Turkey lies on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean, many ancient civilizations came from this area and nearby Rome and Greece and so Turkey, or Persia as it were back many hundreds of years ago, was home to many different dynasties and civilizations.

Today much of this history remains in the form of archaeological sites and castles and burial tombs all over the country. As well as this there have been many historical sights and places to visit when you are on Turkey holidays, so if you are going this year then perhaps you could visit them to learn more about this country’s storied past.

Didymia

This is the temple that is now located near the tourist resort of Altinkum, during ancient Greek times this temple was popular among oracles, these were people like priests who received messages from the gods and answered questions the people had of them. The word “Didymia” translates as “twin” referring to Zeus’s twins Apollo and Artemis. The remains are still popular with tourists to this day.

Ephesus

Ephesus is a popular Christian pilgrimage point due to it being home to the Basilica of St. John, his final resting place. It is also regarded as one of the most well preserved ancient cities still here today. There are many other locations steeped in historical legend such as the Cave of the Seven Sleepers which is rumoured to have been a place where seven boys fell asleep in 250AD and woke up in the 5^th century. Ephesus is a great spot to see some of the best preserved ancient cities in the world.

Pamukkale

The Pamukkale hotel draws many visitors thanks to the sacred pool that it is home to. The area’s name translates to ‘Cotton Castles’ possibly due to the natural occurring phenomenon of white stalactites created by the geothermal hot springs and a richness of minerals from the mountains. As the water solidifies down the mountain it is infused with chalk and limestone creating the ‘cotton castles’ referred to in the name.

This is just three highlights to be found in the country that is jam packed with historical landmarks, if you were to travel to Turkey on your holidays there is plenty to see and do so if you are looking for a bit of history on your next holiday then Turkey may be the spot for you.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 4:29 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.