Istanbul (/ˌɪstaːnˈbul/; Turkish: İstanbul [isˈtanbuɫ]) is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. Istanbul is a transcontinental city in Eurasia, with its commercial and historical centre lyi…
Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica (church), later an imperial mosque, and now a museum (Ayasofya Müzesi) in Istanbul,…
Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis or Κωνσταντινούπολη Konstantinoúpoli; Latin: Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطینية, Kostantiniyye; modern Turkish: Istanbul) was the capital city of the Roman and Byzantine (330–1204 …
Troy (Ancient Greek: Ἴλιον, Ilion, or Ἴλιος, Ilios; and Τροία, Troia; Latin: Trōia and Īlium; Hittite: Wilusa or Truwisa; Turkish: Truva) was a city situated in what is known from Classical sources as Asia Minor, now northwest Anatolia in modern Tur…
The Temple of Artemis or Artemision (Greek: Ἀρτεμίσιον, Turkish: Artemis Tapınağı), also known less precisely as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was lo…
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii) is a historic mosque in Istanbul.
Anatolia (from Greek Ἀνατολή, Anatolḗ — "east" or "(sun)rise"; in modern Turkish: Anadolu), in geography known as Asia Minor (from Greek: Μικρὰ Ἀσία Mīkrá Asía — "small Asia"), Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, denotes the wes…
Göbekli Tepe (Turkish: [ɡøbe̞kli te̞pɛ], "Potbelly Hill") is an archaeological site at the top of a mountain ridge in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, approximately 12 km (7 mi) northeast of the city of Şanlıurfa. The tell has a height of…
Cappadocia (/kæpəˈdoʊʃə/; also Capadocia; Turkish: Kapadokya, from Greek: Գամիրք (Gamirq): Armenian, Καππαδοκία Kappadokía, from Ancient Greek: Καππαδοκία, from Old Persian: wikt: Katpatuka) is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in the…
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus (Modern Greek: Μαυσωλείο της Αλικαρνασσού; Turkish: Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC at Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, a satrap in the Persian Empir…
The Gallipoli peninsula (/ɡəˈlɪpɵli/; Turkish: Gelibolu Yarımadası; Greek: Καλλίπολη) is located in Turkish Thrace (or East Thrace), the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east.
Ankara (/ˈæŋkərə/; Turkish pronunciation: [ˈaŋ.ka.ɾa]; historically known by the names Ancyra and Angora) is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city, Istanbul being the largest.
Ephesus (/ˈɛfəsəs/; Greek: Ἔφεσος Ephesos; Turkish: Efes; ultimately from Hittite Apasa) was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC…
The Derinkuyu underground city (Cappadocian Greek: Ανακού) is an ancient multi-level underground city in the Derinkuyu district in Nevşehir Province, Turkey. Extending to a depth of approximately 60 m, it is large enough to have sheltered approximat…
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient Greek city on the eastern side of the Orontes River.
The Dardanelles (/dɑrdəˈnɛlz/; Turkish: Çanakkale Boğazı, Greek: Δαρδανέλλια, Dardanellia), formerly known as Hellespont (/ˈhɛlɨspɒnt/; Greek: Ἑλλήσποντος, Hellespontos, literally "Sea of Helle"), is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting…
Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü (Turkish pronunciation: [feˈnɛrbaht͡ʃe], Fenerbahçe Sports Club), also known as Fenerbahçe and Fener, is a professional football team based in Istanbul, Turkey, and a branch of the larger Fenerbahçe Sports Club. Founded in 190…
The Topkapı Palace (Turkish: Topkapı Sarayı or in Ottoman: طوپقپو سرايى) is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman sultans for approximately 400 years (1465–1856) of their 624-year reign.
The Bosphorus (/ˈbɒsfərəs/) or Bosporus (/ˈbɒspərəs/; Ancient Greek: Βόσπορος, Bósporos; Turkish: Boğaziçi) is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles strait to the sou…
İzmir is a city in the western extremity of Anatolia and the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. İzmir's metropolitan area extends along the outlying waters of the Gulf of İzmir and inland to the north across Gediz River's…
Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water.
The Tigris (/ˈtaɪɡrɪs/) is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates.
Pergamon /ˈpɜrɡəmən/ or /ˈpɜrɡəmɒn/ or Pergamum /ˈpɜrɡəməm/ (Ancient Greek: τὸ Πέργαμον, to Pergamon, or ἡ Πέργαμος, hē Pergamos) was an ancient Greek city in Aeolis, currently located 26 kilometres (16 mi) from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the…
Çatalhöyük (Turkish pronunciation: [tʃaˈtaɫhøjyc]; also Çatal Höyük and Çatal Hüyük; çatal is Turkish for "fork", höyük for "mound") was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approxima…
The Battle of Carrhae was fought in 52 BC between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire near the town of Carrhae. The Parthian Spahbod ("General") Surena decisively defeated a numerically superior Roman invasion force under the command of Marcu…
The Basilica Cistern (Turkish: Yerebatan Sarayı – "Sunken Palace", or Yerebatan Sarnıcı – "Sunken Cistern"), is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul (that is formerly Constantinople), Turkey.
The Grand Bazaar (Turkish: Kapalıçarşı, meaning ‘Covered Bazaar’; also Büyük Çarşı, meaning ‘Grand Bazaar’) in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between…
Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (IATA: SAW, ICAO: LTFJ) is one of the two international airports serving İstanbul, Turkey. The facility is named after Sabiha Gökçen, the first female combat pilot in Turkey.
Edirne (Turkish pronunciation: [eˈdiɾne], Bulgarian: Одрин, Odrin), is a city in the Turkish region of East Thrace, close to its borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the third capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1363 to 1453, befor…
The Battle of Manzikert (Turkish: Malazgirt Muharebesi) was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuq Turks on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey).
Harran (Turkish: Harran, Ottoman Turkish: حران,) was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 44 kilometers southeast of Şanlıurfa.
Trabzon (see other names, Turkish pronunciation: [ˈtrabzon]) is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and …
The Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between a Roman army led by the Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local r…
Dolmabahçe Palace (Turkish: Dolmabahçe Sarayı, IPA: [doɫmabahˈtʃe saɾaˈjɯ]) located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from …
Hatay Province (Turkish: Hatay ili, pronounced [ˈhataj]) is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. The administrative capital is Antakya (Antioch), and the other major city in the province is the port city of İskenderun (Alexandr…
The Golden Horn (Turkish: Altın Boynuz; Ancient Greek: Χρυσόκερας, Khrysókeras; Latin: Chrysoceras), also known by its modern Turkish name as Haliç, is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. It is a horn-s…