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Day 1
Arrival in Istanbul and transfer to the Topkapi Palace. (On Tuesdays Topkapi is closed so we will replace it with St. Sophia and Mosque of Soliman) Topkapi Palace was used by the Ottoman Sultans from the 15th to 19th centuries. In Topkapi will also see a faboulous collection of priceless jewels, crystal, silver and porcelain, costumes worn by the sultans and relics of the prophet Mohammed. (Entrance to the Harem isextra. After the visit of Topkapi we will proceed to an old hidden underground Byzantine cistern. Our next visit will be to the famous Grand Bazaar. This tour may be done all or partially as a walking tour. Overnight in Istanbul.
Day 2
Visit the ancient Hippodrome famous with the Obelisk of Theodosius, Snake pillar and the German Fountain of Wilhelm II. This was the place where horse races took place during the ancient Roman and Eastern Roman times. Here we will also see the Blue Mosque, built for Sultan Ahmet I, which is a unique piece of architecture with its six minarets and features 20,000 beautiful Iznik tiles. After these visits we will get in our minivan and drive down towards the exotic and aromatic Spice Market. You may buy spices, fruits and nuts and almost anything imaginable. The Bosphorus cruise towards the Black Sea begins at 10.35. We pass by marble palaces such as Dolmabahce, Ciragan and Beylerbeyi and you will enjoy crossing from continent to continent traveling up the Bosphorus, which is lined with old Ottoman seaside mansions, fortresses and small fishing villages. We will disembark at Sariyer close by the Black Sea and drive to Gallipoli. Our way will take us to Silivri through nice motorways and after Silivri we will be driving on a superhighway to Gallipoli. We will have a total drive of 260 kms. today. We will check in to a sea side small hotel by the Saros bay located at the very northern part of the Aegean Sea. Overnight in Canakkale.
Day 3
We will depart early today to pass accross the Strait of Dardanelles by ferry. The crossing will take about half an hour and when we reach the other side of the Strait we will already be on Asia. We will then by pass the town of Canakkale and reach Troy. The legendary city of Homer and the beautiful Helen has nine principal levels of occupation covering a period of 3000 years. You will see a reproduction of the Trojan horse, the museum, city walls dating from the time of Trojan war, Schiliman's Trench and more. After a visit lasting about 1.5 hours we will proceed towards Bergama and reach the Acropolis of the ancient Pergamon after a scenic drive of 199 kms. We will have an in depth detailed promenade here in this magnificent Acropolis situated high above a plain with a uniqu panoramic view. We will visit the palaces of Pergamon kings, the remains of the Great Library where more than 200000 volumes and manuscripts made of papirus and parchment paper (pargamena) which was first produced in Pergamon. We will see the Temple of Trajan, the Athena temple and the very narrow and steep theater on the hillside which could seat up to 10,000 people. The stylish Dionysus temple and it's steps heighing 4.5 meters. The ruins of Zeus Altar which was one of the seven wonders of the world in the Hellenistic period. After our visit in Acropolis we will descend down to Asclepion, which was known as one of the first places of medical science in the ancient world together with Epidauros in Greece. Galen who was born in Pergamon in 129 AD became a notorious physician of his time and treated his patients here. Here I will tell you how the doctors treated their patients here with natural ways. After we finish our visit here we will proceed to Akhisar (ancient Thyatira). The driving distance is only 122 kms. and we can cover this in about 1.5 hours. Overnight in Akhisar.
Day 4
Today will be another great day of archaeology and discovery. In the morning we will start driving towards the ruins of Sardis. They are at a distance of 74 kms from Akhisar. In Sardis we will see a pseudo dipteros Artemis temple built with Ionic capitals. (Pseudo dipteros means fake dipteros temple. Dipteros Temple means a colossal size temple with two column ranges, like the Apollo temple in Didyma) Looking at it from a distance a stanger thinks it is a huge glorious dipteros temple while it is just a illuding peripteros. The temple was dedicated originally to the cult of Kybele. Meanwhile I will tell my guests the sad story of Kroisos mentioned by the father of history Herodotes. Furthermore we will see the recently restored Synagogue together with the Gymnasium and the very majestic start of the king road with big marble slabls connecting Sardis to Susa in Persia. Several shops can be seen at the corner of this area. Again while visiting this marvellous site we will have the opportunity of looking at the ancient river of Pactolus which brought gold to Kroisos and the gold workshops where the gold was melted and worked. After having spent about 1.5 hours here we will drive by the motorways by-passing Izmir and continue to Selcuk. This distance of 155 kms will be covered quickly at a higher constant speed of 120 kms/hour. Our next stop is Priene. Priene is truly one of the most impressive ancient sites of Turkey. Here we will see the Athena temple, the Prytaneion (town hall), the Bouleterion (a building where bureaucrats and the demos, which means people used to take word and argued in a democratic way). Furthermore we will see the Agora and the meat and fish market located nearby and I will give you full archaeological explanations. Later on we will walk all the way down to the other main gate of the ancient town which gave access to the old harbour and on this main boulevard of the town you will see the house where Alexander the Great is thought to have stayed. We will proceed our visit here with the Byzantine church and of course we will also see the famous theater which is the best exemple of surviving Greek theater of our time. After this visit we will proceed to Miletus. Which was the most important city of Ionia until the defeat of Kroisos of the Lydian Empire and the defeat of the Ionian fleet in Lade war, in 494 BC. A magnificent theater largely modified during Roman times will offer us an amazing athmosphere and shade where I will give you general historical information concerning the history of the town. After the theater we will walk down to the ancient Lion harbour and see the harbour monument and the still visible heads of the two giant size lion statues. Each of these lions were places at one side of the entrance of the harbour and were symbolically protectiong the harbour from the ennemies. We will proceed our tour by exploring the other parts of the ancient town while walking back towards our minivan. On our way back we will see the Delphinion a temple dedicated to Delphi The people of a town like Miletus surrounded by seas from every corner knew well what kind of fish the Dolphin was. They knew that Dolphins were intelligent and a music loving fish often helping sailors in their difficult times showing them the best direction when their ships were pushed into shallow seas with heavy storms. We will also see the beginning of the sacred way where annual pilgrims procession were started from the Delphinions towards the Apollo temple of Didyma 20 kms further down in the South. We will then see a Nympaion (where water fairies Nympes used walk around the abundant waters of these colossal size fountains), a bouleterion (the senate building), Serapis temple (a temple dedicated to the underground Goddes of Serapis of Egypt) built for the woship needs of the Egyptian traders and travellers, food depots and Faustina Baths built in the second century AD for Faustina, the wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. On our way back after 5 kms. we will see a hill which was an Island in those times before the Meander river silted the sea in that region and created the fertile plain. The two harbours of this island which is now this hill, was housing the famous Ionian fleet designed to fight the Persian fleet but a sudden Persian attack in 494 BC. put fire and destroyed the Ionian fleet before even Ionian ships had time to move out of the harbour. Overnight in Ephesus.
Day 5
This morning we will drive to Ephesus. We will see several ancient monuments in this ancient metorpolis. Among many others I could mention the Domitian Temple, the Celcius Library, the Northen Agora, the Theater, The Old Harbour Boulevard. After we finish our visit here we will visit the Museum located in the nearby town of Selcuk and proceed towards Bursa. We will get to Bursa in the evening overnight here.
Day 6
Today we will visit Bursa, the ancient capital of the Ottoman Empire. Our first stop will be at Ulucami the largest Mosque of the town built in 1399. The Mosque is a beautiful exemple of Early Ottoman Mosques. The even older and far more attractive Orhan Gazi Camii (1336)nearby is famously connected with the legend of Karagoz and Hacivat, two workers in the mosque's construction. With their puns, the pranksters distracted fellow workers so much that construction was delayed. The angry Sultan Orhan had them beheaded, but soon repented and devised the art that survives today — camel-leather painted figures in a shadow-theatre also known as Karagoz, famous in Turkey. After this we will visit the mausoleums of the first two sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Osman Bey and his son Orhan Gazi. We will then visit an old Caravan hotel where there are several silk shops. After this we will also visit the grand covered bazaar of Bursa and see a man I know who is puppeteer of Hacivate and Karagoz. He might perform a Hacivat Karagoz shadow-theater performance for 10 Euros for our guests. Next stop will be at Yesil Cami and Yesil Turbe which houses the tomb of the 5th Sultan of the Ottoman dynasty. There are beautiful green and blue tiles in both monuments. In the afternoon we will start driving towards Istanbul and on our way we won't miss the opportunity to visit Iznik, the ancient Nicea. Nicea was an important town of the Eastern Roman Empire and the art of tile making had reached a peak during the 16th century. It is also the town where the first Council of Nicea was held at the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine I. We will see the Senate's Court by the lake, the impressive St. Sophia church in the very center of the small town by Constantine. Our way will take us through the Istanbul gate where we will make a short photo stop and proceed towards Istanbul. From Topcular we will take a ferry and get to Eskihisar in about half an hour. From Eskihisar we will drive to the possible place where Hannibal was buried. Hanibal who was a Carthagenian commander and an ennemy of Romans was escaping his ennemies and found refuge in Bithynia. But when he understood the King of Bithynia Prusia would be delivering him to his ennemies he comitted suicide and was buried here. After this visit we will take the motorway to drive back to the hotel. Overnight in Istanbul.
Day 7
Today according to the estimated take off time of our aircraft we will make a tour in the Golden Horn before we depart to the airport. First we will visit the Mosque of Eyup and it's complex, then climb towards the Cafe of Pierre Loti through the old cemetery. As we will sip our coffees with an unparalleled view over the Golden Horn we will talk about his novel Aziyade and the adventures he lived during the last times of the Ottoman Empire. After this visit we will proceed to Kariye Museum which is an ancient church transformed into a Mosque in the 15th century. Stories from Bible and the Old Testament are perfectly described on the walls of this ancient church with either frescoes and mosaics. Here we will understand why French people still use the expression «C'est Byzance» when they go to a nice place with a beautiful ambiance. The Kariye Museum is closed on Wednesdays and if today is a Wednesday we will have to move this visit to the second day before we depart to Gallipoli. After this visit we will be driving by the ancient city walls of the ancient Constantinapolis longing between the Golden Horn and the Marmara Sea for several kilometers and continue to the Ataturk International Airport before we say a sad goodbye to each other.
