Istanbul has the honour of having served as the capital of three successive empires - the Roman, the Byzantine, and the Ottoman. Anatolia itself became a crossroads of peoples, cultures and religions.
Turkey has an extremely rich cultural heritage. Perhaps no other land has witnessed so many diverse civilisations over the last 11,500 years. After the great Mesopotamians, the Hittite and Urartian kingdoms flourished in Anatolia. The Ionian and Roman civilisations predominated the western Anatolia. Istanbul has the honour of having served as the capital of three successive empires - the Roman, the Byzantine, and the Ottoman. Anatolia itself became a crossroads of peoples, cultures and religions. Christianity, for example, thrived in these lands and Islam was glorified by the Seljuks and Ottomans. Occupying a highly strategic position on the world map, Turkey combines the wealth of the East and the West, offering a synthesis of the traditional and the modern, the old and the new.
Interpretation of the world scene today is based upon our understanding of what took place on this landscape, and which is now manifested in the ruins and monuments which adorn the landscape. People of various origins came in waves and mingled with those already settled, each wave resulting in a new synthesis. Between 2000BC and 1500AD, this landscape was the centre of world civilisation. Interpretation of the world scene today is based upon our understanding of what took place on this landscape, and which is now manifested in the ruins and monuments which adorn the landscape.
In Anatolia, the settlement pattern is more or less as it was during the time of the ancient civilisations. There is a good chance that the road you are travelling on is the same one that great warriors of East and West trod, colourful caravans passed along, and couriers with mail or secret treaties galloped. Perhaps it is the same road travelled by St Paul and his companions, or by Sufis spreading their divine knowledge. Graceful aqueducts built by the Romans made urban concentrations possible. Bridges built by famous royal architect Sinan dot the countryside and are still used for the safe passage of goods and services. Caravanserais dating back to the Seljuk Empire of the 11th century offered sanctuary and relief to weary travellers. You can even stay in a caravanserai today, as several have been restored as hotels.
In addition to the historic edifices proudly displayed at such main archaeological sites as Troy, Pergamum, Ephesus, Miletus, Priene, Didyma, Aphrodisias, Heraclia, Caunos, Perge, and Aspendos, many coastal villages and towns are blessed with their very own Anatolian ruins on the outskirts. This is usually an ancient theatre commanding a spectacular view of the beach where villagers will tell you Cleopatra often swam. You don't have to look far for the agora either. It is probably what it has always been - the local market place! Several villages are also privileged to have 'sunken cities' or ruins under the sea, which you can see if you look down into the crystal clear, turquoise waters as you swim. Until very recently the cave refuges in Cappadocia were used by villagers as cold storage or wine cellars.
The Anatolian hinterland will show you glimpses of ancient civilisations: the Hattians, the Assyrians, the Hittites, the Phrygians, the Urartians and the Lydians. From these civilisations come many familiar legends: the wealth of the Lydian King Croesus, King Midas with the golden touch and the Knot of Gordion that young Alexander was able to undo only with a blow of his sword.
Then there are the smaller sites, both sacred and ordinary, but with profound meaning: monasteries, tombs of saints, heroes, artists or poets, mosques, churches, walls, fortresses, palaces, fountains and cemeteries. The hillsides are covered with broken pieces of ancient pottery and even in more modern settlements you can see incorporated stones which may date back to antiquity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019