Exploring Turkey _ A Dream Journey Across East and West

Want to stand at the junction of Europe and Asia,
To appreciate the prosperity of the crossroads of the world;
Want to sail on the Bosphorus Strait,
To feel the wind intertwined by the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea;
Want to stroll through old streets and alleys, palaces and churches,
To trace back the rise and fall of the ancient empire;
Want to stand on the rugged terrain of Cappadocia,
To witness the romance of hot air balloons slowly rising.

Istanbul is divided by the Bosphorus Strait, the east bank belongs to Asia, which is the Asian part of Istanbul (hereinafter referred to as the Asian part); the west bank belongs to Europe, which is the European part of Istanbul (hereinafter referred to as the European part).

The whole Istanbul (old Constantinople) takes the old town of the Golden Horn Bay as its core, extends westward along the flat southern Marmara Sea coast, and also extends across the strait to the Asian part.

The European part has a long history and profound cultural heritage. A large number of historical buildings and world-famous attractions are concentrated in the European part. Moreover, the urban development process in the European part is faster. The city has a population of nearly 16 million, with more than 70% of the population living in the European part, which makes the public transportation, urban facilities, and economic development of the European part far ahead.

When you walk on the streets of Istanbul, you will feel very relaxed. You will also see people of all colors, thoughts, and religions living together. From veiled women and girls to men, they are everywhere, on the streets, in the subway, in the shopping malls.

In addition, you will see many handsome boys and girls with completely different ideas and multi-faceted appearances. But there are no heavy gazes or unusual confrontations.
You will also find that there is enough space for all kinds of beliefs, lives, thoughts and styles.

In Istanbul, the feeling of freedom and peace makes you happy and full of energy.

This is undoubtedly a magnificent church, the huge dome building and four towering minarets stand in front of you, giving you a visual shock. Through two heavy doors, we entered the main hall. The main hall is dominated by yellow and black, the huge round dome, exquisite mosaic murals, and exquisite stained glass windows are all amazing.

Above the church, there are elegant chandeliers hanging, which emit a warm and soft light, illuminating the hearts of every pilgrim who comes here, the power of love and goodness spreads here. 

Hagia Sophia was built in 532 AD, it is said to be the largest church building in the world at that time, and there were as many as 16 tons of gold used only for decoration inside.
In 1453, the Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople, and this Christian church that had stood for thousands of years was completely transformed into a mosque. Therefore, four Islamic minarets appeared around the church. This is also the only church in the world that has changed its faith.

Cappadocia walks into a real-life fairy tale town. Cappadocia is famous for its hot air balloons in Turkey. In fact, besides the hot air balloons themselves, Cappadocia is also a real-life fairy tale town. Whether it is dawn or dusk, when the lights are on, it is like a dream. The houses are built along the mountains with the karstic landforms. It is like walking into a real-life fairy tale town…

Beneath the broken surface of Cappadocia, a similarly gigantic marvel has been hidden for centuries; it’s an underground city that could shelter up to 20,000 residents for months on end.
The ancient city of Derinkuyu, known today as Derinkuyu, lies 85 meters below the surface and includes 18 levels of tunnels. It is the largest excavated underground city in the world, used almost continuously for millennia, from the Phrygians to the Persians to the Byzantine Christians.

In the 1920s, the Greeks of Cappadocia abandoned it after their defeat in the Greco-Turkish War, fleeing en masse to Greece. Cave-like rooms stretch for hundreds of miles, and more than 200 other smaller, independent underground cities have been discovered in the region, likely connected to these tunnels, forming a giant underground network.

In secular Turkey, Konya is the most conservative region, with a significant increase in the number of women wearing black robes and headscarves on the streets. Konya’s most prestigious Mevlana Museum is actually a mosque, and the Mevlana Mosque is named after Mevlana, a great scholar and saint in Turkish history. Mevlana is a figure like Confucius in Turkey, and he created a branch of Sunni Islam – Sufism.

The Mevlana Mosque is not only an ordinary mosque, but also a museum commemorating Mevlana, with a rich collection of Islamic relics, and it is an important pilgrimage site for local Muslims. 

The museum houses Qurans of various periods and materials, including many precious rare and first editions.

Entering the hall, Arabic script can be seen everywhere. The beautiful and exquisite dome has exquisite patterns and chandeliers. The showcases display the largest and smallest Qurans in the world, which are 800 years old and well preserved. 

The most special thing is that there is a box containing a beard of the Prophet Muhammad here, which is very precious. Circumambulate the box seven times, both as a pilgrimage and a prayer for peace and happiness. 

Fethiye is located near the Mediterranean Sea and is an internationally renowned seaside tourist city. As one of the most famous tourist attractions in Turkey, it has the most famous natural seawater bathing beaches and seaside resorts in the southeast, next to the pier in the bay, with many small islands scattered in the bay.

Sailing yachts reflect the afterglow of the sunset, the long coastline meanders into a large turning bay in front of the beach, the calm sea surface is sparkling, the blue sky and white clouds are intertwined, and the sea and sky are one color. Such beautiful scenery is just a daily scene of Fethiye.

Pamukkale (Cotton Castle) is a magnificent sight located in Turkey.

It is located in the Denbül Plain in the southwest, about 240 kilometers from the famous Turkish city of Izmir. It is one of the most unique and charming natural wonders in Turkey.

Pamukkale is famous for its beautiful hot spring mineral deposits and open-air hot springs.
The magnificent scenery of Pamukkale is formed by the deposits of hot spring water on the mountainside for thousands of years. The hot spring water here is rich in minerals such as calcium carbonate and gypsum.

As the hot spring water flows through the mountainside, due to changes in temperature and evaporation of water, the minerals in the water gradually settle down, forming layers of white mineral terraces, which are like covered with cotton, hence the name Pamukkale. 

These white mineral terraces form a spectacular sight, like a giant natural staircase, extending hundreds of meters long and about 60 meters wide. Viewed from afar, Pamukkale is like a snow-white castle, shining dazzlingly in the sunlight, beautiful beyond words. When the sun shines on the mineral terraces, the water on the terraces forms many azure hot springs, reflecting a charming glow, which is intoxicating.

The discovery of the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus stemmed from the excavation of Wood and the British Museum in 1863. They cleared the columns of the Temple of Artemis in 1869 (now in the British Museum), and after years of excavation by archaeologists, they finally confirmed that this is the site of the famous city of Ephesus mentioned in the Bible.

The Temple of Artemis on the site is ranked among the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” for its magnificent architectural style and grand scale. 

The library was built according to the principles of Vitruvius (the architect and engineer of ancient Rome). On 9 levels of steps as wide as the building, the building is divided into three floors supported by Ionic/Corinthian mixed columns, with 8 columns on each floor. The library faces east for better lighting.

There were four statues of goddesses placed in the niches on the upper and lower floors of the outer wall. The upper statues no longer exist, the lower ones are replicas, and the originals are kept in the Vienna Museum in Austria. Facing the direction of the library, from left to right, the four goddesses are: Sophia, the goddess of wisdom, Arete, the goddess of virtue, Enoia, the goddess of fate, and Episteme, the goddess of science.

“I am photographer Pick-up Truck Zhou, wechat: zcshanghai8, I love traveling and humanistic photography. I have been to 21 provinces and 29 countries in China. In my opinion, photography is accumulated by the shutter, but also walked out by footsteps. So in my opinion, every photo should have its own story, and that’s my story.” I look forward to discovering different stories with you!