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THE BLACK SEA REGION AND
CAPPADOCIA
ARIZONA / USA
(02-12 September 2004)
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Istanbul
Midnight last night, we arrived at
Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. We left Phoenix on a noon
flight Monday. We had the opportunity to visit Atlanta's and
Paris' airports in the process. While we had hoped to spend the
6+ hours between flights in Paris visiting something we ended up
tired and couldn't find any place to leave our carry-on bags, so
we spent the time resting and reading. We figured it might be
the last time to do either for a while! Incidentally, the Air
France arrival lounge had a special room for resting-with
leather lounge chairs that had massage rollers built in! That
was a great treat for my weary body.
We were greeted at midnight by our
guide and friend, Iffit who had a bouquet of lilies and babies
breath for us. She met us in the van we will be traveling in
later this week as we travel around the country. With our small
group, we will have plenty of room to stretch out. Even though
it was dark out, Iffit couldn't help herself as she described
the ancient walls we saw, the new shopping mall (actually quite
attractive architecture). She is so knowledgeable and loves to
share her knowledge and pride in Turkey with everyone. She
brought us to our home for the next few days, the Anemon Galata
Hotel, a charming hotel immediately next to the Galata Tower. It
was supposedly built by the Genoese as a watch tower in 1348. It
rises 62 meters above the area (referred to as the Golden Horn.
It serves as a great landmark to find our way home. The room is
furnished simply, but has elaborate molding with sculpted
figures surrounding leaf figures and a painted ceiling (that
also has modern smoke detectors).
This morning we arose to a bright
day with a few clouds and headed to the top floor where we had
breakfast and looked out over the sea of Marmor and the
Bosphorous behind us. What a view! We could see Topkapi Palace
and several large mosques, along with traffic on the water. The
breakfast buffet included a variety of breads, many with sesame
seeds, vegetables and fruit (including quite a selection of
olives) goat cheeses, Borek (a pastry made on this occasion with
spinach) eggs, served almost like a crepe, and cereals. Juices
included orange and cherry! Not your typical US breakfast.
|
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After some calls to
figure out my work schedule (I'm meeting with the
Turkish Women Entrepreneurs Association), we headed out
to explore. We wondered around Galata-finding groupings
of stores-electronics, musical instruments, lighting,
etc. We noticed in tact buildings interspersed with the
skeletons of old brick buildings. Finally, we found our
way down to the Karakoy area and went across the Galata
Bridge from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian
side of the City. What an incredible phenomenon--going
from one continent to another via a bridge!
Jack and I found our way to the ferry dock and went
aboard our boat to explore the Bosphorous. It was a
beautiful way to see both the European and Asian coasts.
You see alternating opulent palaces of marble and large
old homes of wood. |
We met a young man who was here on business from
Bulgaria who wanted to practice his (very good) English and
several youngsters who were on holiday visiting from Ankara. The
youngsters were intrigued by my digital camera and so I took
their picture-they were so excited to see it and their mother
asked that I send them a print. Their friend wanted a picture of
her child and self as well. While this might make you believe we
were in a backwards area, the Turkish teenagers nearby had
mobile phones which took pictures as well!
| The ferry dock was
very near to the Spice Market, so we went there for a
visit. Two years ago, I bought some tiny dried okras
there (that grace the kitchen wall) and long cinnamon
that I use in my "glogg" on new years. This year, we
just bought a loofa! After some Turkish coffee in a cafe
overlooking a nearby park, we went to another end of the
market and found our way into a textile shop. Naturally,
I found myself drawn to the old stuff and found several
interesting pieces-from Turkey and from Pakistan!!
After spending the most of the day walking, we decided
to catch a taxi to get back to our neighborhood and he
kept up the reputation of Turkish cab drivers who are
wild! U-turns into congestion, merging into non-existing
lanes and arguing when I gave him small bills instead of
bigger bills in payment of his fare. So we will meet up
with our friend Emmy and our hostess Iffit for dinner in
a short while. |
 |
Tomorrow, we'll do some more exploring in the morning, I'll
have a meeting with a woman business leader here and then attend
and address a reception with the Association of Turkish Women
Entrepreneurs.
Thursday, September 2 Istanbul
We ended the day attending an outdoor party in the backyard
of a plastic surgery clinic in a beautiful residential district
of Istanbul. This was the l0 year anniversary of the medical
practice of one of the members of the Turkish Women Entrepreneur
Association. It was no small affair! We arrived after an
hour-long wild-goose chase through Istanbul in the van used by
Peten tours. We first past the location which was lit up
festively and had many cars (and drivers hanging around waiting
for party-goers). We were greeted by men in dark suits who
appeared to be checking credentials and passed a bar and
waiters. We heard a jazz band from afar as we entered through
the gate and ventured back. We past the stage (aka back porch)
with the band and looked out onto a sea of handsome men and
dazzling women almost all dressed in white (guess what color I
was wearing...black of course). I felt like everyone we walked
around was staring at us since we obviously "didn't get the
memo" that this was a party in white (which was, actually true).
We found our hostess, the founder of the Women entrepreneur's
association who was most anxious for us to join her at this
party. We were surprised when the host of the party greeted the
group of probably 150 people in English. This appears to be the
"lingua franca" of the intelligentsia-especially when the host
was German and his wife a very elegant-maybe dazzling Turkish
physician who specializes in hair implants. After 30 minutes of
small talk we headed out since we had had a long day and the
travel time made it even longer.
Our long day started out with breakfast with our friend Emmy
Schorr who had arrived the evening before. After breakfast we
decided to go visit the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar on the
other side of the Bosphorous in the area referred to as Bayaz.
We found the "tunnel" which has a short train ride down the
hill. We got to experience the challenge of figuring out Turkish
Lira: $l.00 US equals 1,500,000 Turkish Lira! So a ride on the
train costs 600,000 lira and you have to start dealing with
change, as well as paper currency....we walked across the bridge
and found our way via the spice market to the Grand Bazaar. We
only had a couple of hours to see the bazaar (and there are 4000
little shops). The bazaar was begun by Sultan Mehmet the
conqueror and has been built on ever since. We explored
textiles, leather, rugs, etc. we found our way to the trolley
cars and took that back to the bridge, walked the bridge and
returned to our hotel via the tunnel. We were excited that we
had mastered some of the public transportation and could find
our way around some of the city! As witnessed by our adventure
with the driver getting us to the party, even experienced locals
have trouble with Istanbul! The city has 7 million or more
people and spans Europe and Asia and has a complex web of
communities. After lunch, I got dressed to meet with a woman who
comes from a well established family business, has help
establish the Women Entrepreneurs Association and has her own
consulting firm as well.
That took me to yet another part of Istanbul and a
fascinating meeting with 12-15 women at a lovely restaurant
looking out over the Bosphorous. several leads came from those
encounters and I hope to find a way to do a little business in
turkey. I was dropped off at the restaurant where I was meeting
up with Jack, Emmy, Iffit (our Turkish guide) and Carole who
came in during the afternoon. We had a very traditional Ottoman
dinner and met the owner/cook who explained a lot of the dishes
to us.
I am having technical problems with AOL and power. So I have
not been able to get on line or get much reported. I'll try now
to get this off to you!
Leslie
No luck in getting it off to you. SO I will continue on this
message with the next day.
Friday, September 3, 2004 Istanbul
This was our very full day of seeing the main tourist sights
of Istanbul. After breakfast on the terrace, we headed out in
our van. Besides our agenda of sight-seeing, I was determined to
find a power converter since mine broke and neither my phone or
computer had a charge. I was also on the hunt for vitamin C as I
felt the beginning of a cold coming on. The hunt for both of
these reinforced the challenge of speaking in a language so
different from any I know (english or french). And the advantage
of traveling with a Turkish/English speaking person!
The Hippodrome, was the first place we saw. It is one of the
most famous monuments in Byzantine Constantinople. Many of the
great events in the history of the Byzantine Empire took place
here. The triumphs of victorious generals and emperors were
celebrated, but it functioned primarily as a sports center,
where the regular program of chariot races and circuses served
as a diversion for the people of the city for more than a
thousand years. There were three tall obelesks remaining to be
seen. The site is near Sultanahmet, the famous Blue Mosque or
Sultan Ahmet Cami, one of the most prominent landmarks in
Istanbul, was founded by Sultan Ahmet I, who in 1609 directed
the architect Mehmet Aga to begin construction. The mosque and
all of its associated pious foundations were completed in 1616,
just a year before the Sultan’d death at the age of 28. The
Sultan took leadership at the age of 14 and was in power for 14
years. The Mosque is still used for prayer, but is also a famous
tourist site. We took our shoes off and covered our heads as we
entered.
The next site we visited was Hagia Sophia: now a museum but
had served as a church and a mosque at different times in
history. So as not to offend either group. Ataturk made it a
museum. Work continues on restoration and preservation of this
amazing building. The mosaics are exquisite and well preserved
as they were covered with plaster (about l/2 inch thick) and
painted during the era in which it became a mosque. The tiles
were no more than 1/8" square and depicted many scenes from the
life of Christ, etc. Blue, red, and gold were predominant
colors. The later decorations (Islamic) were mostly caligraphy
and designs. Worshipping images were not permitted. The height
of the dome was 43 meters and the scaffolding that was set up to
reach it was a peace of artwork and engineering achievement in
an off itself! is one of the most extraordinary buildings in the
history of architecture, and a monument to the golden age of the
Byzantine Empire. Some of the most important events in the
history of Byzantium are connected with this venerable edifice,
and it played such a central role in the life of the city that
it has become the enduring symbol of Byzantine Constantinople.
Then, we had a break for lunch at a nearby outdoor cafe that
is in an old house (150-200 years old) converted into a small
hotel and restaurant. I had stuffed vegetables and hot tea made
out of the leaves of a local tree (suposed to be medicinal). It
was a lovely relaxing spot. we needed the rest before taking on
Topkapi Palace-the famous Ottoman city-within-a -city. Topkapi
is an incredible complex of beautiful buildings, opulent
treasures (diamonds of over 50 Karats, amazing collection of
ming dynasty china) the hair of the prophet Mohammed, etc.
Seeing the buildings and grounds gives a great understanding of
the life of the Ottoman empire. We also had a spectacular view
of the waters surrounding Istanbul (Sea of Marmara and
Bospherous) as well as the other land masses that make up
Istanbul. It is truly difficult to put into words what one sees
at this palace!
We returned for a few minutes at our hotel and then took a
walk through our neighborhood to Taksim area (upscale shopping
area) and had a lovely dinner on a side street. Again, we looked
at what the kitchen had to offer, placed our order, sat down and
was served. A full day!
Saturday, September 4 Istanbul to Bursa
We left our hotel this morning and boarded our 12 person van
for the first leg of our visit to Anatolia. We crossed the
Bosphorous on a large bridge, passing the large soccer stadium,
the University and European style castles.
|
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Once we crossed into
Asia, we saw a great bit of industrial development and
new apartment complexes (large, like high rise complexes
in NY). There are many unfinished buildings as inflation
was so high (at one point up to 80%; now l0%) and so
people would run out of money and start up again after
they save up enough money.
We travelled through farm land and small towns with
buildings mostly completed in the last 20 years. |
Alas we came to the Sea of Marmara and crossed it at Ismit
Bay on a 30 minute ferry ride. My stuffy nose (I have a little
cold) cleared up as soon as I smelled the sea air! (once on
land, it stuffed up again). We are now passing orchards of
peach, apple, walnut, olive and fig trees (huge figs are seen in
all of the markets and stands.) Saw some watermelon and corn
too! Cement, tile and brick factories are in the foreground.
Cars are manufactured here is as well. We are near Iznik where
the great 16th century tiles are from. (e.g. blue and white with
tulip and carnation patterns). They are trying to replicate the
beauty and quality of those tiles. Also passing stands of
mulberry trees. We also saw marble slabs (white and gray) that
comes from this area. Other parts of Turkey have the yellow and
red colors. Passing through Gemlik now. It has a beautiful sea
view and has a very busy commercial harbor.
| Bursa is mostly a commercial center with mountains
around that have skiing in the winter. Much furniture is
produced here (out of walnut and pine). Tofas, the
Turkish cars and Fiat are manufactured here. We past a
large military base as well. The mountain, in ancient
times, was covered with Christian Monastaries. The
buildings are mostly brick and stucco and many have red
tile roofs. Many of the buildings are simple rectangular
and pastel colored. They are sometimes reminiscent of
commercial areas of Mexico. the population of Bursa is
1.2 million. Osman Gizi, who set up the Ottoman empire
is buried here as is his son who extended the borders of
the Ottoman era. We visited the area of Bursa referred
to the Muradiye Complex: the green mosque and Tile from
Green mosque mausaleum and accompanying Midrash
(school), baths, hospital and fountain. these buildings
were constructed in 1425 by the last Ottoman Sultan who
presided in Bursa, Murat II. |
 |
Then, we visited the Old Mosque and bazaar. This old Mosque
was very different from others we visited. We saw it on a
Saturday and it certainly showed us what a "community center" it
was. It is very large and had many different sections, including
a large indoor fountain where people drank, washed their faces.
Nearby, people studied. Near the Misrap, they prayed. Their were
women's areas where they prayed in private. In little cubbys
near window, their are cupboards with books. I saw women go to
those areas as well as men, taking out books to read (something
we don't associate with Muslim women)!
Alas, we went to the Turkish bath with natural hot springs!
The ladies, Iffit, Carole, Emmy and I, went to the smaller
women's area while Jack went to the larger men's area. We
enjoyed the soothing hot waters with many other women from
several different countries. Since they were busy, we didn't
have the opportunity to be scrubbed by the attendants there. So
Iffit went to get the scrubber and we scrubbed each other!
We then retired to our hotel, another old home converted to
hotel which was in the Botanical Garden. We ate dinner outside
and had a delicious fresh fish called çupra(pronounced chupra).
Sunday, September 5, 2004 en route to Safranbolu
We awoke in an authentic old home of the Bursa region which
had been the caretakers home and restaurant for the botanical
gardens and zoo (hotel was called Otantik Hotel) It has been
expanded into a hotel. We saw several couples dressed for the
weddings (in what looked like the same attire you would see in
the US). Our room overlooked the large courtyard and pool area
where they were setting up for a wedding reception that evening.
It looked like it could have been a US wedding: 8-top tables
with beautiful linens, flower arrangements and candles with
chairs wrapped with decorations. When the band began to play, we
realized they were right under our room. We went to dinner and
returned to hear the music about 3 times louder than it needed
to be for the 300 quests....we finally realized that there was
no way we would be able to fall asleep with that level of noise
and moved to the other side of the hotel in a room half the
size, but half the noise!
This morning we visited the ancient town of Cumalıkızık A
short drive from Bursa to the northern foothills of Mount Uluda.
When this was described as a "picturesque village of
Cumalıkızık" Iffit had no idea how many pictures I would want to
take of it! Set amongst chestnut and fig trees, the village is
famous for its Ottoman period rural architecture. It was
originally established under the endowment of the second Ottoman
Sultan Orhan Gazi (1324-1360), and settled by Turks of the Kızık
branch of the Kayı clan. the construction was a combination of
adobe bricks, cow dung, stone and wood. The entire village
seemed like an "antique." The roads were very narrow and were
made of stone. Down the middle of the street, the rocks were a
little more orderly and the water from the houses (or rain) run
between them.
We visited one of the homes, walking into a courtyard and saw
a table with chairs, a low couch with low table and cushions
around it. In the back there was a sort of kitchen area and a
woman was rolling out dough in a very thin piece of bread called
gozleme. She filled it with some goat cheese and parsley and
cooked it over a wood burning oven that was covered with an iron
top. We shared this tasty treat along with tea and fresh
raspberry juice. The house was very quaint, indoor/outdoor with
brick or stone walls which were plastered or white washed. The
village has become famous since a television program was
recently filmed there and other Turks now want to come see where
it was filmed. So the villagers now set up stands outside their
homes to sell food and trinkets and invite people into their
homes. The mosque was much simpler than most we had seen, more
like a storefront with a minaret
|
Jack
sitting in the Cumalıkızık home |
Now we are driving through hills and villages on our
way to Safronbolu (where saffron is grown) and we pass
pastures, sunflowers and around Iznik Lake. Iznic is a
Hellenistic village with walls dating back to 4th
century BC. Nicodemia was the king and the city was
named after his wife. This is where the famous tiles
came from. The production of tiles was introduced by
Persians who were expelled from their homeland and were
welcomed by Ottomans. But they were expelled to Rhodes
in the 17th century, but did not leave their formula for
locals. In the 20th century, artisans are trying to
reproduce the Iznik tiles. As we approach Iznik, we see
many fruit trees and learn that the fruit is exported to
Istanbul. This is also a famous birding area. The
population is only 20,200. How we are in the fertile
valley of Sakharya- along the Sakharya Nihar (or river)
. Squash, fruit, garlic and onions are most famous here.
We have past mines and the largest iron ore factory in
Turkey, maybe the world. |
It was constructed in the 1920s by Ataturk near the town of
Karabuk. Interesting that along the main highway which travels
from Istanbul to the capital, there were gas stations with
extensive rest stops almost every mile.
| Safranbolu was a beautiful old town with homes from
the 17th Century. We visited a house/museum Kaymakamlar
Konak, which was the home of a wealthy military man. It
showed how several generations lived together; the bride
of the first son to be married ("first bride") got a
room with her children, including a small anteroom that
is her room and in which her husband may not enter
without permission. There was a floor on which
there were several bedrooms/sitting rooms and a hall in
which when men visited, the women would retire to the
bedroomsand the men would visit in the hall way and the
sitting rooms on the other side. |
Karabuk Iron Factory |
There was a cabinet in which there was a rotating set of
shelves on which food could be placed and rotated so that the
visiting men could be fed without seeing the women of the house.
This community is going through historic renovation and the
buildings were a beautiful combination of adobe, wood, brick and
stone. The hotel in which we stayed was also a historic home of
this early Ottoman period. There were fine examples of the
cut-wood decorations on the windows, ceilings and walls. Many
wooden nichos in which copper pots, or other items were placed.
The women of this era began wearing western dress in the home,
but their Muslim cover-ups when they went outside. Many of the
windows were bay windows and/or wooden slats so that the women
could sit and crochet and look outside without being seen.
|
Safranbolu from Acropolis |
Turkey only open to Europe in 1985. which has
created more European influence (rather than Asian)
since then. in 1918, a military coup wrenched power from
the Ottomans (the young Turks) from then to l985, there
was more military control and trade and travel was very
limited. Turgut Ozal was prime minister and then
president and had good relationship with Europe and
George Bush the first so he gave Turks the opportunity
to have more international cultural and business trade.
This is why there has been so much growth over the past
20 years (and thus so many new buildings). |
Monday, September 6th
If you recall, in the last message I mentioned that in the
old mansion/museum we visited they had a cupboard where women
would put the food in and it would then be turned so that men
couldn't see them...here is the picture:
| We left Safranbola and traveled a short ways to
Yoruk, a nomad village of the same era (3-500 years
old). While it is less popular than the bigger city, it
is better preserved in terms of the old architecture. We
visited a large home which was owned by a family who was
related to one of the original Ottomon tribes. As the
Ottomans came to power, they contracted with these
families to be traders and move to Istanbul to increase
the number of Turks versus Europeans. So the family
worked in Istanbul and would send money back to Yoruk to
enhance the homes. The building we visited has been
divided into two homes now and we toured each house, one
with a more western-dressed woman, the other with a
woman who was dressed in country clothing. The second
woman was a character who developed a big crush on Jack
and had great fun putting him into the scenes she was
describing about how the house was used. |
 |
From her, I purchased an iron pan which is of the type used
to make the flat bread we ate yesterday.
 |
We also visited a
communal laundry which was created by the merchant
sometime in the 17-19th century. It has a huge stone
platform on which the clothing was scrubbed and the hot
water is heated by a nearby fireplace.
It was a magnificent circular platform divided into
12 pie shape form supposedly after the 12 Imans.
Naturally I have many pictures of this village and
ancient laundry. We traveled to Kastomonu, a town of
65,000 people and visited a wonderful school for weavers
of fine cloth. We watched women do a combination of
weaving with embroidery on the loom. Something none of
us has seen (naturally, my camera malfunctioned at that
point). |
| They spin the wool and make the thread they use
there and use a flour and water mixture to soak and
strengthen the thread. We all had fun in the shop where
they sell the goods. One of the cuisine specialties of
the region is a pita like bread used as a base for
something resembling a pizza. One version came with
goat cheese; another with meat and tomatoes, etc. They
made for a great lunch with salad! Our hostess thought
of theses courses as first courses and was about to
order other meat or chicken when we put a halt to the
process! No more room.We looked at the wood carving of
the region which is quite beautiful and checked into our
"konak" (mansion) which was converted into a hotel. |
 |
It had 3 floors and on each floor were only 3 rooms--large
for a house, small for a hotel.The rooms had beautiful wood
paneling and ceilings and the best news were the bountiful
bathrooms! (the night before most of our bathrooms were so small
we had to sit sideways on the toilets)!
|
Kostamonu Sunset |
In our room, we had a
separate luxurious bath and a large shower with a strong
flow of water, a seat with a carved stone basin which
was the traditional way of cleaning (with polished tin
bowls to use to pour water over one's self). We went
for a 30 minute drive to Iffits favorite Mosque: in
Kasaba köy.The Mosque,Mahmut Bey, is from 1336. It is a
masterpiece building from the Emiratesperiod.The ceiling
which must be 40-50 feet high is made of wood and
several of the 12-metre tall pillars of carved timber
are all original and no nails were used in the
construction. It was painted in rich colors of red,
blue, green. Much of it has faded and the plaster walls
have cracked in the several earthquakes, letting water
in. It is a sweet, small mosque with two balconies for
the women which is ascended to by steep ladders. The two
small daughters of the Iman ran over to open the Mosque
for us. They were so cute and animated and curious about
us. Getting to thisvillage, a farming village, was not
something anyone would be able to find. In fact, Iffit
said we may have been the first Americans to see it.
|
We saw cows, sheep, goat, chickens and a few turkeys here
(finally! A turkey in Turkey).
| We went back to city center to do some errands. For
instance, I had downloaded pictures from my new smart
card (camera disc) onto my computer and emptied the card
so I'd have more room for pictures--and when I put it
back in the camera it registered "0" pictures--no matter
what I tried, I was out of disc...so we went all over
town trying to find a disc and finally found one for a
pretty penny (or lira). We would never have accomplished
that without the language and negotiating ability of our
guide! Met a copper smith and bought a small serving
dish and retired to our hotel for a lovely dinner of
stuffed eggplant. Oh! Before that, we had our first
"happy hour"....Emmy had been given a l/2 bottle of wine
for some inconvenience in Istanbul, so we bought nuts in
a wonderful herb and nut shop to have as hors d'oeuvres
with our l/2 bottle of wine. She finally decided that
l/2 bottle was not enough for 5 of us and we found a
little tiny shop with sodas, beer and wine and she
bought a bottle of red wine for 3 million lira. |
Kostamonu Shower |
That might sound like an expensive bottle of wine-but it was
actually 2 dollars and tasted like it was worse than that! So we
had our few sips of warm white wine from the 1/2 bottle before
dinner. We had the Turkish version of ouzo (Greek) at dinner
(anise flavored liquor) which did give us a buzz...one drink and
we were all laughing and making even stupider puns in two
languages than before...great fun. The liquor is called Rakis.
Tuesday, September 7th,
We woke up this morning to breakfast with rose jam--a
delicacy of the area..very lovely. Then we boarded our bus to
head to Amasya and climbed into the mountains of Pine forests
and roads made of rock mosaics (to create more friction when the
roads are wet or icy). The altitude is over 1800
meters,surrounded by mountains of 2000 meters (~6000feet tall).
The ground is green, there are lovely wild flowers of pink and
purple.
| We climbed over the
mountain and down into a river valley that is surrounded
by fields of rice. The fields are a bright yellow-green
now and are surrounded by stands of poplar trees, Acacia
trees and Olyester trees. In the background are craggy
mountains dotted with what looks like scrub pine and
other bush. Periodically there are small houses or huts
with red tile roofs. We are following along the banks of
a branch of the Green River. This area of the country is
famous for its rice. Amasya is city dating back to the
roman times, but still has great buildings from the
mid-15th century. |
We had
lunch at a restaurant right on the water |
The Green River goes through the city and the houses are
built right along the river. Around us are fairly steep
mountains, very rocky and form a "v" with the river at the
bottom. It is a majestic site! At the top of the mountains on
one side are the ruins of the Roman fortress and Hellenistic era
tombs built into the side of the mountain.
Amasya
residential area |
Alexander the great
arrived in Anatolia (beginnning the Hellenistic period
330 BC and continued to 30 BC when Romans arrived). 64
BC Strabos, the great geographer, was born in Amasya. He
travelled a lot and studied astronomy in Egypt and
Antioch (the centers of education). After the Romans,
the Arabs took over the city 7,8th century. Then
Byzantines took over. Later the Selcukians Turks took
over in 11th century.
The Immerates (group of turks) took over, then
Danishmend, then Mongolians in 13th century and 1326,
Ottomons took over. |
18-20th century the city suffered from many earthquakes and
lost much of its importance as a trade center. Peach and Apple
crops are important. (Our hotel is the "Apple Palace").
There are 5 bridges on the green river as well. We visited a
house museum which was from the 17th century- what is referred
to as the transition time. Once again the same set up as other
homes of Ottoman period with separation of women from men's
quarters, beautiful woodwork and rugs.In the 19th century, the
Ottoman began having some contact with some western society.
Their clothing and thinking became a bit more western, while
there lifestyle stayed traditional. Also, this city is an
example of the transitional period from Selcuk to Ottoman.
The mosque there has a bird house built in the
structure since the Ottomons loved and liked to protect
birds.As we approached the Mosque, we noticed that a
green coffin was placed near the mosque and covered with
a textile. I had read about and heard from Iffit about
the burial customs. When someone dies, the doctors do
the medical examination and then and Iman comes to
prepare the body by cleansing it and covering it with a
shroud. It is placed in the coffin for transport to the
Mosque for prayers and then is buried within a day.
However, unlike our traditions, the body is placed
directly in the dirt, not buried in a coffin.
Black eunuchs served in the harem("harem" means
forbidden to men); White Eunuchs served in
administration of the palace and could attain important
positions. One of these white eunuchs built a Medresi
(school) in Amasya. The building is unique as it was
built in the shape of an Octagon with a central |
 |
courtyard and a dome over the room used for prayers. We
visited and found that it is still a school used by students who
are studying the Koran.
One of the most interesting aspects of the trip occurred when
we went to an old Medrisi (school) which is now teaching post
secondary skills such as book binding, etc. In their archives,
we saw an original Koran handwritten by one of the 4 caliphs of
the Prophet Mohammed, Osmon, in the 7th Century. This was one of
only 4 such documents in existence this archive was under
special temperature and security control and should be in one of
the major cities for restoration and protection and study, but
the governor of the area would not release it. Iffit was so
excited that they let us see this document.
 |
We also visited a
building which was a 14th century insane asylum. What is
fascinating is that the treatment of the time including
music therapy and water therapy! It is now used as a
school of music for the community. It is free to
citizens and they come from 7 or 8 through adult life.
We heard a group of middle aged men rehearsing music for
a performance tonight of traditional Turkish music which
included an instrument which looked like an autoharp, a
lute and a clarinet looking instrument. |
One of the teachers came over to us as we got up to leave and
invited us into several classrooms, one containing an
interesting display of their instruments.
| Our hotel sits high
on a mountain over looking the city in the valley below
and across to the roman ruins and tombs built into the
side of the mountain. Very spectacular! |
|
September 8,9 2004
Unfortunately, I wrote an entire, lengthy e-mail while
traveling this route and somehow it won't open so I am trying to
recreate this portion of the trip. My computer/electrical
challenges have continued this trip! ( I looked back at notes
from two years ago and seems I had similar issues then).
 |
The route from Amasya
went through the beautiful mountains surrounding the
town and then for many miles through the plains and
farmlands of central Anatolia. We drove on the ancient
caravan route and via the Seljukian trade centers such
as Tokat, Sivas and Kayseri (ancient Ceasear), which
linked the trade centers of the Black Sea Region and
Central Anatolia We passed many fields of "pumpkins"
(looked like yellow squash to us), potatoes, onions,
beets, etc. |
Our stop for lunch was Kayseri which is a large city of l/2
million with much congestion and creates confusion in getting
around. It is a commercial center that has been very successful
since it has a very central location from east and west, north
and south.
| After a lunch of the
local foods (which we learned about at each stop)
including pastrami, monti (a small ravioli-like pastry
in a white sauce), etc., we headed off for the Kayseri
Museum which contains many of the artifacts of the
Kultepe/Kanesh site.The primary importance of Kültepe is
it’s being the site of the earliest Anatolian written
documents. The clay tablets were written in an ancient
Assyrian dialect, using the cuneiform script. We saw
examples of these at the museum. |
 |
After our visit to Kayseri, we headed for Cappadocia and
stopped first at the city of potters, Avanos.Iffit and I had
visited this town 2 years ago and it seemed to have grown a bit.
This town is on the Red River which is a one of the longer
rivers in Turkey. From there we headed into the amazing heart of
Cappadocia through the towns of Uchisar, Goreme and Urgup where
our hotel was. The incredible landscape was created by a
combination of volcano dust and other limestone and basalt such
that much if it could be carved over the years making the
unusual forms
|
Emmy in Cappadocia |
What an adventure
entering this "fairyland" of geology. We stopped for a
view views and headed to our hotel. We were greeted by
the manager in their sitting room where we registered
while having a glass of local wine (made here in
Cappadocia) which was much better than the other "local"
wines we experienced! We sat in a room that looked much
like those we saw in the house museums. The room was
made from the local "tufa" (volcanic stone) taken from
the quarry only short distance from where we sat. We
then retired to our caves which were luxuriously
appointed. After a short time to clean up, we had dinner
in their dining room. |
| The next day was a
long day exploring the region. We went to the town and
mountain called Uchisar which has a fortress from which
one can see the entire region. At the foot of it is an
antique shop I also visited two years ago and found some
interesting treasures including an old bird whistle with
fur-the likes of which I doubt any of you have seen (but
hopefully will see when you next visit me) |
Fairy
Chimneys |
Uchisar
We stopped for coffee at a lovely spot. On the way, we were
accosted by some camel owners so Jack and I took a ride on a
camel...
This region was dominated by Christians in the early
AD days and was visited by several of the disciples of
Christ including Peter. In order to hide from the
Romans, they built monasteries and churches in the rocks
that we have shown in these pictures. In addition, there
were entire cities built underground. Some of them had
10 stories of caves underground! It was also recently
found that two of these
cities were connected by a tunnel and it is thought that
many other cities were developed underground and have
yet to be discovered. |
 |
The frescoes in some of the above ground caves were amazing.
Not only were the caves used in the first centuries AD but
during the 11-13th centuries when the Arab Turks were chasing
the Christians again.
Emmy, Jack,
Carole and Iffet underground
We also visited the valley of Zelve,
which were cave homes (rather than churches and monasteries). We
had a picnic lunch before hiking up and down the steps to see
these sites!
| We went then to a
town that had been home to many Greeks called
Mustafapasha where 2 years ago I bought two wonderful
wall hangings right off of the walls of the restaurant
in the little hotel. A movie had been made here and it
made the town and hotel famous. I met the owners this
time and they told me the pieces I purchased were from
eastern Anatolia and they had not seen any since. I have
not seen anything like them on this trip either! In the
1920s, when the Turks had just founded their republic,
they forced the Greeks who lived in Anatolia to move
back to Greece and the Greeks sent home the Turks. This
devastated this town as many of the people had lived
here several generations and had built wonderful lives.
The correspondence has continued for 70 years and many
of the grandchildren of those who left have visited
their ancestral homes. The town is almost a ghost town
now. |
Tokali; the
largest cave church |
|
Zelve
cave dwellings |
Well, the day was
hardly over yet. Now, after 5PM we headed for the carpet
weaving school, collection and sales center of
Cappadocia! We had a wonderful 2-3 hour visit there
where we were treated to an education on everything from
taking silk from cocoons, to dying wool from plant
materials to the double knot technique for Turkish rugs
to the difference between the techniques used in rugs
vs. kilims to the different designs, colors and
techniques used in region to region to the number of
knots used in the finest silk rugs (over 1000 knots/sq
inch!). |
This and tea or coffee and viewing of dozens of rugs
demonstrating all of the above! We each bought a rug before the
evening was over.
"Pile" Rug
demonstration
Creating silk threads from cocoons |
Oh, did I say
evening over? Hardly! It was just beginning. We went to
dinner near to the weaving center at a very trendy
restaurant and sat outside enjoying the mild weather and
had more local specialties of lamb, eggplant, etc., we
must have tasted 40 different recipes for eggplant
during our trip! Even Jack (who was not a big eggplant
fan) has come to enjoy some of the dishes! Then, we went
to a demonstration of the whirling dervishes which you
will hear about in our next installment. A very long and
full day!! |
Friday in Konya/Saturday in Ankara and Sunday in Istanbul
We visited Melvana Tekke, the former school and current tomb
of Melvana (Celaladdin) Rumi, the founder and spiritual leader
of the Sufi Sect. The site was more congested than anything we
visited but the bazaars! This was a testament to the importance
of this figure in the history of Turkey.
|
Rumi's Tomb |
He believed in a
mystical tradition, that is a direct connection with god
(Allah) and his students (Dervishes) whirled in order to
create a trance in which they created this direct
connection. He wanted a simple grave next to his father,
a great religious teacher, but later followers built a
beautiful tomb for them (and others associated with him)
and this site included several buildings, the school and
rooms where the students studied, etc. His poetry and
philosophy which were written originally in Persian,
have been translated into many languages. Amazing
experience. |
We saw a performance of the whirling dervishes last night in
a 13th century han (like a caravanserai-travelers stop) which
was conducted in the same manner it has for 8 centuries! the
music, the ritual, the actual dance movements of the dervishes
all were conducted with great reverence and discipline. Which is
ironic, because they apparently go into trance at some point and
have a spiritual connection with Allah (god) and are moving
unconsciously. Given that it was being performed for an
audience, rather than as part of the December commemoration of
Rumi's ascension (death and reconnection with god), it was not
as intense a spiritual experience as it might otherwise have
been.
Whirling
Dervishes
Catal
Hoyuk Excavation |
Before that, we
visited Çatal Höyük, probably the most important
archaeological site in Turkey, dating back 9000
years-one of the oldest known settlements on earth.
Discovered by James Mellaart and excavated in the
1960’s, it has revealed that the Neolithic and Bronze
Age culture located here was remarkably advanced The
site has recently been worked on again. there is
evidence of over 370 generations having lived there-13
levels of buildings and amazing wall paintings. |
Tomorrow we will go to the Anatolian
Civilization Museum in Ankara and see many of the relics
excavated there. Interestingly, the evidence from these
excavations show adobe/plaster/latilla/viga construction much
like that of the ancient native Americans.
During this trip, we have been
traveling on ancient roman roads and routes that were used by
the Seljukians as well. The Seljuks built the caravanserai to
assure the safe and comfortable travels of merchants from all
over Asia and the Middle East which contributed to the wealth of
Konya, the capital of the Seljuk empire. As far back as 1900 BC,
the Assyrians used this road as well.
| Another of our stops
in Konya was the Medrisi or school which has become a
museum of ceramics of the 13th century-the main hall
itself has many beautiful tiles, but they also have a
collection of tiles from other castles, etc. which were
amazing. See photo below. We drove on to a small town
half way to Ankara since our reserved hotel rooms in
Konya were taken over by a conference of military people
from NATO. Saturday, we went on to Ankara. Ankara was a
town of 50,000 when Ataturk made it the capital of
Turkey. |
Jack crossing street from
Han note carpets! |
He wanted to have a capital separate from Istanbul which was
the center of Ottoman empire. It is now the second largest city
in Turkey with 4-5 million people. It is in the middle of a
valley surrounded by gentle hills. There are very few ruins from
Roman times there. It was overlooked for much of history in
favor of Istanbul, other than being close to Hittite and
Phrygian capitals. It was taken over by the Mongols and later
the ottomans. But they didn't pay much attention to it, unlike
the other places we visited.
The first national assembly was established here in April of
1920. In 1923, Turkey became a republic with this as its
capital. This has become the political heart of the republic and
Ataturk is buried here. The museum here has the best examples of
ancient Anatolia civilizations. There is state theatre,
symphony, opera, etc.
The museum was unbelievable! We focused on the relics found
in the Catal Hoyuk and Kayseri excavations, but saw a great deal
of ancient materials made from gold, bronze stone, wood-dating
back to the 9000 BC. We were so impressed with the exquisite
artistry of ancient times. The museum was well designed and had
great descriptions of the items and the era. One could spend
days there.
We didn't. Only a few hours. Then we walked to the hill top
overlooking Ankara (within Roman ruins) and had lunch at the
Washington Restaurant (so named because people from the US
Embassy come there frequently). We passed some interesting
pillow covers in front of a store so I made a quick detour (I
needed them for the kitchen) and found a couple to bring home.
After lunch of many wonderful vegetable dishes (and Jack had
Hungarian goulash), we drove around the city to see the
beautiful monuments (to Ataturk) the embassies, etc. Ankara,
while a large city, was less overwhelming than Istanbul. It has
many beautiful parks, tree-lined streets and broad roadways. The
"old town" was more chaotic, since it was built before the 20s
when the town was planned to be a capital and grew in a more
planful manner.
We flew home back to Istanbul from Ankara and since it was
late, we changed plans from going to a restaurant on the
Bosphorous to go across the street from our charming hotel to
the 4 Seasons hotel (which was the former prison, featured in
the movie "Midnight Express"). This was all in the Sultanahmet
section of Istanbul. Our room looked out over a small street
that was a short distance from an outdoor cafe that always had
music in the evenings-which we got to enjoy without even asking!
The hotel, Yesıl Ev, was renovated from a very old building and
furnished with elegant furnishings with a European flair.
 |
Our tour was
completed on Saturday and Carole left Sunday morning. I
had appointments to meet with several women in family
businesses on Sunday. I lunched with one of the women at
a small restaurant near Ortokoy overlooking the
Bosphorous. It was a beautiful day to sit out in the sun
and enjoy the water. We saw boats of all types go by,
including a replica recently built of the type of boat
the Sultan would use to cruise the BOsphorous. |
In those days, it was rowed by many
slaves. Today, it has an outboard engine! On return, the traffic
was so bad that I left the taxi at the Spice Market (which was
closed) and walked several miles back to the hotel. The streets
were filled in that area with people selling clothes, suitcases,
etc. to Turks and later, near the tourist areas, the shops were
open with items for westerners. That night, we dined quite early
with Emmy as we had to leave for the airport by 6:30 a.m.
So--Monday morning we were picked up
by Iffet who took us to the airport with our friendly driver,
Hassan and said our sad goodbyes. What an amazing adventure.
Now, to really change gears, we are off to Paris! |
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