Greetings! We recently returned from a trip to Turkey (country #72). Below, you will find information and photos from our trip.
ISTANBUL
Upon arrival in Istanbul, we were introduced to the city that straddles two continents (Europe and Asia) across the Bosphorus Strait, the primary landmass of which (95%) lies within Western Asia. The Bosphorus feeds into the Black Sea, which is 22km from Istanbul. There are approximately 16 million people who live in Turkey, though some counts have it closer to 20 million.
The bridge above was built in 1974. We were told that it is easier/better to live on the Asian side because it is newer and less crowded. The new mosque on the Asian side is the same size as the Suleymaniye Mosque (the Old Royal Mosque of Istanbul).
Western Turkey was settled by Ancient Greeks, and King Byzas founded the city of Byzantium on the then-uninhabited Europeans side of the Bosporus. Byzas reportedly wanted to establish the city on the European side, and named it Byzantium, which also gave its name to the later Eastern Roman Empire. Due to its location controlling the entrance from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, Byzantium became a very powerful and rich city, and was often under attack by Persia and Greece. Alexander the Great ruled for a short while, and after he died, the successor states ruled for awhile before the Romans took over and changed the name to Nuevo (which means “new”).
Eventually, the Roman Empire split into two parts – Eastern and Western – and Byzantium became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. At the time that Christianity was rising, the Roman Emperor Constantine (who was 24yo with an army of 90,000) saw this and decided to accept it as the official religion of the empire. He renamed Byzantium to Constantinople, and proclaimed it the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantinople was bigger and more powerful than the city of Rome at that time. Constantinople lasted as the Byzantine Empire’s capital until 1453, at the end of a long period of Byzanite decline. The Ottoman Empire attack in 1453 ended the Byzantine empire, and the city became the Capital of the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, the Ottomans renamed the city “Islambul” reflecting the Muslim religion, and it was eventually changed to “Istanbul” (“Is” from Islam; “Tanbul” from Constantinople). The written language of the Ottomans was primarily Arabic, and the spoken language was Turkish (which originates from Mongolian language). Turkey was an Imperial monarchy ruled by an Emperor, with a “grand vizier” as the second-in-command. After the Ottoman Empire ended (shortly after World War I), a majority of the Muslims settled on the European side of the city, while the rest of the population settled on the Asian side. As a result, you see a majority of the mosques on the European side of the city. Today, there are 2000 mosques in Istanbul, as 95% of the population is Muslim, though we were told that only about 35% are practicing.
Turkey became a republic in 1923. It is considered to be a Democratic and modern country, and is unique when compared to other Muslim countries in that the secular and religion aspects of the culture are separated. In addition, Istanbul is built on an earthquake belt, and in the 16th century, there was a big earthquake that caused significant damage. As a result, many of the structures (including Hagia Sophia) now have support columns.
The Blue Mosque (above) was built in 1600, and has been under restoration for 5 years. It is classic Ottoman architecture, with a dome that is 23m in diameter and 43m to the floor. It has 6 towers, and is the only mosque in the world with 6 minarets. It has 16 balconies to represent the 16th sultan, and has 28 domes (the number 28 is significant in Islam).
The Hagia Sophia (hi-ya soh-fee-uh) mosque was first built in 350 AD with a wooden roof, and then again in 415 by Theodosius. It was destroyed by Nico in a riot in the Hippodrome, which was the bloodiest riot in their history. The third iteration of the mosque was started in 532 and finished in 537, and it was a world record to have it finished in 5 years 10 months (it usually takes about a century to build such structures). It has lasted since then, even through earthquakes. It was a church, and then a mosque during the time of Constantine. It was subsequently changed to a museum from 1934 until July 24, 2020, when it was designated as a mosque again by the government of Tayyip Erdogan. It is surrounded by police to protect those who come to worship at the mosque, as there are quite a few foreigners who do so. The Hagia Sophia (which is primarily made of marble) has the 4th biggest dome in the world (31m in diameter, 55m from top to floor), and is 7600m² with a 9000m² courtyard. It consists of geometrical shapes and colors because they are not allowed to use images in mosques.
The Spice Bazaar: Built in 1664 – took 45 years to finish. Has 92 shops, and all of them are the same size.
The West side of Turkey is known for their vegetables and olive oil, while the East side is known mostly for their meat.
Turkish rug process: This woman has been working on this rug for the past 2 years, and has about 6 weeks go to before it is finished. They usually use wool for Turkish rugs because of their nomadic background. Each region has its own traditions (e.g., Angora wool is used in Ankara, Turkey). The type of knot is what differentiates Turkish rugs from Persian rugs. For a silk rug, there are one million knots per square meter to make a rug, and it takes 4-5 weeks to finish one square meter.
A few details about life in Turkey – There is compulsory military service for all Turkish men for 6 months. Turkey is modern and produces many manufactured products, such as apparel. Turkey also produces olive oil, dried figs, and marble. Turkish is a phonetic language, meaning that each letter has one sound. The minimum wage is $10K a year (made by police officers and teachers). A 1000sqft condo is $750K to buy, and $250/month to rent.
EPHESUS
A short (one hour) flight away from Istanbul is Izmir, which is a gateway to the historical region of Ephesus.
(pagan church, christian church, mosque)
The region around Ephesus, which includes the modern city of Izmir, has been inhabited for the last 5000 years, continuously. Legend has it that the first settlers were women warriors called Amazons, from the black seaside of Anatolia. The first settlement was a place on a hill called Ephesus Number One. Homer reportedly shared stories about the Trojans (from Troy), who were actually Anatolians. He described Amazons in negative ways (e.g., referring to them as being without breasts).
Ephesus was an iconic, port city. Our guide made references to biblical history (including Acts 19 in the New Testament that references Paul coming to Ephesus to spread the word of Christ) and secular history. Biblically, after Jesus was crucified, John the Baptist took care of the Virgin Mary, and came to the city of Ephesus, where it is believed that the Virgin Mary lived on one of the mountains for the last 9 years of her life. After the assumption of the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist spread the word of Christ, and then was exiled and wrote the book of Revelation. He was told to send letters to the 7 churches (which were the largest Christian communities) of Asia Minor, including Ephesus and Laodicea. John the Baptist subsequently came back to Ephesus and lived on a hill, finished Revelation, and died behind some pine trees (as seen in the photo above), and a church was built next to that area, with his remains reportedly buried to the left of the pine trees.
The Byzantine Empire ruled this area and ordered the church to be built on top of the burial grounds of John the Baptist. They then built a fort to protect the area. Christians were being attacked and were trying to take John the Baptist’s body as well. Nobody knows where his body was taken. The first church in the world was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Muslims then overtook the Byzantines and since 1375, they built the mosque, and it has been used continuously since then. As a result, in this area are a pagan church (Temple of Artemis), Christian church (John the Baptist), and Muslim mosque. Other tribes (primarily the Greeks/Ottomans) attempted to bring the area together, and this is a reflection of that effort.
Secularly, we were told that there were two areas of Anatolia, one of which was owned by King Midas, who found gold, and the leidians minted the first coins of the world. The other was owned by King Cresus. Alexander the Great eventually came to the area and defeated the Persians. He reportedly ordered a new city to be built because he did not like Ephesus Number Two. He went to India and on his way back, he died from a virus in Babylon. His four generals then took over the empire and fought over the land, and the winner eventually founded a city on Ephesus Number Three. Ephesus was the regional capital of the Asian Roman Empire, and was the fourth largest city of the Roman Empire.
The Ottomans gave incentive to have people move to other areas to spread Turkish power. In 1919, Mustafa Ataturk started an independent war against the allied forces that had occupied Turkey after its defeat in World War I (WWI). In 1923, Turkey became the Republic of Turkey, and Ataturk adopted the changes that had been made in Swiss law, such as women being allowed to fight in the military and have other freedoms. Turkey became a secular country (meaning that church and government are separate, and they have a new language/alphabet). In 1924, Turkey and Greece sat down and decided to do a population exchange. In the 1930s, Smyrna became Izmir, and Ephesus became Selcuk (at the same time, Constantinople became Istanbul).
The Virgin Mary is believed to have lived here after a paralyzed, blind German woman (who had never left her hometown) had a vision about it, and after historians compared this to where John the Baptist lived and died. This house (1000 feet above sea level) was discovered in 1891, the remains of which date back to the 7th century AD, and foundations of which date back to the 1st century AD. The current roof dates back to the 1950s. In 2006, there was a bad fire in the area, and it was said that it got to within 7 feet of The Virgin Mary’s house and stopped. This is considered to be a miracle. The house has been an active chapel for 120 years, run by nuns from the Vatican. There is an English service every Sunday, and private services for people who come here for pilgrimage.
In 1967, Pope Paul VI visited the house, as did Pope John Paul I and II, as well as Pope Benedict XVI. The house has had 1.5 million visitors, including Muslims, because the Virgin Mary is the only woman mentioned in the Koran. She is respected by other women because she gave birth to Jesus Christ, whom Muslims see as a prophet, but not above Prophet Muhammad. There is no consensus about where The Virgin Mary is buried. The blind woman said it was one kilometer away from the house, but her grave has not yet been found.
The Third Ephesus was around during the 1st and 2nd Century AD. In the 4th century AD, the city was hit by earthquakes, and was also damaged in the 7th century. Christianity became the religion of the area, and the new capital was called Constantinopolous. In the last 120 years, only 10% of this area has been excavated, mostly by the Austrians.
95% of the city of Ephesus was made of marble – the white and grey were from Ephesus (and was exported to other areas), with other marble imported from the Greek Isles. There have been 80 different types of marble discovered by archaeologists in the area. The city was inhabited for 1000 years, and they built the new structure on top of the original. 15 years ago, they discovered a cemetery (necropolis) dating back to the 6th century, and were forced to move to a different area because they did not want to live on top of a gravesite. When excavations uncover bones, they do DNA tests and have discovered that some of the people doing the digging are related to some of the people being dug.
Interesting note: Ephesus was built on a fault line, so, they have had several earthquakes. In addition, this area is known for tobacco (used in Camel cigarettes), peaches, cherries, and pomegranates.
There were two official languages (Ancient Greek and Latin) because Ephesus was a Greek city ruled by Romans (making it a Greco Roman city).
Downtown Ephesus – includes the third largest library of the ancient world. It was resurrected in 1978 using 70% of the original stone. There is a tunnel under the library to an area across the street that was either a tavern or a brothel. The women thought the men read a lot when the men were probably actually going to the brothel.
The Theater of Ephesus is from the 2nd Century BC, and then the Romans expanded it. It was covered with concrete at one point, which is now in the process of being removed.
Once again, another informative visit. Turkey is a very unique country and we look forward to exploring more of it in the future. Until next time, take care and be well…