Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey

Ok, just one more card for today...I don't wanna be overwhelming you so much, but just thought I'd post this one since after I posted this FDC, I recalled I should have another Atatürk card somewhere, and i wasn't mistaken :)

Well, today it is like 135 years since Atatürk's birth, the most worshiped man of Turkey.
I have already done a post about him here, so I wouldn't be repeating myself. However, I wanted to share with you a video which is kinda related to him since among else, Atatürk' introduced a new alphabet for the written Turkish language based on a modified Latin alphabet.
The new Turkish alphabet would serve as a replacement for the old Arabic script and as a solution to the literacy problem in Turkey. On 1 November 1928 he introduced the new Turkish alphabet and abolished the use of Arabic script. At the time, literate citizens of the country comprised as little as 10% of the population.
After the introduction of the new alphabet, it is said that the literacy has reached 70%!

Here is the video I had mentioned, referring to the Turkish language.

the stamp was issued in 2009 and is a joint issue between Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ok, that would be all for today. Ok, I admit I'm in a bit of a hurry, meeting some friends in a while.
Anyways, hope you liked today's choice :)

So long!

Kuşadasi,Turkey

So summer time came...and Marija, Sašo and I thought of going somewhere...and our first idea was actually Romania, but that kinda turned out complicated to be organized, since we had to do the entire organization ourselves...and then as a second best option, but which I think turned out perfect, was Turkey (and my FIRST time in Turkey!! Yay!!!). We found this cheap offer through the travel agent's (by bus again, of course) and we set out on the long journey to Kuşadasi....I don't mind long journeys, but with this one I almost lost my sanity....cos of the two families who decided to go as well, with their small little children, age btw 2-5.....it was a brain-torture, and no I am not overreacting...and we had the luck to be sitting like just across them...one of them was like constantly crying...the other one was constantly just talking some gibberish (something of this type 'dad!' 'what?' 'dad!' 'what?!' 'dad!' 'what?' 'dad!' 'what?!' 'dad!' 'what?' 'dad!' 'what?!' 'dad!' 'what?' 'dad!' 'what?!'
no actual conversation, just playing tennis with words...and the  third one kept either talking or playing games on her iPad, with the volume as loud as possible, and would start objecting each time some of her folks would try to turn it down...after which she immediately would turn it up....and it all went on and on...and just when we kinda fell asleep, the father for some reason didn't feel like sleeping, so he was just like standing above our heads, talking to his wife, or whatever she was, who was sitting two seats ahead...I mean, Jesus!!!  What a f***ing way to start it all...instead of feeling relaxed since, we are going on holiday, right? They managed to stress me out to an enormous extent! Arghhhhh!!!

So finally we arrived..got to the hotel...and with our luck, turns out that they had to move us to another one since there was some technical problem with our room??!! But on this I'm not gonna complain since we went to a better one..well at least it was more spacious...the fact that there was no cleaning lady or change of sheets or anything for 10 days, that is a different story :)

Now, I think I won't be making a long post here, since even though we stayed for like 10 days, half of the time we traveled some place else, so I will talk of that in some future post (no cards sent from the other places btw, so I will have to manage with something received).
Speaking of postcards, no great choice in Kuşadasi frankly...I expected more...but tried from the not so good selection to choose the better ones...and here is part of it (this corner was like our resting place on the way back to the hotel, since all the time you are like going uphill and eventually it starts getting tiring..)

funny thing, there is no Post Office...the one that was marked on the map was actually non-existent (closed some time ago)...no mailboxes in street...so all the mail goes to this mailbox in front of this shop....and you just wonder if this thing is actually working or all your cards will go in vain...and funny though, it was working!  Took a while for the cards to arrive, but at least most of them have arrived...
So this is the place where the fate of all cards is decided....had to be documented

As for Kuşadasi itself..well it is mainly a touristic spot....not much to see...and this place we wanted to see, was like closed for the public....but thing is, it is by the sea...and when I am by the sea, I am like a completely different person....I feel like newborn...so in general, I don't need much else but the sea and the sunshine...and just hoping for a not-so-crowded-yet-clean beach :)

chillin' out...

being foolish....

what I loved about one of the beaches was that they had this small library! And I did well the first day..but during the next ones I could barely concentrate and would like immediately fall asleep right there on the beach bed...

another thing you will often come across are things like this....

....and the greatest choice of fake Converse you could ever imagine...where a pair costs like 7 euros (I ended up buying 4 different ones with these being my absolute favourite - these were actually a love at first sight! )

if you are a cat lover (like me), then youd enjoy the fact that wherever you go, there would be some stray cats (sad for them though...I remember on our first morning while having breakfast at the terrace, we witnessed this dog almost killing one of those poor stray cats since it dared to step onto his territory)

                                                                           this one is at the exchange office....

I must mention the Turkish cuisine, that I absolutely love! LOVE!! Esp all kinds of Gözleme (the one with Tahini is heavenly!) + Ayran!!

And the drink that rules, Yeni Raki :)

just that it is insanely expensive in Turkey...5 euros for a glass...here in Skopje I have it for 1.5 euros....but every pleasure has its price...

and ok, I seem to have talked way too long again...we were lucky a day or two before we left, there was this street market in the vicinity of our hotel...and boy do I love street markets! We bought some fruits, that eventually we didn't eat...not because we didn't like them, but because it was too much at the moment and there was no fridge in the room, so you get it...

*bonus picture - Marija had her birthday while we were there, so we went to this bar chosen at random...and before we knew it, we realized we had a stripper for free.....:P

the thing about the stamps is that they will charge you differently at different places...for the EXACT same stamps, and always MORE than the actual value...but it is just impossible to debate about it, since they like don't understand English or pretend not to understand English, so it is like 'take it or leave it'....

the stamp on the left is from 2010, from a set of four definitives featuring Ataturk. The other one was issued in 2012 in a set of 8 Tourism stamps - this one features Izmir, and that is one of the places we went to, but for that story in some other update :)

ok, just one more post...which blogger just doesnt want to put it on the same page...I really need to change something about this template...it has been misbehaving for a while...

Izmir, Turkey

next card comes from a recent swap with Didem and is my first card from Izmir...at least on the blog......

the card shows (according to the correct definition), the esplanade in Izmir..personally, my first guess would have been that this is a port, but when i take a better look, I would say it is a promenade...well, promenade, esplanade, more or less it is the same...and in case someone comes across the word 'esplanade' for the first time (as I have), here is the definition: It is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns. In modern usage the space allows people to walk for recreational purposes; esplanades are often on sea fronts, and allow walking whatever the state of the tide, without having to walk on the beach

as long as bicycles are allowed, I dont have any problem with esplanades, or promenades or whatever :)

unfortunately, no stamp...I think the Turkish cards rank quite high on my list of cards with no stamps but labels/red prints instead...pity

Troy, Turkey

Another surprise card here...this time from Danut. Thanls a lot again for it Danut!!!

A really cool UNESCO card showing the archaeological site of Troy...oh yeah, THAT Troy, the one where that Trojan War took place!
Ok, this place is so full of stories and there is so much to be said about it, that it would turn into an endless post...I just started wondering now if I've ever actually read the Iliad...or anything by Homer...I know it was talked and talked and talked about in high-school...but beats me if we were supposed to read his works...or just excerpts..and the more I keep thinking about it the more assured I am I haven't read those...should that be embarrassing? hmmm...well, speaking of reading...I could certainly recommend "Journey to Portugal" by Jose Saramago....currently reading it...has some nice melancholic touch of making you long for places...Im pretty sure Id be dreaming of Portugal once Im done with it..

ok, no stamp on the card...just the red thing...and, khm khm, if you've been wondering what the heck is that huge stain...let me tell you...it is nothing else but coffee...and no, the card arrived in perfect condition...it is clumsy me who does disasters...spilling coffee or other drinks is one of my specialties...one of the worst outcomes is when postcards or letters happen to be around...which unfortunately was the case this time...don't know how many postcards exactly suffered...with a small or not so small stain..but even one is more than a lot...I really need to get something that you can lets say, fix on a desk or a wall or anything near you...in which you can put your cup of coffee or whatever you are drinking...so that no matter how much you move around, that you can't spill the glass/mug/cup over...anyone ever seen something of the sorts? Seriously, I desperately need one...before an even worse disaster happens...and I can be a walking disaster, trust me...

Ephesus, Turkey

well, one more card for today which came as a great surprise from Zoran and his holiday in Turkey.

the Celsus library in Ephesus was the third largest one in the ancient times, following the one in Alexandria and Rome.
It was built in 117 A.D.and was a monumental tomb for Gaius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, the governor of the province of Asia. The grave of Celsus was beneath the ground floor, across the entrance where there was a statue of Athena over it since Athena was the goddess of the wisdom.
It was unusual to be buried within a library or even within city limits, so this was a special honor for Celsus.
The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls.
Unfortunately, the interior of the library and all its books were destroyed by fire in the devastating earthquake that struck the city in 262. Only the facade survived. About 400 AD, the library was transformed into a Nymphaeum. The facade was completely destroyed by a later earthquake, likely in the late Byzantine period.

well, still, at least something has remained that could make it onto a postcard nowadays

the stamp was issued this year in a set of 3, regarding the Provision of Equality of Opportunities between Men and Women in Turkey.

hvala još jednom Zorane!

and all of you, have a great day...it is a lovely sunny one here...so im off to some sunshine and fresh air...and see you soon! :)

Ayvalik, Turkey

I cant say im a collector of doors/windows cards, though ive seen some really nice ones out there...and I like this one too...

again coming from 2009...well, I was simply in the 2009 box....:)

this door is somewhere in Ayvalik which the sender says to mean 'quince garden'. It is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey.

well, quite different from the majority of Turkish cards I have...and my one and only from Ayvalik :)

the stamp is from a set of 16 definitives issued in 2005, showing provinces in Turkey. this is the Aydin province.

well, thanks for following and hope you have a great weekend ahead! :)

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey

Next card for today comes from dear Pinar, sent for the Turkey vs the World RR.

The card shows Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( a Turkish nationalist leader and founder and first president of the republic of Turkey), a figure well known in Macedonia due to the Ottoman presence for five centuries....and also in the left, you can see the women who fought bravely during the war (1919-1922).

He was born in 1881 in Salonika (now Thessaloniki) in what was then the Ottoman Empire. At 12 he was sent to military school and then to the military academy in Istanbul. In 1911, he served against the Italians in Libya and then in the Balkan Wars (1912 - 1913). He made his military reputation repelling the Allied invasion at the Dardanelles in 1915.

In May 1919, Atatürk began a nationalist revolution in Anatolia, organising resistance to the peace settlement imposed on Turkey by the victorious Allies. This was particularly focused on resisting Greek attempts to seize Smyrna and its hinterland. Victory over the Greeks enabled him to secure revision of the peace settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne.

In 1921, Atatürk established a provisional government in Ankara. The following year the Ottoman Sultanate was formally abolished and, in 1923, Turkey became a secular republic with Atatürk as its president. He established a single party regime that lasted almost without interruption until 1945.

He launched a programme of revolutionary social and political reform to modernise Turkey. These reforms included the emancipation of women, the abolition of all Islamic institutions and the introduction of Western legal codes, dress, calendar and alphabet, replacing the Arabic script with a Latin one. Abroad he pursued a policy of neutrality, establishing friendly relations with Turkey's neighbours.

In 1935, when surnames were introduced in Turkey, he was given the name Atatürk, meaning 'Father of the Turks'. He died on 10 November 1938.

Must admit, this was a great history revision for me....

the stamp is from a set of 4 issued in 2010, representing the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship for Men.

thank you so much again for such a great card Pinar!  

Meryemana, Turkey

A card from Turkey which shows something different from the usual cards I see from here...

It shows the Meryemana, or in English, The House of Virgin Mary....which is a Christian and Muslim shrine located on Mt. Koressos.
Some believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John and lived there until her Assumption (according to Catholic doctrine), or Dormition (according to Orthodox belief).

I guess another sort of appropriate card for today, coz it is related to Jesus...though honestly, it didnt even cross my mind about it corresponding anyhow with Christmas when choosing what to post today...im telling you, i have this odd random card-choosing that end up coinciding with something....

So next time you go to Turkey, I guess you should also put this on your to-visit list...I kind of like visiting those not so commercialized and advertised places, and this one, at least here, hasnt been talked about much...here you will mostly hear about those summer destinations, and Hagia Sophia, Pamukkkale....Ive rarely seen for example Cappadocia been advertised either...so thats why these places attract me and I want to see them....

the stamp is from a set of 16 issued this year, from the "Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture" issue, showing architecture in this ciry.

Cappadocia, Turkey

A Fantastic card I got from the Turkish Postcrossing meeting in June, which among else was signed by two very dear people of mine, Pinar and Leslie.

And they sent me a great UNESCO card, showing Cappadocia, which is a region in Central Turkey in the Göreme valley. The name was traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history and is still widely used as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage.

and just please take a look at these very very very special stamps chosen just for me! Trains!! The comprise a set of stamps issued in 2006 regarding the 150th Anniversary of Turkish Railways.

Thank you sooooooo much my dear ladies for this fantastic card and thanks to everyone else who had attended the meeting and signed it as well! I love it!

Dancing girls, Turkey

A lovely surprise that came from dear Pinar. And Im even more touched and honoured that she chose to send me this card...she knows why :)

The card shows Dancing girls from the Black-Sea region in Turkey. The dance itself is called Horon. The origin of the horon dances of the Black Sea coast is the ancient koron-horon of pagan worship. This word comes from hur-kor, meaning sun. Researchers have identified over fifty variations on the horon in a single region. These dances demand exceptional speed, agility and skill in the dancers, who are generally accompanied by the kemence. It is a dance style of Pontus, where pontian dance retains the aspects of Persian and Greek dance styles. A unique aspect of Pontian dance is the tremoulo, which is a fast shaking of the upper torso by a turning of the back on its axis. Many Pontian dances are almost identical in steps to Greek dances. Pontian dances also resemble Persian and Middle Eastern dances in that they are not led, with no single leader in the dance formation. This is different from Greek dances but is a widespread aspect of Persian and Middle Eastern dances.

The rapid shoulder and upper body movements from the waist is said to have evolved from the modern Turkish version dating to recent centuries. These movement are said to have derived from the shimmying of the little silver anchovy fish (Turkish: Hamsi) found in mass abundance in the Black Sea, which has worked its way into an inseparable part of northern Anatolian culture. As Pontian populations of a Greek and Persian mix were exposed to these dances later, it is said that long sea journeys and merchant exchanges, or perhaps throughout the migration of troops as far away as Ireland en route to the Holy Land were also exposed to these dance styles. It is thought the Irish jig and even its modern version, the River Dance, may have its roots from this exposure.

The stamps are more than beautiful as well! The come from a mini sheet of 4 stamps issued in 2008 representing Global Warming, in honour of the World Environment Day.

thank you Pinar once again!!! For thinking of me!

Istanbul, Turkey

I got this card from the Slavic RR, the Big group 13, from dear Pinar.

I really like the card she chose for me, coz its not one of those typical view cards I often get from Turkey, but it shows something different, and rather special as well.
The card is from a special collection of Turkish Postal Services. It was printed in honour of the beauties of Istanbull, 2010 European Capital of Culture. On the card you can see one of the mosaics from the "Mosaics Museum". It hosts mosaics from the Byzantine period, unearthed at the site of the Great Palace of Constantinople.

What I really also love about this card is that it has a matching stamp (pre-printed one) and I also love the clear cancellation...I really dont get to see such every day.
Thanks a lot Pinar! It was a pleasure to have you in this Slavic RR! :)

Happy New Year 2010!!!

Well, I think the title is pretty self-explanatory...plus the day itself....so this cant be considered like a regular update....just something to commemorate this day....and I received this card half a year ago, but due to its characteristics, ive been saving it for today....so it would be a real nonsense if i actually dont use it...it wont be appropriate for any other day...ever! :P

So.....what should I actually say...uhmm....well, of course, first of all, Happy New Year everyone and i hope its gonna be a nice and good and successful one for you, and I hope your wishes will come true...for which, frankly, you DO need to put some effort...they dont get fulfilled by themselves :)
I have a bunch of wishes as well, and I will honestly try my best to at least work on them....many of them dont depend solely on me of course, but they do require my input in order to even consider being fulfilled....
The past year has definitely been one of the most odd ones in my life...I dont know how to define it in other words...it has had its ups and downs a lot,  but in a way, it has changed me a lot...for the good or the bad, i dont know anymore....I dont know what 2010 will bring...I used to believe that depending on how you spend your New Year's Eve/1st January, thats how your entire year would be....but thats absolutely no true...it has been proved over the years...so I cant predict anything....and if i had to predict my 2009, i would have failed 100%...
My New Year's Eve was, well ok...i stopped considering it as something special years ago....just another regular evening....only that many people make a great fuss about it....which is annoying....i hate it that people expect me to be in my best mood on this night, to have to go out and celebrate and stay until dawn...it may have been thrilling when i was a teenager and when going out and getting drunk and all was like the highlight of     the school week....then we only went out on weekends....after high-school every evening was convenient to go out...so the fun and thrill of the weekend had disappeared....same as for new year...i think i had outgrown it many years ago, and doesnt feel special anymore..its just a reminder that time really flies so fast, and its scary....
I dont want to have any high expectations about this year...or for anything, though i always hope for many things....you know, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst....that way, even if something doesnt turn out the way you want it to be, it wont be so shocking and disappointing....I especially practiced this technique at university....i often expected i was gonna fail an exam....so if i really did, my mind was sort of prepared for it, and didnt feel so disappointing....if i passed, the pleasure was even bigger since it wasnt expected....so same goes with everything else in life...at least for me
I did make some sort of resolutions though....im not sure if you can call them resolutions, but i definitely need some things i want to stick to....in order to feel better and more fulfilled and probably make others happy as well....its none of those *Im not gonna smoke anymore* kind of resolutions (well, i dont smoke either way)....but just a list of things i love doing and which i should take more seriously...thats all...some are financially demanding, so they may not be realized as i want them to, but its worth to try.

I dont know if you had seen this sort of cards before but ive noticed they are quite popular with some people. This is my only calendar card, and i dont think i would ever add them on my wishlist, but however, this one came more than perfect for this occasion....plus it has cats on it :P And the February one looks exactly like my Foxy! Uhmm, I dont know how many of you know about him actually...i guess i need to make a cat-post soon :)

Well, the bottom line is simple....Happy New Year to all of you, and dont forget to love each other...coz love conquers it all....believe me.
And thank you for being a part of this place for another year...i hope you will still be in the year to come, and i promise that as long as im not out of town, i will make posts here more regularly than this past year!


Its a new dawn a new day a new year for me....and Im feeling good :P

Turkey

A card which came as a total surprise from dear Leslie....ok, i knew she was gonna send me something, but had absolutely no idea what...and when i saw this card, all i could say was that its just perfect....a flag and map in one! Could i ask for something more? :)

 

Hmmm....i must admit that im using a PC i shouldnt be...but since im home alone, i sneaked in the family pc into my room, since its MUUUUCH faster than mine...and i just cant find the words to explain the difference while just working on the blog...its inexplicable how much time i get wasted while working on mine and waiting for all those applications to start and work with them and how often it gets stuck and unresponsive...I planned to go for a lap-top hunt this weekend, but then i realized i dont have all the necessary info at hand and i dont want to just rush into decisions and make a wrong one...and then realizing i should have bought some oder model/version...but i think that i wont be able to cope with my pc for much longer...
btw...i was wondering where the Turkish logo (if i can call it so) originates from...I see it on all cards and on all Turkey-related commercials...so it must have come out from somewhere...
hm, yeah well...me and my digressions :)

 

the stamp comes from the set of 16 stamps issued in 2005 showing Turkish provinces...and here is Aydin...i actually think i have shown this stamp before...or no...well, nevermind :)

Leslie...thanks a lot again...not just for the lovely card but for the thoughtfulness as well :)

Turkey

My first map card from Turkey!! Yay! Thanks to Janek who decided to spend his holidays there..i dont know if this is a coincidence or no, but my posts lately just seem to revolve around the word "holidays"...and just today ive been thinking about it (again) and didnt come up with something worth telling (again)

Speaking of Turkey, ive never actually been there, not even on a holiday even though among Macedonians its a popular destination to go to...mainly coz its not so far away, and its not too expensive either and you can just get there by bus...after a 24 hour travelling adventure. I have nothing against Turkey but ive never been drawn to it as a place to spend my summer holidays...probably coz of the fact that its just hot there, well, hotter than what i would like to have on my summer holiday  (i know this sounds ridiculous, but i dont like heat even when im by the sea)..and im also put off with that 24 hour travelling journey (since going by plane is way more expensive). I would really love to see Turkey one day since its a country with such rich history and places worth to be seen...but i guess that will have to happen at any other time but the summer holidays :)

This nice colourful stamp is from a set of 14, issued in 2005, called Our Cities - II. The stamp here represents the city of Burdur.

Village Life in Anatolia, Turkey

And before I rush back to work, here is my last card for today....

I got this one back in time, from this guy who went on holdiay in Turkey, and who brought me back some cards...and i recall, my reaction was...this is such a boring postcard...where are the sites??
But today, im more than thankful to him for bringing it to me, since it conributes to the variety, plus ive become to appreciate a various kind of postcards apart from the standard city views...
this one shows some village people in Anatolia...whose word derviation comes from Greek and means something like 'sunrise' or 'the land of the sunrise'.
It is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus o the northeast, the Aegan Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian  plateau to the east and southeast.

I was just wondering something...regarding Turkey and Russia...when i send mail there, i always use postage as if im sending it within Europe...coz ive never actually considered whether im sending to the European part of Turkey, or the Asian one...same goes with Russia...so i was wondering if the people at the post pay any attention to that or they just see the name of the country, and thats all that matters...coz im more than convinced that i had sent something in the Asian part of Turkey, with a normal stamp...and it had arrived...though i might be wrong...still, i was curious about it...

Turkey

I got this card in a lottery i participated in....its been quite a while since i had won a lottery card (well, neither i had really taken part in many) so it was a nice surprise to win this one...what makes it special is coz it was a lottery for spreading happiness and good things around....i feel as if the card itself has some positive karma in it...

It gives the seven advice of the Mevlana....its both in Turkish and English. Mevlana is an Anatolian holy man who gave hope and inspiration to humanity. According to Mevlana, love is the only thing necessary to attain God. A plant or an animal may also love, but it is only man who has the capacity to love with his body, mind, thoughts and memory.

here are his seven advice:
- In generosity and helping others, be like a river
- In compassion and grace be like the sun
- In concealing others faults be like the night
- In anger and fury, be like the dead
- In modesty and humility, be like the Earth
- In tolerance be like sea
- Either exist as you are or be as you look

I know that these kind of thoughts always trigger my never-ending-analyzing mind, but if i do that now, its definitely gonna be an endless post :)

Turkey (04)

I would really be grateful if ANYONE could help me define this postcard....the only thing thats written on the back says: "Hurşit Şah'i maiyyetiyle gösteren minyatür"

I suppose it represents some kind of an event or tradition in Turkey...but i would really really love to actually know what it is, so if anyone from Turkey or familiar with Turkish and the Turkish culture is reading this, can you PLEASE give me some more details about whats on the postcard?
Thank you a LOT in advance!!

Turkey (03)

An official card from Turkey...my first official from there....and one of the 5 cards i got in return for only one of mine sent...yup, that was an interesting scene to watch of how cards were being sent to Macedonia...after one of mine got registered....

TR-11219

On the card you can see several of the most famous, and a must-visit places in Turkey.

The largest picture shows Alanya, and the castle of Alanya  (ive already had a post about it, so in case you are interested, you can check it out, just click on Alanya on the label cloud at the left of the page)

the top right picture shows Hagia Sophia Museum and Bosphorus Istanbul.

middle picture shows Pamukkale

bottom right picture shows Bodrum - Mugla

well, that would be all for today...hope you have had a nice weekend, and im wishing you all a nice upcoming week...ill see you around with more new postcards and updates

Bodrum, Turkey (02)

A card showing a night-view of Bodrum, brought to me by a friend some years ago...2003 if i can recall correctly...

Bodrum is a famous tourism city which has the first underwater archaeology museum of Turkey in its gorgeous castle inherited from Rhodes Knights. The oldest known name of it is Halikarnas (Halicarnassus). In ancient times, Halikarnas was a city of Karya covering the whole Mugla and some part of Aydin. According to Homer epics, people called Karyas and Lelegs lived in this country. Karyas joined the 10-year Troy War beside Trojans.

The main works of art in Bodrum are the mausoleum of Mausolos, the Roman age theatre and Bodrum Castle. (which you can see on the postcard).

The castle consisting of three walls and five towers one within the other is seen everywhere in Bodrum. It is used as museum today. Besides the underwater foundlings, underground foundlings, uncovered around Bodrum, take place in the museum, too. The Mycenaean age vases dated as 14th – 12th centuries BC and unearthed in Ortakent (Müsgebi) are exhibited in the Gothic church in the castle. These are the most valuable Mycenaean works of art except the ones in Greece. In the same place, there are vases belonging to the oldest Dor settlement known in Anatolia and dated as 9th – 8th centuries BC and uncovered in Gökçebel (Dirmil) in Bodrum region and there is a tomb dated as 9th century BC and made out of terra-cotta. The sections, in which the valuable and unique works of art removed from the underwater are exhibited, are the most interesting areas of the museum. In the past, the pots called amphora and got caught in the fishnets of the spongers and fishers were being used in order to cool water at home or sold. Also, the Underwater Archeology Museum takes place in Bodrum Castle. Here, the bronze piles and the tools removed from a sunken belonging to the Bronze Age are exhibited.