The sisters of the Hagia Sophia

Fatih Sınar

There are several namesakes and replicas of İstanbul's Hagia Sophia, which was constructed in A.D. 537 upon the order of Emperor Justinian I of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Justinian the Great in Anatolia, Thrace and Macedonia.

The soaring Hagia Sophia reflects different periods in Istanbul’s history. (Photo: John Cavacas)

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Exploring Turkey in seven days

Pat Yale

It would take years to see all the great sights of a country as large as Turkey.

Unfortunately many visitors must make do with a rushed seven days, which makes careful picking and choosing particularly important, especially bearing in mind the long distances between the must-see attractions.

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Do you really know the monuments of Sultanahmet?

Talha Uğurluel

The German fountain was commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II

to honor the friendship between the Ottomans and the Germans.

(Photo: Today's Zaman)

This week we continue our tour around Sultanahmet Square. But this time, let's listen to some more stories about the history surrounding some of the monuments that call this place home. What, for example, are some of the things that have happened to the famous Yılanlı Taş, or Snake Column, which has witnessed both Aristotle and Alexander the Great in its lifetime? Or how about the story behind the German Fountain? And where now are all the statues that have been stolen from this square over the years?

Last week we told the founding story of the Hippodrome. We touched on efforts by the Roman Emperor Constantine and Theodosios to decorate Sultanahmet Square with a diversity of monuments and statues. We focused especially on the story surrounding the Dikilitaş, discussing what the different faces of its pedestal tell us about history and the city.

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Turkey's finest: Istanbul is the most popular kid on the 21st-century global block

John Walsh

If you want a metaphor for modern Istanbul, look no further than the Marmaray tunnel. It's currently being dug under the Bosphorus to link Sirkeci Station, near the Grand Bazaar, with the ferry port of Uskudar on the Asian shore. The work will take three years to finish; maybe more because workmen keep discovering ancient objects that have to be removed and lovingly catalogued.

These objects aren't just shards of pottery: they include the world's oldest medieval galley, and the remains of a fourth-century port. How neat it is that the modern project linking east k and west Istanbul – but also linking Europe to Asia, and bringing the Western world closer to the Middle East – keeps tripping over its own awe-inspiring historical past.

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The best of Anatolia’s Phrygian sites

Pat Yale

Of the many peoples who have inhabited Anatolia in the pre-Greco-Roman period the best known are probably the Hittites whose ancient capital, at Hattuşa, is now one of Turkey’s world heritage sites.

Not quite so well known are the Phrygians who took over power from them in much of Central Anatolia from the 12th century B.C. onwards. Indo-Europeans who probably first emerged in the Balkans, the Phrygians may have been included amongst the mysterious “Sea Peoples” who are thought to have overwhelmed the Hittites. Alternatively, they may just have stepped into the void created by the collapse of the Hittite Empire. The full story is yet to be told.

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Eastern Turkey's ancient wonders

Kevin Rushby

Pillars at the temple of Göbekli Tepe.
(Photograph by Vincent J Musi
National Geographic Society)

Urfa, in eastern Turkey, is, at 11,000 years old, the oldest monument ever found, yet was only discovered a decade ago. It is the site of man's first efforts at farming and is also said to be the birthplace of Abraham.

Given the power to travel in time, which period would you choose for your tour? Well, here's one to consider: the early Holocene. Not grabbing you? Well, to be more precise 9,600BC in what is now eastern Turkey. That period and place are known to have been pivotal in human prehistory, although they left precious few traces.

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Elif Shafak reflects on Ankara, Turkey

Elif Shafak *

“The best thing about Ankara is returning to Istanbul.” Harsh as it may sound, that expression, attributed in one form or another to prominent Turkish poet Yahya Kemal, resonates with many Turkish artists and writers. It also suggests the discrepancy, if not the conflict, between the country’s two major urban settlements. Turkey’s contemporary history, including its transition from the multiethnic Ottoman Empire to a modern, secularist nation-state, is, in its core, a tale of two cities.

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Monumental: Istanbul’s Dazzling Architecture

Ron Gluckman

The soaring Hagia Sophia reflects different periods in Istanbul’s history. (Photo: John Cavacas)

Istanbul makes all the latest travel hot lists, for good reason. Domed mosques, topped with fairy-tale minarets, anchor scores of neighborhood squares where prayer calls echo down cobbled lanes. Boats of every size navigate the Bosporus Strait, where old men crowd bridges to drop fishing lines and gossip, while along the shores, cafés serve thimbles of thick Turkish coffee.

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My Summer in Turkey

Despite her various concerns, Kassandra Fotiadis, a high school junior in New Jersey took a bold step and decided to spend her summer in Turkey. Here, she shares how this life-changing experience let to a broader/better understanding of the country, its people, culture and religion:

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The Structures of Sinan

Inside Selimiye Mosque

New York Times reporter Andrew Ferren tracks the 16th-century architect and engineer named Sinan. Ferren writes, "Sinan (circa 1490-1588) was chief architect and civil engineer of the Ottoman Empire, working when the empire was at its apogee; his employers, Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and his heirs, were the most powerful men on earth."

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