Turkey sightseeing tours

DAY 1 HATAY (ANTIOCH)

Fly to Antioch and after arrival we drive to our hotel.

After check-in and breakfast we start our tour of the city. Our visits today will include the St Peter’s Grotto where, in this natural cave, St Peter gathered the first Christian community around him; the Archaeological Museum, third largest collection after Zeugma famous for its important collections.

Overnight in Antakya.

DAY 2 HATAY (ANTIOCH)

The next day we drive to Seleucia ad Pieria to see the massive diversion tunnels dug by the Roman emperors Titus and Vespasianus to protect both the harbour from silting up and also to protect the fertile plain from being flooded by the waters of the Orontes River. Late afternoon we explore the old streets of Antioch.

Overnight in Antakya.

DAY 3 GAZIANTEP

After early breakfast we take the road to Gaziantep that is the major principal city before our stop at Zeugma.

Gaziantep is one of the modern cities of Turkey and also one of the oldest of Hittite origin. It is famed being the center of pistachio nut cultivation. It is also known for its extensive olive groves and vineyards.

The old city known as Aintap is located 12 kilometers to the north of the present city, on the upper slopes of Nizip Hill. The area was continuously inhabited by the regional powers as the Assyrians, Persians, Romans, the Byzantines, Abbasid and the Seljuk Turks and lastly Ottomans. The museum and the fortress are the most important highlights in the city. The last use of fortress was against the French forces in 1921.

Near Islahiye District you will find Yesemek Open Air Museum. This immense field of sculpture is known to be the largest of its kind in the Near East. Findings have shown that the area was occupied by the Hittite king Suppilulluma around 1375-1335 BC and forced local native Hurries to work as slave labour. The tumulus that is believed to belong to the master supervisors is located about 2 km to the west of Yesemek.

Dulluk is another important place close to the city center . This is an ideal place for those who would like to enjoy in a natural setting amidst forest.

we need to mention Karkamis that is an important site of arts and culture (then known as Cerablus) in the province of Gaziantep. The town is located on the Syrian border, the citadel and the inner town on the west side remaining in Turkey, and the outer fortress and town remaining in Syria. This is the place where the Legend of Gilgamesh took place

Gaziantep Museum

The museum has the second largest collection of mosaics mostly discovered in the recovery works at Zeugma. There are six display halls; each houses a number of master pieces, all from Zeugma.

Overnight in Gaziantep

DAY 4 ZEUGMA-HALFETI

The antique city Zeugma (Belkis) is located about 10km from Nizip in Kavunlu village.

Zeugma

The remains appear to lie under a tumulus type acropolis dating back to as early as Hellenistic and followed by Roman and Byzantine times. The city had sovereignty rights within the Roman Empire to issue coin under its own name. Excavations carried out in recent years unearthed remains of a Roman house where a mosaic believed to be belonging to Dionysos and various sculptres were discovered. These are now being exhibited in the halls designated to Zeugma findings in the Gaziantep Museum. This museum is now known to be the second largest mosaic museum in the world after Bardo in Tunis. Antioch mosaic museum which was the finest and largest in Turkey has fallen to third rank in the world.

Halfeti

Rumkale settlement is located at Halfeti by the river Euphrates. This is believed to be a Hittite settlement dating as far back as 840 BC. The inhabitants after Hittites lived under the domination of various powers namely Assyrians, Meds, Persians, Romans and the Arabs. It is said that apostle John used Rumkale as his base to spread Christianity in the region. With its rich display and setting is the site worth visiting especially the beautiful setting it is fitted with. Rumkale is the largest of all fortresses in the area and it has many other remains dating back to various periods in history.

After Halfeti we drive to Sanliurfa.

Overnight in Sanliurfa.

DAY 5 SANLIURFA

After breakfast we drive to Sanlyurfa. En route we visit the village of Harran where you will see peculiar beehive-like dwellings. The location has strong biblical links as, according to the book of Genesis, the prophet Abraham lived in Harran on his way from Ur to Canaan.

Overnight at the El-Ruha Hotel in Sanliurfa

DAY 6 MARDIN

We start the day visiting Gobekli Tepe then continue our tour visiting El Rahman Mosque with its fabled carp pools and the Castle for great views are included. We’ll also stroll through the colourful Urfa Bazaar. Then we drive to Mardin.

Overnight in Mardin

DAY 7 DIYARBAKIR

We start the day early and drive to Diyarbakir. En route we stop to see Hasankeyf.

Overnight in Diyarbakir

DAY 8 MT NEMRUT

Today we shall drive to Mt Nemrut. You will be captured by the fascinating phenemonen of sunset and the remains of the sanctuary of the Commagene dynasty.

Overnight in Kahta

DAY 9 DIYARBAKIR

This is our last day in the province. We drive back to Diyarbakir and take the first flight to Istanbul.

Issos ruins located between the towns of Dortyol and Erzin. The place witnessed the victory of Alexander the Great over the Persian King Darius III in a decisive cavalry encounter.

HATAY - GAZIANTEP ... 197 km

GAZIANTEP - SANLIURFA 137 km

SANLIURFA - MARDIN 180 km

MARDIN - DIYARBAKIR 96 km

Antioch (Antakya) is the principal city in Hatay that is the regional name in Turkish. Antioch is fascinating place. It was once called "the fair crown of the Orient." One of the most advanced cities of the Roman Empire. The city was founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. The importance of the region is largely due to its perfect climatic conditions and the fertile land. As a result it has come under the domination of many ruling powers as Pers, Macedonians, Romans, Sassanites, Byzantines, Abbasids, Seljuks, the Crusaders, the Memluks and finally Ottomans.

It is said that figure was carved in an attempt to ward off a plague afflicting Antioch. After many people had perished from the illness. Legend has it that a seer named Leios commanded that a great "mask" be carved out of the mountain overlooking the city, "and inscribing something on it he put an end to the pestilential death. This mask the people of Antioch call the Charonion."

Antioch was also home to many influential Christian scholars as the martyr-bishop Ignatius of Antioch, the pillar-saint Simeon and the "golden-mouthed" preacher John Chrysostom, outspoken patriarch of Hagia Sophia.

Seleucia Pieria was the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria, close to the mouth of the Orontes River. Seleucia became a city of great importance.

The Armenian king Tigranes II attacked the city but Seleucia resisted the attacks, and when the Roman general Pompey the Great restored the Seleucids to power, he rewarded Seleucia by allowing it de facto independence: he gave the city to Antiochus I Theos of Commagene.

The important works, irrigation works, and some fortifications very much damaged but considerable remains are still visible.

A stream which led into the harbor was so threatening during the flood season that the Romans built a water channel north of the city to divert it. Legionaries, sailors, and Judean prisoners provided the work for the project. Titus’ tunnel, as it is called today, cuts through the solid rock of the mountain in two places.

An inscription shown here dedicates the tunnel to Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus, so construction of the tunnel probably began in 70 A.D.

It is situated in the picturesque canyon. The rise of the waters of the dam floaded the whole valley.

The town was the most easterly point of Roman empire, shows signs of successive powers: Hittites, Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Arabs,...

Rumkale looms into view at the highest point among the steep rock cliffs. Believed to be founded by the Assyrians in 885 B.C., following its Greek, Assyrian, Arab, Byzantine, Sassanid, Umayyad and Abbasid period, in Ottoman times it was known in the 16th century as Golden Fortress.

On the vast arid flat plain there exists Harran a place where the ruins of a university that trained the greatest mathematicians, astronomers and philosophers once in the past are still resisting time. Battani, who correctly calculated the distance from the earth to the moon, and Jabir ibn Hayyan, who discovered the atom were from Harran.

Hasankeyf had been the capital city of Artukogullai between the years 1101 and 1231. The castle of the city is built on a high hill in the south of Tigris (Dicle). Imam Abdullah dervish lodge, Zeynel Bey tomb, Hasankeyf palace and bridge are among the structures to stand still. This was originally a Roman frontier town named Cepha. An important out post forByzantines. After Arab control 640 C name changed from Greek Kiphas to Hisn Kayfa.

One can find many remains of Artukids. According to an Arab Chroicle the bridge built over Tigres river regarded finest in Anatolia. Artukids emir Fahreddin Kara Aslan repaired it in 1116. After Mongol invasion of Anatolia Hasankeyf took its share and never recovered its past glory.

The ancient town of Zeugma all of a sudden came to life after two thousand years being forgotten under the fertile banks of the Euphrates River. Zeugma flourished under the Commagene Kingdom, later underwent enourmous developments when it finally came under the Roman rule. However. invading Sasanians have infliced irreparable damage and forced Zeugma to go into a deep slumber. The findings discoverd were housed in the Gaziantep Museum—the world’s largest mosaic museum, which surpasses many famed museums, Bardo of Tunus and Antakya Museums.e ancient city of Antioch

You will find that each mosaic made up colorful stones has a story to deliver. In particular the ‘Gypsy Girl’ with piercing eyes has amazed every one. Mosaics depicting Poseidon, Oceanus, Tethys, the river gods each depicting tales from mythology. For example, the rise of Venus-Aphrodite from a sea shell, or the family of Achilles trying to deter the great hero from going off to war where he will slay the Trojan prince Hector, or Bacche, dancing in honor of Dionysus’ return from India with Nike, the god of victory, to name just a few.

Yesemek is an open air museum of unfinished sculpture works. It was actually a stone quary of almost 200 statues and various other artifacts.

According to historical evidence, the worksite was opened by the Hitite Emperor, Suppilluma the first (1375-1335 B.C.) and he forced the local Huri population to slave labor. The sculpture works show signs of Assyrian, Hitite and Syrian influence.

The Duluk Antique City was a holly place, old name Doliche. Durng the Hittite era Baal Temple existed in the area. The site has not been excaveted yet.