24 Te Travel Guide Worldwide travel
Promotional Content • Saturday 28 January 2023 Travelling back in time There are so many historical tales to unravel in Türkiye, a country sitting at
the crossroads of civilisations, filled with the remnants of human history, in all the significant stages of its fascinating evolution
Celsus Library, Ephesus, İzmir N
ext time you’re making travel plans, make sure that Türkiye, and one of the country’s
UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is on your shortlist.
The land of great transformation Te historical journey through Anatolia begins in the Neolithic period with Göbeklitepe, the world’s first sacred site, going back to around 9600 BCE. At the foot of the majestic Taurus Mountains, looking out over the arid slopes of the Harran Plain, this is one of the most important sites of the Neolithic Age, predating both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. Te collection of circles formed by T-shaped stone pillars with intricate carvings expresses the mystic power of a site of worship older than history itself. At the heartland of Türkiye, Çatalhöyük is another famous Neolithic excavation site where the world’s first urban settle- ment was unearthed to alter all the history books that have been written so far. It’s here that visitors can travel back in time to the beginnings of human history through the remnants
of rooms believed to have been temples, elegantly decorated houses and elaborate artifacts that signal the sophistication of this ancient society.
Ancient kingdoms of Anatolia Te Arslantepe Mound is another UNESCO World Heritage Site with ties to the Mesopotamian world and, later, the Hittite civilisation, with an unearthed king’s palace that acts as an open-air museum today. Of course, no act of time travel through Anatolia would be complete without a hike up to Mount Nemrut, soaring up to 7,875 feet above sea level, where you’ll be rewarded with the monumental tomb sanctuary of King Antiochus I Teos of Commagene (69-34 BC), the most famous ruler of the Kingdom of Commagene. Te colossal statues of this sanctuary are like being present in another realm entirely, on top of a mountain, away from everything else. One of Anatolia’s greatest civi- lisations, the ancient capital city of the Hittites, is yet another discovery that’s essential for any history enthu- siast. Hattusha is filled with the beautiful ruins of temples, palaces, monumental sculptures and enor- mous fortification walls with cere- monial gates and tunnels. Stunning pieces of visual evidence that this was the centre of a mighty empire.
No act of time travel through Anatolia would be complete without a hike up to Mount Nemrut, soaring up to 7,875 feet above sea level
Cultural blossoming of the Classical period Northwest of Bergama, the remnants of the Hellenistic period unveil them- selves in the form of Pergamum, once a political and intellectual centre, a city of learning and culture, and the home of Te Library of Pergamum, which contained almost 200,000 volumes of books. Nestled into
Mount Nemrut, Adıyaman
the natural landscape, the grand columns still stand today. Te city’s Asklepium (Sanctuary of Asclepius) was also one of the oldest and largest healing centres in the ancient world. More beauty from antiquity can be found at Aphrodisias, once famous for its Temple of Aphrodite and its exquisite marble sculptures — a city whose columns, pediments, theatre, sarcophagi and monumental
gateway that partially stand to this day, continue to exude grandeur. Aphrodisias Stadium is perhaps the city’s most magnificent work and the best-preserved ancient stadium of the TurkAegean in antiquity. Te most notable city on the list is Ephesus, certainly the most well-preserved and the largest Roman archaeological site. Te 4th-century BC Temple of Artemis, which was recognised as one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Library of Celsus and the Basilica of St John are some of the main sights gazed at in wonder by visitors from all over the world. Apart from the ancient spa city of Hierapolis in Pamukkale, from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and Xanthos-Letoon, the capital city of Lycia, Anatolia is also home to Troy, mentioned in Homer’s epic Iliad, where a symbolic wooden Trojan horse
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