EasternTurkeyTours Ancient Cappadocia to Gobekli Tepe. (Complete Turkey Part 1B) Exceed your expectations

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1 EasternTurkeyTours Ancient Cappadocia to Gobekli Tepe (Complete Turkey Part 1B) Exceed your expectations

2 Anitkabir, Ankara Arrive Ankara overnight Ankara, tour begins the following day Day 1 - Ankara to Bogazkale After breakfast we will tour Ankara s principal site, Anitkabir. This is the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Encapsulating the architectural styles represented by the civilisations and cultures of Anatolia, the monument not only commemorates Ataturk and the struggle for Turkish independence but also the roots and shared history that all the peoples of historic Anatolia share with the people of Anatolia today. From the mausoleum we will go to the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations which will give some context to the sites that we will be visiting on this tour and other tours that we operate throughout the country and beyond. After lunch we will leave for Bogazkale and the capital of the Hittite Empire, Hattusha. The notable thing about the Hittites is that they were a mountain people and it is unusual that mountain people should found great empires. Yet the Hittites founded a great empire that was the principle contender for land and regional power with Egypt. The Hittite King Muwatalli II met the great Pharaoh Ramses II in one of the defining battles of early history at Kadesh (1274 BC), in what is now Syria. This battle- a stalemate- produced the first recorded peace treaty in history, copies of which were discovered on engraved stone in Egypt and at Hattusha on clay tablets in the Royal library. The city itself is in a stunning location that shows the Hittite skills in military architecture and town planning to the full. Lions gate, Hattusha Hittite God, Yazilikaya sanctary

3 Ballooning over Cappadocia Day 2) Bogazkale to Cappadocia After breakfast we tour the Hittite religious sanctuary of Yazilikaya before continuing to Cappadocia and finish the day with a view of pigeon Valley and the fortress of Uchisar. Overnight Cappadocia Day 3 - Sightseeing in Cappadocia Ancient Cappadocia was known by the Persians as the Land of Beautiful Horses, Cappadocia is famous for its spectacular and other-worldly natural rock formations and fairy chimneys. It is an ancient land of Hittite underground cities and rock carved Christian churches and monasteries as well as a stopping point on the ancient Silk Road. Because of the consistence of its climate it is one of the best places in the world to enjoy the wonders of hot air ballooning and early each morning you can see scores of balloons taking to the sky amongst the tufa rock formations. We will walk through the valleys of Goreme and visit the Goreme Open Air Museum (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and finish the day with a visit to the fortress of Uchisar which, like all the ancient buildings of the region, is carved from the living rock; at its summit are the (now empty) tombs of the ancient rulers of the region. Fairy chimneys Overnight Cappadocia

4 Day 4 - We visit the underground cities of Kaymakli and Derinkuyu. Karatayhan These ancient subterranean cities, of which there are many, are a unique feature of the Cappadocian region. Derinkuyu, discovered only in the 1960s is believed to predate even the Hittites and was expanded over time by the different peoples of the area to produce what we see today. Extensively developed in the late Roman period the underground cities were a place of refuge in times of war and could accommodate in its 8-12 subterranean levels up to 2000 families. Many of these underground cities were connected by tunnels and it appears that Derinkuyu and Kaymakli, about 8 kilometres apart, were likewise connected by a tunnel. We leave Derinkuyu for Kayseri (100Km). In the afternoon, a tour of Kayseri which was an important Silk Road destination and a centre of Islamic learning where there are a number of historic Medreses (Islamic schools) from the Seljuk period. The Cifte Medrese was the first Seljuk school of anatomy and is today the Geyhir Nesibe Medical History Museum. It is among Turkey s most impressive buildings, not just for its architecture, but for its concept and function. Ecologically and technically advanced for its time, it housed a medical centre with a surgical operating theatre. Sound ducts conducted music into wards and sick rooms while a thick sod roof provided insulation, a rain barrier and a garden which produced medicinal herbs. Built in 1206 by the Seljuk Sultan Giyaseddin Keyhusrev I in memory of his sister Gevher Nesibe (whose tomb is here) it served the entire population of Kayseri- Muslim, Christian or Jewish- free of charge. Near the city s Bedesten - or market - the The entrance to Derinkuyu, the underground city Kayseri, old and new

5 The heads at Nemrut Citadel built by the Roman Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD. Overnight Kayseri. Day 5) Kayseri to Adiyaman After breakfast we depart for Adiyaman where on arrival we will check into the hotel, freshen up and leave for the mountaintop funerary monument of Nemrut: Mountain of the Gods. This ancient funerary monument at the peak of Mt Nemrut was forgotten and lost to memory for nearly 2000 years. Constructed in 64BC, this iconic monument was only rediscovered accidentally by a surveyor working for the Ottoman government in the early 1880s. At the peak of the mountain, 2150m (7000 ft), there is a tumulus of crushed stones, beneath which, it is believed, lie the remains of the monument's builder Antiochus I Epiphanes. To the east and west, facing the rising and setting sun, are platforms upon which are to be found giant statues representing Gods, Heroes and the King himself. If any monument deserves the description enigmatic this is surely the one. Representing himself within the pantheon of both Greek and Persian deities part of his testament reads When I had taken over the throne from my ancestors, I made my kingdom as the common land of all the Gods as a result of my religious beliefs.all the future generations of humans who will possess this land in the cause of the endless times, are asked to follow the holy law " Antiochus Overnight in Adiyaman.

6 Day 6 - Adiyaman to Urfa After breakfast we depart to visit the Cendere bridge and the Karakus Tumulus before heading for Urfa via the massive Ataturk Dam where we will have a picnic lunch. On arrival we will check into our hotel to freshen up before visiting Urfa s Archaeological Museum and in the early evening the Pools of Abraham. Urfa is known as the City of Prophets and the region has an ancient pedigree with human settlement going back to prehistory with nearby Harran being mentioned in Genesis as the home, for a time, of the Patriarch Abraham; according to Islamic tradition Urfa is the birthplace of Abraham and a cave reputed to be his birthplace is a focus for pilgrimage today. Urfa, once known as Edessa, has the distinction of being the first kingdom to accept Christianity in 206 AD under the reign of Abgar IX. Today, it is a thriving city at the centre of the massive irrigation project generated by the nearby Ataturk Dam. Overnight in Urfa. Sacred pools of Abraham

7 The dig at Gobekli Tepe Day 7 - Urfa to Gaziantep In the morning we will leave Urfa for Gobekli Tepe. Although this site is not widely known it is one of the most important archaeological digs currently being undertaken anywhere - this site represents a major shift in our understanding of man's early history. Here lie the remains of the earliest religious structures built by man yet to be discovered and at about years old pre-dates pottery, writing, Stonehenge and the Pyramids. Comprising a series of stone walled enclosures with massive stele carved to represent human beings and cult representations of animals, Gobekli Tepe is an enigmatic monument to the birth of culture and civilisation that is slowly revealing its secrets to us today. From ancient Gobekli Tepe we leave for Gaziantep where we will visit the Zeugma Mosaic Museum; one of the finest mosaic museums in the world, this new museum was constructed to specifically hold the mosaics recovered from Roman Zeugma now inundated by the rising waters of the South East Anatolian Project (GAP) dams. Check into the hotel and free time to enjoy the Copper quarter of Gaziantep. Overnight Gaziantep. One of the many carved megaliths forming the chambers Day 8 Those of us who are leaving will depart for the airport and home. Those continuing with the Classic Turkey Tour will depart for Mersin. Zeugma museum

8 Tblisi Edirne Kastamonu Bolu Gallipoli Hopa Artvin Ardahan Samsun Istanbul Trabzon Safranbolu Kars Bayburt Bursa Canakkali Ida Ankara Eskisehir Bogazkale Yerevan Iğdir Ararat Dogubeyazit Erzerum Sivas Kangal Bergama Cesme Süphan Kusadasi Bodrum Ahalat Nemrut Van Artos Kayseri Nevsehir Izmir Denizli Marmaris Dalaman Fethiye Karamanmaras Adiyaman Konya Batman Diyabakir Mardin Sanliurfa Gaziantep Antalya Adana Mersin Demre Anamur Semdinli Map Key:- Antakya Trekking Hot Air Ballooning Skiing Gulet Cruising EasternTurkeyTours Ancient Cappadocia to Gobekli Tepe (Complete Turkey Part 1B) Exceed your expectations Visit: Airports