History of Antalya

Evidence of human habitation dating back over 200 000 years has been discovered in the Carain caves 30 km to the north of Antalya city. Other finds dating back to Neolithic times and more recent periods show that the area has been populated by various ancient civilisations throughout the ages.

Records from the Hittite period refer to the area as part of the "Lukka Lands" (from which "Lycia" is derived) and document the lively interaction going on between provinces in the second millennium BC. Like their descendents, the Lukkans were known for their seamanship (especially their piracy) and demonstrated a fiery independent spirit. Neither the Hittites, nor the kingdom of Arzawa on the west coast, could ever keep them at peace for long.

Historical records document how cities developed independently, how the area as a whole came to be called Pamphylia and how in Classical times a federation of cities was set up in the province. There are also tales of the migration of the Akha clan to the area after the Trojan war.

Antalya had entered the sovereignty of Lydian Kingdom from 7th century BC. The reign of the kingdom of Lydia in west Anatolia came to an end in 560 BC after it was defeated by the Persians during the battle of Sardis in 546 BC. The Macedonian commander Alexander the Great stoped the Persian rule and in around 334 BC Alexander the Great conquered the cities of the area one by one - except for Termessos and Sillyon which managed to repulse his armies in 333 BC. Antalya itself was founded later. With the death of Alexander in 323 BC, a long battle erupted between his commanders that lasted until 188 BC.

With the defeat of the Seleucid army at Apamaea began the reign of the kingdon of Pergamom. In 150 BC Attalos II, king of Pergamom, founded the city of Attalia (Greek: ???-present day Antalya) to base his powerful naval fleet. When Attalos III, the last king of Pergamom, died in 133 BC he left his kingdom to the Romans. After that an era starts in the region that the pirates and small cities belonging to pirates play a major role. Christianity started to be spread in the region after 2nd century. During the Byzantine sovereignty, it is known that Antalya had a big development era until 5th and 6th centuries. In these centuries, Antalya had reached beyond the city walls. Starting from 7th century, the Muslim Arabs had started to be dominant in the region. The army of Louis VII. sailed thence for Syria in 1148, and the fleet of Richard of England rallied there before the conquest of Cyprus. Between the years 1120-1206, Antalya had agained passed under the sovereignty of Byzantines. Antalya played a considerable part in the medieval history of the Levant. Kilij Arslan had a palace there.

Conquered by the Seljuk Turks of Konia in 1207 A.D. and then Alanya in 1220 A.D. ending the Byzantine rule for the last time, and made the capital of the province of Tekke, it passed after their fall through many hands, including those of the Venetians and Genoese, before its final occupation by the Ottoman Turks under Murad II. (1432).

The Arabic traveller Ibn Battuta who came to the city in between 1335-1340 noted: "The people of the city are living in separate neighborhoods according to their ethinicity and religion. The Christian merchants are living in a neighborhood called Mina. The neighborhood is surrounded by a wall and the gates of the walls are closed on Friday nights. The Greeks live in a different neighborhood and it is also surrounded by a wall. The Jews also have their own neighborhood surrounded by walls. The Muslims are living in the largest part. This part includes a small mosque and madrasah with a lot of hamams, rich, organized and large bazaars. The city is surrounded with a large wall that includes all of the neighborhoods that we mentioned above."

In the 18th century, in common with most of Anatolia, its actual lord was a Dere Bey. The family of Tekke Oglu, domiciled near Perga, though reduced to submission in 1812 by Mahmud II., continued to be a rival power to the Ottoman governor till within the present generation, surviving by many years the fall of the other great Beys of Anatolia. The records of the Levant (Turkey) Company, which maintained an important agency here till 1825, contain curious information as to the local Dere Beys. The population as of 1911 of Antalya, which included many Christians and Jews, then living, as in the middle ages, in separate quarters, the former round the walled mina or port, was about 25,000. The port was served by coasting steamers of the local companies only. Antalya(then Adalia) was an extremely picturesque, but ill-built and backward place. The chief thing to see was the city wall, outside which runs a good and clean promenade and which survives to this day. The government offices and the houses of the better class were all outside the walls.

The brief occupation of the area by the Italians came to an abrupt end after the First World War with the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923. The area is now registered as a province of the Republic of Turkey.

A notable historical figure who visited Antalya was Paul of Tarsus, as recorded in the biblical book, the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 14:25-26), wherein Antalya is referred to as Attalia. St. Paul and St. Barnabas went to Antalya and sailed from there to Antioch after preaching in the Pisidia and Pamphylia regions.

source: antalya.fm

History of Izmir

The 5,000 year-old city of Izmir is one of the oldest cities of the Mediterranean basin. The original city was established in the third millennium BC (at present day Bayraklı), at which time it shared with Troy the most advanced culture in Anatolia.

Greek settlement is attested by the presence of pottery dating from about 1000 BC. In the first millennium BC Izmir, then known as Smyrna, ranked as one of the most important cities of the Ionian Federation. During this period, it is believed that the epic poet Homer resided here.

Lydian conquest of the city around 600 BC brought this golden age to an end. Smyrna was little more than a village throughout the Lydian and subsequent sixth century BC Persian rule. In the fourth century BC a new city was built on the slopes of Mt. Pagos (Kadifekale) during the reign of Alexander the Great. Smyrna's Roman period, beginning in the first century BC, was its second great era.

In the first century AD, Smyrna became one of the earliest centers of Christianity and it was one of the Seven Churches of Revelation. Both Revelation and the Martyrdom of Polycarp indicate the existence of a Jewish community in Smyrna as early as the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The letter to the church at Smyrna in Revelation indicates that the Christians were spiritually "rich" and apparently in conflict with the Jews: "I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." (2:9)

The origins of the Christian community there, which was established in the 1st century, are unknown. Ignatius of Antioch stopped at Smyrna on his way to martyrdom in Rome in 107 AD, and he sent a letter back to the Christians there from later in his journey. Smyrna's bishop, Polycarp, was burned at the stake in Smyrna's stadium around 156 AD.

Byzantine rule came in the fourth century and lasted until the Seljuk conquest in 11th century. In 1415, under Sultan Mehmed Çelebi, Smyrna became part of the Ottoman Empire.

The city earned its fame as one of the most important port cities of the world during the 17th to 19th centuries. The majority of its population were Greek but merchants of various origins (especially Greek, French, Italian, Dutch, Armenian, Sephardi and Jewish) transformed the city into a cosmopolitan portal of trade. During this period, the city was famous for its own brand of music (Smyrneika) as well as its wide range of products it exported to Europe (Smyrna/Sultana raisins, dried figs, carpets, etc.).

Today, Izmir is Turkey's third largest city and is nicknamed "the pearl of Aegean." It is widely regarded as the most Westernized city of Turkey in terms of values, ideology, gender roles, and lifestyle.

source: sacred-destinations(dot)com

History of Ankara

The history of Ankara and its surroundings stretches back to the Hatti civilisation of the Bronze Age. Two thousand years before the time of Jesus, the Hittites become the dominant power of the region, and were then followed by the Phyrgians, Lydians and Persians. In the 3rd Century BC, a Celtic race known as the Galatians made Ankara their capital city. The name Ankara comes from the word 'Ancyra', which means 'anchor.'

Ankara gained prominence under the leadership of Ataturk during the national resistence which followed World War I. It was declared the capital of the new Turkish Republic on October 13th 1923 when the National War of Independence freed Turkey from foreign occupation.

Occupying one of the most prominent parts of the city is Anitkabir, the magnificent mausoleum constructed to commemorate Atatürk. This structure, which was completed in 1953, is a synthesis of antique and modern architectural themes, and proves the elegance and strength of Turkish architecture.

The oldest parts of the city surround the Castle. The Alaaddin Mosque found inside its walls is still one of the best examples of Selcuk art and wood craftsmanship, in spite of the fact that it was restored by the Ottomans. The area has experienced a rejuvenation with the restoration of many interesting old Turkish houses, and the opening a several art galleries and fine restaurants which feature examples of traditional Turkish cuisine. Near the gate of the castle is the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which is a beautifully restored portion of the old bazaar. It contains priceless artifacts belonging to the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras as well as the Hatti, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartu and Roman civilizations.

Ankara has a vibrant cultural and artistic life with many select ballet, theatre, opera and folk dance performances. The city's Philharmonic Orchestra, which always plays to a packed house, is especially famous.

source: ankaracityguide(dot)com

History of Istanbul

What is now called Asian Istanbul was probably inhabited by people as early as 3000 BC. Eventually, in the 7th century, Greek colonists led by King Byzas established the colony of Byzantium, the Greek name for a city on the Bosphorus. Byzas chose the spot after consulting an oracle of Delphi who told him to settle across from the "land of the blind ones." Indeed, Byzas concluded, earlier settlers must have been deprived of their sight to have overlooked this superb location at the mouth of the Bosphorus strait. This proved an auspicious decision by Byzas, as history has shown Istanbul's location important far beyond what these early Greek settlers might possibly have conceived. Byzas gave his name to the city: Byzantium.

In the early 100's BC, it became part of the Roman Empire and in 306 AD, Emperor Constantine the Great made Byzantium capital of the entire Roman Empire. From that point on, the city was known as Constantinople.

The mid 400's AD was a time of enormous upheaval in the empire. Barbarians conquered the western Roman Empire while the Eastern, also called the Byzantine Empire, kept Constantinople as its capital. In 532 during the reign of Justinian I, antigovernment riots destroyed the city. It was rebuilt, and outstanding structures such as Hagia Sophia stand as monuments to the heights Byzantine culture reached.

The attribute that made the city so desirable, its incomparable location for trade and transport between three continents, was also its nemesis. For the next several hundred years Persians, Arabs, nomadic peoples, and members of the Fourth Crusade (who for a time governed the city) attacked Constantinople.

Finally, weakened by almost constant battle, the Ottoman Turks lead by Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453. Renamed Istanbul, it became the third and last capital of the Ottoman Empire. It was the nerve center for military campaigns that were to enlarge the Ottoman Empire dramatically. By the mid 1500's, Istanbul, with a population of almost half a million, was a major cultural, political, and commercial center. Ottoman rule continued until it was defeated in WWI and Istanbul was occupied by the allies.

When the Republic of Turkey was born in 1923 after the War of Independence, Kemal Ataturk moved the capital to the city of Ankara. But Istanbul has continued to expand dramatically; today its population is approximately 13 million and increases at an estimated 700,000 immigrants per year. Industry has expanded even as tourism has grown. It continues to be a city that creates its own history at the intersection where both Continents meet.

There are many interesting museums, castles, palaces, mosques, churches, and historic hammams. Some of the interesting districts of the city are: Haydarpasa, Uskudar, Eyup, Galata, Perapalas, Ortaköy, Bosphorus, Taksim, Eminönü and Sultanahmet. Princess Islands are a popular summer resort for local people.

source: allaboutturkey(dot)com

Hi there!

In my first English blog, I will try to introduce Turkey in every aspects. I won't write just about Istanbul or Antalya. I will mention about all cities with their videos and photos. Thats all for today. Just enjoy!