloon flights in the world — the balloons drift over the fairy chimney valleys at altitudes ranging from 30m (skimming the valley floor between the chimneys) to 600m (the full panorama of the plateau visible — Erciyes volcano on the horizon) — a 1-hour flight — landing in a field chosen by the pilot based on wind at 6am — the landing champagne). The Göreme Open-Air Museum (the UNESCO World Heritage site — the rock-cut Byzantine churches and monasteries in a small valley — the Dark Church (Karanlık Kilise — additional entry ticket — the 11th-12th century frescoes in the best state of preservation in Cappadocia because the cave’s small window allowed minimal light and therefore minimal UV damage to the paint — the Christ Pantocrator in the dome — the colour saturation at 900 years is remarkable)).

• Hot air balloon · 5:30am · 150–300 simultaneous balloons · 1 hour
• Derinkuyu underground city · 85m deep · 18 floors · 20,000 capacity
• Göreme Open-Air Museum · UNESCO · Dark Church extra ticket · best frescoes
• Paşabağ · fairy chimney concentration · basalt-capped mushroom profiles
• Cave hotel overnight · the correct Cappadocia accommodation · book 6+ months ahead

The Turkish Turquoise Coast (the Aegean and Mediterranean coastline stretching from Bodrum in the north to Antalya in the east — approximately 1,600km of coastline — the name “Turquoise Coast” given by the travel writer Luis de Brouéard in the 1970s for the specific colour of the water, which is the consequence of the water clarity, the white limestone seafloor, and the angle of the Aegean light) is the part of Turkey that Australian visitors most consistently do not allocate enough time to, and most consistently wish they had extended. The three anchor experiences: Ölüdeniz and the Blue Lagoon (the natural lagoon south of Fethïye — the most photographed beach in Turkey — the lagoon protected from wave action by a narrow shingle spit — the water the specific turquoise-to-aquamarine gradient that makes the name Ölüdeniz (“dead sea” — named not for brine but for the absence of wave movement in the lagoon) accurate — the Babadağ mountain (1,975m) rising directly behind the lagoon — the paragliding launch from Babadağ (the most commercially active paragliding site in the world by passenger volume — the 45-minute flight from 1,975m, passing the Lycian Way cliff path 400m below, descending over the lagoon to the beach)). The gulet Blue Voyage (the Blue Voyage (Mavi Yolculuk — the term coined by the Turkish poet Cevat Şakir Kababağaçlı (Halikarnas Balıkçısı) in 1925 for the sailing journey along the Aegean coast — the wooden gulet (the double-masted Turkish sailing vessel — traditionally built from red pine in the Bodrum and Marmaris shipyards) carrying 6–20 guests along the coast, anchoring in bays not accessible by road, swimming over submerged ruins, eating fresh fish on deck). The standard Blue Voyage runs Bodrum–Fethïye or Fethïye–Bodrum over 4–7 days. The Lycian Way (the 540km marked hiking trail from Ovacık near Fethïye to Antalya — following the coast of the ancient Lycian civilisation — the ruins of Lycian cities, tombs cut into cliff faces, and rock sarcophagi in olive groves visible throughout the route — the section from Kabak to Alinca — 14km — the most dramatic coastal section, with the trail cut into the cliff 200–400m above the sea — the swimming stops in turquoise coves below the trail). Bodrum (the Aegean resort town — the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — built for Mausolus, Persian satrap of Caria, 353–350 BCE — the word “mausoleum” derives from his name — the structure destroyed by earthquake, with surviving friezes now in the British Museum) — the Castle of St Peter (the 15th-century Crusader castle on the harbour headland — the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology (one of the most important underwater archaeology collections in the world — including the oldest known shipwreck ever excavated, the Uluburun wreck (c. 1300 BCE — a Late Bronze Age merchant vessel carrying copper, tin, ebony, and luxury goods from across the Mediterranean and Middle East)).

• Ölüdeniz · Blue Lagoon · Babadağ paragliding 1,975m · world’s busiest site
• Blue Voyage gulet · Bodrum–Fethïye · 4–7 days · bay anchoring
• Lycian Way · 540km · cliff-cut section Kabak–Alinca · 200–400m above sea
• Bodrum Mausoleum · original Wonder of the World · word “mausoleum” origin
• Uluburun shipwreck · c.1300 BCE · oldest excavated · Museum Bodrum

Ephesus (the ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia — the Ionian city established by Greek colonists approximately 1000 BCE — subsequently Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and briefly Ottoman — at its Roman peak (1st–2nd century CE) one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world, with a population estimated at 200,000–250,000 — making it the second-largest city in the Roman Empire after Rome itself) is the most visited archaeological site in Turkey and one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the world. The Library of Celsus (the most photographed facade in Ephesus — built 114–135 CE as a monumental tomb for the Roman senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus and as the city’s public library — the facade reconstructed to its current state between 1970–1978 by an Austrian Archaeological Institute team — the four niches in the facade containing modern replicas of the original statues of Sophia (Wisdom), Arete (Virtue), Ennoia (Thought), and Episteme (Knowledge)). The Great Theatre (the semicircular theatre carved into the slope of Mount Pion — capacity 25,000 — the largest theatre in the ancient world — the scene of the riot described in Acts 19 of the New Testament (the Ephesian silversmiths who sold figurines of the goddess Artemis rioting against Paul’s preaching — the cry “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” echoing in the very theatre that remains)). The Terrace Houses (Yamaçevler — the six Roman urban mansions preserved under a protective structure — the in-situ mosaics, frescoes, and marble floors of wealthy Roman households from the 1st to 7th centuries CE — the separate entrance fee — the most archaeologically significant and visually detailed part of Ephesus that most visitors skip — do not skip it). The Temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — now reduced to a single column and a marble-scattered field 2km from the main Ephesus site — the temple four times larger than the Parthenon in its original form — the context for understanding the scale of what Roman and Hellenistic Ephesus contained).

• Library of Celsus · 114–135 CE · Sophia, Arete, Ennoia, Episteme statues
• Great Theatre · 25,000 capacity · Acts 19 New Testament riot setting
• Terrace Houses · separate ticket · in-situ mosaics · do not skip
• Temple of Artemis · Seven Wonders · 4x the Parthenon · now a single column
• Arrive 8am opening · finish by 11am before the cruise ship crowds

Pamukkale (Pamuk Kale — “Cotton Castle” in Turkish — the white travertine terraces on the slope of the Çal Dağ mountain in the Denizli Province of western Turkey) is one of the most visually distinctive natural formations in the world — the terraced white pools formed by calcium carbonate-rich thermal spring water (the water contains approximately 1,200mg of calcium bicarbonate per litre — the highest concentration of any spring in Turkey — as the water flows over the cliff face and is exposed to air, the CO≥ outgasses, destabilising the calcium bicarbonate and depositing calcium carbonate (calcite) as the white mineral that forms the terraces — the process is continuous and the terraces are technically still forming at approximately 1–4mm per year). The travertine terraces (the stepped pools of warm water (the temperature at the source is 36°C — cooling as it flows down the terraces — the warmest pools at the top, the cooler at the base) — visitors wade through the pools barefoot (shoes are not permitted on the travertines — the limestone is damaged by the sole patterns of shoes) — the feeling of warm water over white rock in the afternoon light is the specific Pamukkale experience). Hierapolis (the ancient Graeco-Roman spa city built over the thermal springs — established 2nd century BCE under the Attalid kings of Pergamon — the city’s necropolis (the largest in Anatolia — 1,200 identified tombs — the Roman, Byzantine, and Jewish communities of Hierapolis buried here over 700 years) — the Plutonium (the cave at the base of the temple of Apollo — emitting carbon dioxide at concentrations lethal to birds and small animals but less than lethal to humans standing upright — known in antiquity as the entrance to the underworld — the Plutonium priests demonstrated their supernatural power by surviving what killed the animals at their feet — they survived because CO≥ is heavier than air and the priests’ heads were above the lethal concentration at floor level)). The Antique Pool (Kleopatra’s Pool — the Roman thermal pool in the Hierapolis Archaeological Museum — the ancient marble columns submerged in the thermal water — swimming among Roman columns at 36°C — the ticket is worth purchasing).

• Travertines · 36°C water · barefoot only · 1,200mg calcium per litre
• Hierapolis necropolis · 1,200 tombs · largest in Anatolia
• Plutonium cave · CO≥ lethal at floor level · priests survived · the ancient trick
• Antique Pool (Kleopatra’s) · swim among Roman columns · 36°C
• Visit at dawn or dusk · white terraces in golden light · midday light is flat

Eastern Turkey is the part of the country that most visitors to Istanbul and the Aegean coast never reach — and the part that archaeologists and serious history travellers specifically fly to Turkey to access. Nemrut Dağı (the 2,150m mountaintop sanctuary of the Commagenean king Antiochus I Theos — built 1st century BCE — the colossal stone heads of Greek and Persian deities arranged in two terraces flanking the royal tomb mound (the tumulus 50m high — the precise burial location unknown — never excavated — the summit surrounded by the shattered heads of Zeus-Oromasdes, Apollo-Mithras, Tyche, and Heracles, the heads 2–3m tall, fallen from their bodies during earthquakes — visited at sunrise and sunset when the light on the limestone faces produces the photographs that exist in every Turkey travel compendium). Ani (the abandoned medieval Armenian capital on the Turkish-Armenian border — the 10th–11th century walled city with a population of over 100,000 at its peak — the Cathedral of Ani (completed 1001 CE), the Church of the Holy Apostles, the Persian Palace — all standing in varying states of ruin in a landscape of grass and wind — UNESCO World Heritage since 2016 — one of the most melancholy and extraordinary architectural sites in the Middle East). Çatalhöyük (the Neolithic settlement near Konya — one of the oldest towns in human history — occupied from approximately 7500–5700 BCE — the houses entered through the roof rather than doors — the dead buried beneath the floors — one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 20th century — a UNESCO World Heritage site that is genuinely difficult to understand without a specialist guide but which, with one, provides the most visceral experience of Neolithic human society available anywhere in the world). The Anatolian Civilisations Museum in Ankara (the finest collection of Anatolian artefacts in the world — the Hittite gold, the Phrygian bronze, the Urartian metalwork — the museum building itself a restored 15th-century Ottoman bedesten — the artefacts alone justify the Ankara stop).

• Nemrut Dağı · 2,150m · colossal heads 2–3m · sunrise / sunset only
• Ani · Armenian capital · Cathedral 1001 CE · UNESCO 2016 · border landscape
• Çatalhöyük · 7500–5700 BCE · roof-entered houses · dead under floors
• Ankara Anatolian Civilisations Museum · finest Hittite gold collection
• Fethiye Lycian tombs · cliff-face rock-cut · 4th century BCE · visible from street