Turkey: a land of wonders

Our last trip to the Silk Road in China arose my interest in visiting Turkey.  Following the footsteps of ancient caravans, you can travel from China to Turkey.  My wife and I came to Turkey, the Western end of the Silk Road, in October 2010.



(The mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, or commonly known as the Blue Mosque is Istanbul, Turkey)

Our previous understanding of Turkey was incomplete.  As we travelled through the country, we were amazed by its history, culture and people. 

Here you can find historical sites of the Hellenistic civilization, magnificent Roman cities from the Byzantine regime, beautiful Islamic architectures from the Ottoman Empire, modern buildings and shopping malls.

Turkey stands across Europe and Asia.  Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, resides in both continents with the Bosphorus strait in between.  It also holds the strategic position as the entrance to the Black Sea.  You can see many beautiful palaces, mosques, castles and estate houses along both sides of the strait.

(The Dolmabache Palace)

(The Fortress of Rumeli)

  



(Estate house with pleasure boat)

You can also find many beautiful handcrafts in the local markets.  My wife and I like the Turkish carpets and porcelains most.  We ended up buying an expensive silk carpet.  Its quality and craftsmanship justified its worth.    

(Turkish porcelain)



(Turkish carpet)

For those who are interested to read more about the traditional Turkish arts can see Glassie, Henry. Turkish traditional art today. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993.

We will cover other interesting things that we saw in Turkey in the next few posts.