Mr P's Top Ten Turkish Tips

Bosporus

Also known as the Strait of Istanbul, it is a narrow, natural strait in northwestern Turkey forming part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and divides Turkey by separating Anatolia from Thrace. It is the world's narrowest strait used for international navigation and connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and, by extension via the Dardanelles, the Aegean and Mediterranean.

Miletus

An ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River. Before the Persian invasion in the middle of the 6th century BC, Miletus was considered among the greatest and wealthiest of Greek cities.

Ephesus

During the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League, later coming under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. The city was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Among many other monumental buildings are the Library of Celsus, and a theatre capable of holding 25,000 spectators. It has of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. and the Gospel of John may have been written here.

tulips

Flowers were first cultivated in the Ottoman Empire. The seeds of Holland's cultivation of tulips were sown when the Dutch ambassador to the 16th-century court of Süleyman the Magnificent of Turkey returned to Amsterdam with bulbs.

Istanbul

Historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople 9founded in 330 AD by Emperor Constantine), it is the largest city in Turkey and the country's economic, cultural and historic center. The city straddles the Bosphorus strait, and lies in both Europe and Asia, with a population of over 15 million residents, 19% of the population of Turkey.[4] The city is the most populated city in Europe, and the world's fifteenth-largest city.

Tarsus

Paul the Apostle, originally known as Saul, was born here. Many people believe Aesop grew up in Thrace on the Black Sea (now Nesebar). The Greek historian Herodotus was born in what is now Bodrum.

Ankara

The capital of Turkey, located in the central part of Anatolia, with a population of 4.5 million, making it Turkey's second-largest city after Istanbul. It was the capital of the Roman province of Galatia (25 BC-7th century), the city is very old with various Hattian, Hittite, Lydian, Phrygian, Galatian, Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman archaeological sites.

Antioch

The city which famously houses the Grotto of St Peter, believed to have been created by Saint Peter, making it the oldest place of Christian worship in the world. It was called "the cradle of Christianity" as a result of its longevity and the pivotal role that it played in the emergence of both Judaism and early Christianity. The Christian New Testament asserts that the name "Christian" first emerged in Antioch

Galatasaray

The most successful Turkish football club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey, who play in dark shades of red and yellow at home. Internationally, Galatasaray has won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000, becoming the first and only Turkish team to win a major UEFA competition.

Kemal Ataturk

Turkish field marshal, revolutionary statesman, author, and the founding father of Turkey, serving as its first president from 1923 until his death in 1938. He undertook sweeping progressive reforms, which modernized Turkey into a secular, industrial nation. Ideologically a secularist and nationalist, his policies and theories became known as Kemalism, he is seen as one of the most important political leaders of the 20th century.