A first-timer’s guide to Turkey
Photos by the author
The best place to go right now for the ultimate escape—if you want to momentarily forget that there is still a pandemic raging in the world—is Turkey.
And not just because Turkey’s Covid restrictions are next to nil—the country having lifted all restrictions as early as June 2020 so museums and malls remained open even as the world shut down, and locals have since eschewed masks, even indoors.
Or that there’s no more literal an escape than being 3,000 feet up in your hot air balloon in Cappadocia, where you’d be looking down on a strikingly unique landscape—ancient churches carved in the faces of craggy mountains, fairy chimneys jutting out of undulating terra, millennia-old cave dwellings.
The world at the beginning
Even the most highly itinerant come here to tick items off their bucket list in one fell swoop: Visit the cradle of Christianity, be in two places at once, walk cobblestone streets where gods and goddesses have purportedly once walked, marvel at geological wonders unseen anywhere else, or be at the crossroads of history where the world’s most powerful empires began and ended—name it, Turkey has it.
Turkey is overwhelmingly beautiful, as are so many places in the world, but there’s probably very few which can match its mystical allure and its place in the pages of our civilization’s history.
None, for sure, that can top its geographic location, which has made it one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world. In modern times, this has put the country at the crosshairs of warring superpower neighbors. In olden times, this meant it was at the epicenter of the world’s greatest empires, the Byzantine, Greek, Persian, Roman, and the Ottoman, bearing witness to their rise and fall. Turkey is so ancient that many linguistic scholars and anthropologists have concluded that the Indo-European languages may have been birthed in this Anatolian peninsula.
The Gobekle Tepi, site of the oldest known man-made religious structures, has ruins dating back 10,000 BC, predating the much more famous Stonehenge by at least seven millennia. The Urfa Man, the oldest sculpture of a life-sized human, dates back 9000 BC. Turkey is an important country for Catholics, with the first ever Christian church historically located in Antioch (now called Antakya), where followers of Jesus were first called “Christians.” The Grotto of St. Peter, a cave carved in a mountainside at Mount Starius, is the oldest place of Christian worship in the world, believed to have been founded by Simon Peter. In the ancient city of Ephesus, in the Central Aegean region, where Paul the Apostle once traveled and stayed for three years, is where the home of the Virgin Mary still stands. Devotees believe this is where she spent her last days, and where the Virgin may have assumed into heaven.
A city of melancholy
Like most historic places, like Rome or Athens or Cairo, places deeply imprinted with both tragic and victorious stories of humanity, a certain melancholic mood prevails over much of Turkey. There’s a very thin veil that exists between the past and present, and in the many dichotomies that define the identity of a country so legendary.
Istanbul, the biggest among its cities, is at once grand and sad, beautiful and stark, forlorn and thrilling. Celebrated author Orhan Pamuk, a proud native son, rightfully calls it a “city of ruins and end-of-empire melancholy.”
Many of Turkey’s modern cities sit on top of the detritus of its predecessor cities. A cruise along the Bosphorus is a reminder of what locals calls “huzun,” a specific brand of melancholy tied to the city’s glorious past.
As Istanbul’s spectacular views pass—gleaming mosques and grand cathedrals dotting the hills further ashore, rococo palaces, Art Nouveau villas, fish markets, and quaint restaurant villages—you’ll get a sense of time unfolding as different markers of its “glorious past” sweep by, both monuments and ruins, bearing the weight of this historic greatness.
Many tourists go on the cruise for the specific experience of being able to say one has been to both Asia and Europe, to be in two places at once. Unlike other continental divides, however, there is no “line” to separate Asia and Europe, no tectonic plate, no identifiable chasm, not around the Bosphorus or the Black Sea on either side.
This divide is more metaphorical, more ideological than literal and geological.
Whatever it is has made Istanbul’s Bosphorus quite the tourism magnet. Tiger Woods has putt a golf ball from Asia to Europe, tennis star Venus Williams has smashed a ball across the bridge, and a café here has an arrow marker pointing to “Europe” and “Asia” on opposite sides. This is the distinctive lure of Turkey: It truly is a global crossroad. If you’re planning your first visit, be sure to include these bucket list-worthy destinations.
Istanbul
Although not the capital of Turkey (that would be Ankara), Istanbul is the country’s largest, most dynamic, most exciting city. It is the only metropolis in the world that spans two continents and with a population of 15 million, is one of the biggest cities in the world. Exploring Istanbul is like taking a crash course in history. Once called the mighty city of Byzantine, and then later on Constantinople, it was home to the world’s three most powerful empires—Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman, It is also home to two of our most important religions, Catholicism and Islam. It is a poster child for the heady combination of East and West. To be sure, no other city in the world has its brand of both offbeat charm and restrained elegance.
The Hagia Sophia, built by the eastern Roman emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople, is considered one of the most iconic of Byzantine architectures. It then became Orthodox, and later on, an Ottoman mosque—each iteration reflecting the change of tides of history.
The Sultanahmet Square, which used to be a hippodrome (or where chariots raced for the pleasure of the public), is at the center of Istanbul and features monuments from bygone empires, like the Serpent Column, from fifth century BC; an obelisk from the reign of Thutmose II representing 1490 BC; and an obelisk from the 10th century.
Still around this neighborhood is the historic and aesthetic Blue Mosque, constructed between 1609 and 1616, famous for its handpainted blue tiles and for the blue lights lighting up its five domes, six minarets, and eight smaller domes at night. Only a few steps away is the Topkapi Palace, which served as the residence of the Ottoman sultans in the 15th and 16th centuries.
With 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops spread over a total area of 30,700 sqm, the Grand Bazaar is the world’s oldest and largest covered market. Don’t forget to hit the spice markets, where you can shop for some of the best Turkish herbs and spices, and drop by Istiklal Street for homegrown Turkish brands and international fashion brands.
Even the most highly itinerant come here to tick items off their bucket list in one fell swoop: Visit the cradle of Christianity, be in two places at once, walk cobblestone streets where gods and goddesses have purportedly once walked, marvel at geological wonders unseen anywhere else, or be at the crossroads of history where the world’s most powerful empires began and ended—name it, Turkey has it.
Ephesus
While the Catholic church has not confirmed if the house on top of Mount Koressos is indeed the last dwelling of the Virgin Mary, three Popes have visited it, it has been given several Apostolic Blessings, and the descendants of the early Christians in this region considered it a holy site, confirming the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine.
Today, pilgrims from all over the world line up for a chance to pray at the altar at the stone home of the Virgin and drink from a spring in the area. Ephesus is home to many other ancient sites, as it was once considered the most important trading center in the Mediterranean, including the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The city became important during the Roman empire, so most of the ruins hark back from the Caesar Augustus-era, including the ampitheater, the Library of Celsus, the agora, and the aqueducts—making it as pilgrimage-worthy as other religious landmarks for the Catholic faithful.
Pamukkale
A geological wonder that’s turned this city into a tourist hotspot, Pamukkale (“cotton castle” in Turkish) is famous for blinding-white mineral terraces, where thermal water cascade down into pools below. The terraces are made of travertine, which is sedimentary rock deposited by mineral water from the hot springs. Deep beneath Pamukkale and the neighboring city of Hierapolis (where you can visit well-preserved ruins that date back into the Roman empire) is water heated by volcanic lava. The water, saturated by pure white calcium, bursts toward the surface and runs down a steep hillside, creating a spectacle of tiered falls. This has been happening for the past 2000 years, when the Romans built the spa city of Hierapolis for citizens to enjoy the benefits of hot mineral water. Today, you have hotels and restaurants, some with thermal pools. Hierapolis and Pamukkale became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1988.
Caravanserai
Tourists going to Cappadocia for the hot air balloon ride often make a stop in Konya. The Sultanhan caravanserai is one of the best preserved, and one of the biggest, ancient inns, located along the silk route. In the 13th century, travelers used to stop every 30-40 kilometers with their caravans, and stayed in caravanserais, which are the best examples of Anatolian Seljuk architecture. Visitors can roam around this impressive property of richly carved marble gates, wide courtyards surrounded by smaller rooms and chambers for animals and guests, and a mosque in the middle. If you’re in luck, you can chance on local crafters who sell their wares for cheap in one of the chambers.
Cappadocia
Four million years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions in the central region of Turkey shook the earth, and gave birth to what is now known as fairy chimneys jutting out of the Anatolian plains, resembling a lunar landscape. And then the ancient locals worked with this soft earth, creating a network of underground chambers, tunnels, and communities. Today, luxury travelers can book these caverns as modern troglodytes in swanky accommodations, as well as visit fresco-adorned churches carved in mountains at the Goreme Open Air Museum, and best of all, see this unique landscape from a hot air balloon. It is a sight to behold, for the small fortune of about $200. Tour operators often advice that spring (April to June) and fall (September and October) are the best times to go.
Veteran travel agents share tips when traveling in Turkey
You haven’t been to Turkey if you have not been to Cappadocia. The hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia is a must-try for all tourists to catch a glimpse of the “fairy chimneys,” cone-shaped rock formations clustered in Monks Valley.—Ness Santiago, Traveltime Tours Inc.
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Experience the luxury of an overnight stay in a cave hotel and a sumptuous meal in a cave restaurant. Book your trip a few months early.—Elenita Sta. Rita, Global Vista Tours and Travel
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Taksim Square can fill your curiosity about Turkish culture, but it can also fill your tummy. One of the must-try food is the mouth-watering shawarma or doner kebab in Turkey, which has existed since the Ottoman Empire.—Margielyn Catmunan, Eastern Pacific Travel and Tours
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Go to Istanbul’s spice market for rare herbs and spices. You can get lost for days looking for something to take home because you will definitely want to take everything home.—Nelia Limiac, Global First Air Travel and Tours
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Ephesus is the place where Mama Mary and St. John spent the last days of their lives. Filipino Catholics will love the place. Bring only a small amount of lira, because stores accept US dollars and it has a high exchange rate—Joie Dizon Ledesma, JDL Traveltech and Tours