Neyzen Travel & Yachting - Turkey by design

Once capital of the Ottoman Empire, Edirne has a lasting sense of civic grandeur and a particular culinary heritage. Close to the Greek and Bulgarian borders, the city also has a distinct European flavour. Edirne’s landmark and highest point is Mimar Sinan’s exquisite 16th century Selimiye Mosque and complex featuring 4 towering 71m-high minarets. Another major symbol of the city is the Great Synagogue, the 2nd largest in Europe, which was built to replace 13 synagogues that burned down here in 1907. Neyzen Travel is privileged to have special guest access to enter the synagogue.

Extending down the side of Mount Olympos, Bursa was the Ottoman Empire’s first capital. The city today retains its imperial character with 14th century royal mosques, over 300 minarets, myriad green parks, and excellent Iskender kebabs. The covered bazaar overflows with famous Bursa silks, cotton towels and textiles. Bursa is also known for its natural healing hot springs, and as Turkey’s most glamorous ski resort.

Iznik, ancient Nicea, was originally a Greek and Roman city, crucial in the development of Christianity as host to the 1st and 7th ecumenical councils. Between the 11th and 15th centuries, the city passed through the rules of the Seljuks, European Crusaders, Byzantines, Ottomans, and Timurids. During the Ottoman era, ceramics became Iznik’s trademark; the tiles made here adorn the walls of the greatest Ottoman mosques and fill the display cabinets of collectors worldwide.

This 700 yr old village just east of Bursa is located at the foot of the great Mount Uludag. Among paved alleys, 270 Ottoman houses built traditionally with stones and packed earth, will inevitably attract your attention. 180 of them are still inhabited today; some of them well restored, and their pretty facades are painted customarily green, white, purple, blue or yellow. The Archaeological Museum of Bursa exhibits the fascinating vestiges of a local Byzantine Church, while on the main street explore local markets selling fresh produce and handcrafts. Try to make the unique annual Raspberry Festival in June.

The Baki Bey Mansion is one of the most beautiful and well-kept examples of 17th century Ottoman civil architecture. The vaulted ceiling and other features here are intricately decorated with unusual natural earth pigments in rich green and red. There are also wonderful stained glass windows, examples of traditional Turkish tiling and ceramics, some beautiful gold leaf ceiling and eave details, window molding, and other Ottoman furnishings illustrating the motifs and floral decoration of the era.

The tectonic Burdur Lake is 6 Miles (11Km) from Burdur town. The stunning wetlands here are a bird paradise and home to a number of endangered species; in the north and east of the lake especially, the dense bird populations attract bird watchers and nature lovers. Located southwest of Lake Burdur is the Water Birds of Burdur Lake Wildlife Conservation Area. Here in their natural habitat, you can watch Flamingo, Crested pact, Swan, Shelduck, Eurasian Coot, as well as at least 85 other rare bird species.

A real treasure trove of the region, this European Prize-winning museum is built around the Ottoman-era Pirkulzade Library, and features a sculpture garden and spacious exhibit halls. Exhibits from the almost unheard-of local Psidian sites include the monumental portrait heads of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, large sculptural pieces from nearby Sagalassos, and 2 stelai gladiators and a frieze depicting gladiators and hunting scenes recovered from Kibyra . Other highlights are detailed reliefs of Poseidon, Zeus and Hercules from Sagalasso, as well as the dancing girl frieze taken from the Heroon there.

High in the hills south of Isparta, this site may have originally been the capital city of the Psidians. Sagalassos is one of just a few archaeological sites in Turkey to attempt to revive the past with careful reconstruction of its findings; here the important Greek and Roman fountains now have running water again, which immediately evokes how the place would have been in its heyday. Other highlights of this extensive site are a huge ruined theater, and the Heroon, a civic monument or temple, turned defensive tower, whose namesake is long lost. Copies of the Heroon’s friezes of dancing girls are on display in the Burdur Museum.

The hidden treasure of Kibyra, until recently, virtually unheard of, is home to a number of Roman-era public buildings surviving in remarkable condition. Located in the hills above the small town of Golhisar, the site sat in an ideal strategic junction between the north-south and east-west trade routes. Here, view the steeply tiered stadium, a fine stretch of marble-paved Roman road with a beautiful carved archway at one end, the huge city theater and its council chamber- both standing almost in tact, and the bathhouse housing a magnificent mosaic of the head of Medusa.

Set high in the Taurus Mountains, Cremna, dating back to the Hellenised Psidians and later conquered by Roman Augustus, became an important city of the Roman east. After this tumultuous period beginning in the 3rd century, Cremna was abandoned in the 6th or 7th century. It was rediscovered in 1833 to reveal the many fascinating and detailed remains of both civil life and Roman siege warfare that can be seen today.

Home to the great 13th century Persian mystic poet Rumi (Mevlana), recently Konya has truly come into its own as a destination; now a thriving town in the heart of the Anatolian steppe, this place wonderfully still retains a profound atmosphere of spirituality and healing. Konya is one of Neyzen Travel’s best loved explorations, and highlights include the Mevlana Museum- a fascinating insight into his life and works, and the site of Rumi’s tomb; the Mevlana Culture Center - the only true center for Sema, the whirling dervish ceremony, in the world, where you can see devotees from age 12 to 75 practicing. Nearby Kilistra, one of the most interesting side trips out of Konya, is like a beautiful mini version of the famous Cappadocia, with houses and churches carved out of a rocky plateau that looks from a distance like a set of pinnacles squashed against each other. Although the odd cavernous opening on the plateau’s exterior gives a clue as to what lies within, most of the churches- including the Byzantine Sandikkaya Church, and other buildings are actually concealed behind a solid wall of rock.

The magnificent site of Catalhoyuk from 7000 BCE, a massive ‘city’ complex that housed around 10,000 in simple mud brick chambers that were added to again and again as the community grew over the centuries.

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Ankara has become a popular destination with 2 world-class museums and one of the country's best boutique hotels. The city became Turkey's capital in 1923 when the country was freed under Atatürk from foreign occupation. Dating back to 3000 BCE, the old city is characterized by narrow winding streets, ancient buildings and parks, while the modern town is spacious with wide boulevards. The Antikabir, the mausoleum of the Republic of Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was completed 15 years after his death in 1953. Each province contributed a stone to the building. The great square-pillared rectangular edifice dominates the new city and is meant to echo Hittite architecture. Seljuk and Ottoman embellishments decorate the Hall of Honor where the national hero's sarcophagus is kept. Adjoining the Anitkabir is the War of Independence Museum. Here the displays are divided into 4 major sections: Atatürk’s personal belongings, Çanakkale Battles and the War of Independence, national struggle and the reforms, and books from Atatürk's private library.

Housed in 2 15th century vaulted Ottoman bedestens (covered markets), this prize-winning museum examines the heritage of Anatolian civilizations from The Neolithic Çatalhüyük from 7500 BCE to the Roman Ancyra of around 25 BCE. Atatürk himself requested a proper Hittite display, and today this remains central to the collection. Assyrian trade agreements and Hittite correspondence exhibit early examples of writing, and the 2,700-year-old Phrygian woodcarvings are extremely well preserved. The exhibits of gold, silver, glass, marble and bronze work date back as far as the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BCE.

The mausoleum of the Republic of Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was completed 15 years after his death in 1953. Each province contributed a stone to the building. The great square-pillared rectangular edifice dominates the new city and is meant to echo Hittite architecture. Seljuk and Ottoman embellishments decorate the Hall of Honor where the national hero’s sarcophagus is kept.

Adjoining the Anitkabir is the War of Independence Museum. Here the displays are divided into 4 major sections: Atatürk’s personal belongings, Çanakkale Battles and the War of Independence, national struggle and he reforms, and books from Atatürk's private library.

The Phrygian capital of King Midas, the legendary monarch with a golden touch, dates to the 8th century BCE. The 300 meter-wide King Midas burial mound, one of the largest of its kind, is just 1 of more than 80 that have been excavated in the ancient city. Gorion’s Knot takes its name from here in reference to Alexander the Great undoing it to enter the city and become ruler of Asia.

Hattusha was the capital of the Bronze Age Hittite Empire. Later in the 14th century BCE, the fortifications were extended to incorporate a total area of over 300 acres. This UNESCO World Heritage site features remains of 5 Hittite temples and the open-air shrine of Yazilikaya, the Inscribed Rock. Notably, an enlarged copy of a cuneiform tablet found here hangs in the New York United Nations building. This tablet is a peace treaty between the Hittite king Hattusili III and the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II from about 3260 years ago.

At 2150 meters (2350 yards) above the arid eastern plain lies Antiochos I of the Commagene’s massive 1st century BCE tomb sanctuary, flanked by colossal beheaded statues up to 10 meters high of himself, as well as eagles, lions and Greek, Armenian and Persian gods. Nearby are ancient Eskikale, the Karakus tumulus (the Commagene royal family’s burial ground), the Roman Cendere Bridge, and the Yenikale castle built by the Egyptian Mamluks.

Gaziantep is the oldest and most developed province in Turkey’s southeast. Its 36-towered castle stands in the city center, while the Museum of Archaeology showcases nearly 100,000 historical and cultural works of art, including the world-famous mosaics found in the ancient city of Zeugma. The local artisans specialize in very fine copperware and furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

This remarkable boat ride on the Euphrates takes you to the famed site of Rumkale, a strategic and once mighty Roman fortress first established in 300 BCE. Further on are villages like Halfeti, which have been partially submerged due to the Birecik Dam flooding; others are completely under water with now only the minarets of mosques visible. This now fertile area of unnatural beauty also includes the renowned site of Zeugma, whose many incredible mosaic panels and pavements and Roman villas were urgently excavated in the late 1990s before the flooding worsened.

According to the Koran, this sacred city is the birthplace of Abraham, and is also thought to be where Job was born. The history of Urfa is recorded from the 4th century BCE, but may date back to 9000 BCE. Explore the remains of the Roman acropolis overlooking the 17th century Ottoman mosques, the pool of sacred carp, extensive rose gardens, and the vaulted eastern bazaar, famous for its intricate copper work. Urfa is also famous for its food, a rich fusion of the cuisines of the many civilizations that have ruled here.

Harran, said to be where Abraham lived, is important to the religious history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as having been a major commercial and cultural center in the Early Bronze Age. The site features distinct Syrian influences, including the unusual beehive dwellings constructed entirely without wood. The impact of later Arab settlement is more obvious here than anywhere else in Turkey, providing fascinating links to the past.

The recently discovered site of Göbekli Tepe is home to a Stone Age mountain sanctuary, the oldest-known temple in the world dating back to around 11 000 BCE. The sheer age of Göbekli Tepe, as well as so little evidence of actual habitation, suggests that religion may have been born before agriculture and settled life - exactly the opposite to theories of human evolution until now. The fact that only a small portion of the site has been excavated to date makes Göbekli Tepe one of the most intriguing sites, and some say “the most important archaeological site in the world”.

Mardin is one of the oldest settled areas in upper Mesopotamia. Of all Turkey’s eastern towns to have been recently discovered by tourism, Mardin, with its romantic honey-colored houses built with locally mined limestone, is one of the most picturesque, and often considered an open-air museum. The bazaar is much as it has been for centuries, old churches and the medreses of mosques are found tucked away in the back streets and shopping for handcrafts, leather, carpets and silverware here is an adventure.

Hasankeyif’s remarkable remains date back 10,000 years, during which 9 civilizations from the Assyrians to the Ottomans left their distinct cultural influences on the landscape. With stunning vistas of the Tigris river valley below, wander through the citadel, ruins and deserted dwellings beyond, and explore ruins of homes cut into the golden sandstone cliffs, 2 palaces, tombs and a mausoleum, and several mosques.