Places to See in Turkey

What do Noah's Ark, the Trojan Horse, and Aesop's fables have in common? The answer is - Turkey! Archaeologists believe that Mt. Ararat, in which Noah's Ark landed after the Wonderful Flood, is in fact Agri Dagi in eastern Turkey. The website of the renowned Trojan War (in Homer's Iliad) is stated to be in western Turkey, and a wooden Trojan horse marks the spot to this day.

What do Noah's Ark, the Trojan Horse, and Aesop's fables have in typical? The answer is - Turkey! Archaeologists think that Mt. Ararat, in which Noah's Ark landed after the Great Flood, it's actually Agri Dagi in eastern Turkey. The web page on the well-known Trojan War (in Homer's Iliad) is stated to be in western Turkey, and a wooden Trojan horse marks the spot to this day. Finally, Aesop the fable-teller was a citizen of Anatolia or Asia Minor, the mainland and Asian section of Turkey.

This alludes to Turkey's colorful place in world history, and to the interesting sights that await the traveller going to the land. If the tourist be a history buff, he would certainly have the time of his life visiting castle ruins, former battlegrounds, palaces, and many other areas of historical significance.

Remarkably, Turkey is part of two continents, Europe and Asia. The European part of the land is known as Thrace, and also the Asian Anatolia. The capital is Ankara, and its main urban centers are Istanbul, Izmir and Adana. Istanbul is the largest town, and it was at one time the center of three effective empires: Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman.

As a consequence of its strategic location, Turkey has been interchangeably named "Europe's gateway to Asia" and "Asia's gateway to Europe." Today, local officials use the term "Gateway to Paradise" in promoting the country's tourism. The moniker is apt, for indeed Turkey has a lot to offer to even the most demanding traveller.

At the top of the list are its beaches, ideal visited from May perhaps to October. Turkey has a coastline of 7,200 kilometers, and is bound by the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and also the Mediterranean Sea. As a result of this, aquatic events are very popular, such as surfing, diving, yachting and rafting. Turkey is, in fact, a favorite destination for sports occasions in general. Enthusiasts of golf, oil wrestling, mountaineering and winter sports regularly go to the region to participate in these occasions.

Also of interest are Turkey's architectural monuments, mosques, caravanserais, museums, gardens and parks, ancient cities (Troy especially), bazaars, and an exciting nightlife (notably in Istanbul). When in Istanbul, just one have to go to the Hagia Sophia (as soon as the biggest Christian church in the world), the Blue Mosque (Istanbul's most important mosque), the Topkapi Palace (residence on the sultans of yore), plus the Bosphorus Strait (exactly where East and West, or Asia and Europe, literally meet).

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