Magnficent Turkey. You will discover a country, which conceals natural and historical treasures. For thousands of years it knew how to preserve the wonders that ancient civilisations left as their heritage…
Astride between the Occident and the Orient, Istanbul is the meeting point of two continents and several cultures. Founded more than 2600 years ago, it was initially Byzance then Constantinople before becoming the sumptuous capital of the Ottomans for almost 5 centuries. Today it is a gigantic cosmopolitan city where the past and the present mix in a striking synthesis. In visiting its most beautiful monuments we will show you its fascinating beauty.
Cappadocia offers one of the most surreal spectacles in the world. On a plateau made of a very soft volcanic ground, a mixture of ash and mud thrown up by two principal volcanoes. The wind and rain combined to carve cones, fairy chimneys, canyons and valleys. Man found an ideal refuge in this strange lansdscape. If Turkey is commonly considered as the crossroads of two continents and several civilisations, its Eastern part is the obvious frontier. With its high massif with spectacular relieves, it is geographically profoundly different of the other part of the country by its landscapes. Moreover all here announces the transition towards other worlds where time, relationship with nature and power, the way of existing do not have the same meaning than everywhere else. However, in spite of their low demographic density, the hamlets conserve their life style and their traditions.
In this area everything is in sublime juxtaposition with one another, times and landscapes coexist hand in hand harmoniously: remains of Ourartean, Roman and Persian civilisations, Armenian monasteries, Seldjuk mosques and caravanserais, cities with Arabic atmosphere… like a parenthesis out of time, in a cosmopolitan country. Churches and monasteries built everywhere here and there, are the witnesses of the intense development of the Christianity like nowhere else. Great builders of churches the Armenians left many monuments especially in the town of Ani the old Armenian capital. In every big cities of the sultanate many monuments were numerously erected as mosques with finely carved minarets, medressas and mausoleums. The East of Turkey has the greatest concentration of buildings of the seldjuk period… An opportunity of discovering which no one should miss.
But the most unforgettable memory of your trip will certainly be the sanctuary of Antiochos the Ist, sovereign of the kingdom of Commagene, at the top of the Mt Nemrut. In this tour we suggest you to discover Turkey profoundly.
Itinerary: 14 days
Day 1 / Trabzon :
Meet and transfer to hotel for the night.
Days 2 to 13 / Cultural tour:
We discover the Eastern Turkey including the cities of Trabzon (Monastery of Sumela), Erzurum, Kars, Ani (Armenian frontier), Dogubeyazit (Palace of Ishak pasa), Van ( the Ourartean site of cavustepe and the castle of Guzelsu), Tatvan (church of Akdamar), Bitlis, Diyarbakir, Mardin (monastery of Dayrul Zafaran), Sanliurfa, Harran (typical houses ), Kahta, Mount Nemrut, Gaziantep, ( site of Karatepe), Adana. Nights in comfortable hotels.
Day 14: Return
Return flight from Adana airport.
