Treasures of Turkiye

The largest city in Turkiye, Istanbul constitutes the country’s economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 14.4 million, the city forms the largest urban agglomeration in Europe as well as the largest in the Middle East. Founded on the Sarayburnu promontory around 660 BC as Byzantium, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. Istanbul once served as an imperial capital for the Roman and Byzantine, the Latin and the Ottoman empires. The city’s strategic position along the historic Silk road, rail networks to Europe and the Middle East, and the only sea route between the Black Sean and Mediterranean. Today, Istanbul attracts millions of visitors each year due to its historic center, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its cultural and entertainment hub, which can be found across the city’s natural harbor.

From the date of its construction in 537, Hagia Sophia was a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica, which later became an imperial mosque in 1453, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkiye. The church was dedicated to the Wisdom of God, the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It remained the world’s largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. In 1953, the first Turkish President, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, transformed the building into a museum. Today, the museum attracts millions of visitors a year.

Once the primary residence of the Ottoman sultans for approximately 400 years, Tokpai is a palace located in the historic part of Istanbul. The palace was once a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments as well as the royal residence. Today, it museum and a major tourist attraction. It contains important holy relics of the Muslim world, including Muhammed’s cloak and sword. In 1985, the museum became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Following the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, the palace was transformed by a government decree that is dated April 3, 1924, to a museum that includes many examples of fine Ottoman architecture. It also houses large collections of porcelains, robes, weapons, shields, armor, Ottoman miniatures, Islamic calligraphic manuscripts and manuals, as well as a large display of Ottoman treasures and jewelry.

Ephesus is the best preserved classical city of the Eastern Mediterranean and among the best places in the world enabling one to genuinely soak in the atmosphere of Roman times. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ephesus was once historically known for being the most important commercial center of the ancient world and a religious center of early Christianity.

The earliest record of the name of Cappadocia dates from the late 6th century BC, when it appears in the trilingual inscriptions of two early Achaemenid kings, as one of the countries of the Persian Empire. Following the Battle of Manzikert, a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuq Turks, in 1071, various Turkish clans under the rule of the Seljuks began setting in Anatolia. Today, the area is a popular tourist destination, which has several unique geological, historic, and cultural features. Touristic Cappadocia includes four cities: Nevehir, Kayseri, Aksaray and Nigde.