Frommers.com Community
By Lynn Levine
It seems like Turkey is in the news every day these days, and not just because of the countrys heightened involvement in Middle East and Central Asian affairs (or its retaliatory shelling over the Syrian border). For the first time in nearly a century, Turkey is on the minds of record numbers of people (and media) in search of whats culturally significant, artistically relevant, culinarily important, historically momentous and religiously meaningful.
Photo caption: View from Museum of Underwater Archaeology in Bodrum, Turkey.
Outsized demand for travel in and out of Turkey has many airlines spreading their wings. Turkish Airlines (www.thy.com) inaugurated its first non-stop service from Canada to Turkey this past summer with direct flights from Toronto to Istanbul. THY has also announced that it will add non-stop service from Houston to Istanbul in April 2013, along with a third daily flight between Istanbul and New York as of May. In July 2012, United Airlines (www.united.com) followed suit with daily service to Istanbul out of Newark's Liberty Airport. And for UK travelers, Atlasjet's (www.atlasjet.com) route from London's Stansted to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport route went daily as of October 2012.
Photo caption: Turkish Airlines in flight.
Istanbul's controversial Halic Metro Bridge, designed to connect the Sishane and Unkapani stations, is on its way to seamlessly connecting the city's metro project's two halves across the Golden Horn. In fact, the city's entire transport infrastructure continues to steadily expand. For details, visit www.istanbul-ulasim.com.tr (in Turkish; if you Google it then you can turn on the "translate" option).
Photo caption: Halic Metro Bridge, Istanbul.
As the artistic boom continues to spread along Karaköy's Bankalar Caddesi and the popularity of the sleepy back streets of Karaköy reaches new heights, stylish venues and galleries are popping up in the neighborhood's once forgotten stately buildings. Karaköy Rooms provides a chic, historic and greatly desirable place to lay your weary head, brought to you by the same people that made the Karaköy Lokantasi a neighborhood tradition (Kemankes Caddesi Galata Sarap Iskelesi Sokak No.10, Karaköy; tel. 90 212/252-5422; www.karakoyrooms.com).
Another cool new locale is Bank, one of the area's go-to lunchtime eateries located inside the Gradiva Hotel (Bankalar Caddesi No. 2/1; tel. 90 0212 249-7700; www.gradivahotels.com). Stay tuned for the opening of the hotel's Nublu jazz bar and Zelda Zonk bar.
Photo caption: Karaköy Lokantasi and Karaköy Rooms, Istanbul.
The Antalya Aquarium (www.antalyaaquarium.com) is now home of the world's largest tunnel aquarium, where visitors can get the feeling of swimming with the fishes without stepping foot off of dry land.
Photo caption: Antalya Aquarium, Antalya, Turkey.
One of a pair of sphinxes once guarding the Yerkapi Gate at Bogazköy is once again on home soil after 94 years, having been returned from Germany. The sphinx is now on exhibit at the Bogazköy Museum, together with its mate, which was transferred from its home at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. Meanwhile, the upper half of the statue of Heracles once adorning the ancient site of Perge has been reunited with its bottom half in the Antalya Museum. And a collection of jewelry unearthed at Troy and on display at the University of Pennsylvania museum since 1966 has been returned.
Photo caption: The Selcuk Citadel, the well preserved Byzantine castle sits on the hill of Ayasuluk, overlooking the town of Selcuk.
With the number of sites in Turkey recognized by UNESCO now at eleven, ongoing excavations are unearthing future candidates on a seemingly daily basis. Archaeologists have unearthed an extraordinary artifact -- a colossal statue of the Hittite King Suppiluliuma -- in Tell Tayinat, an ancient site in Hatay. Archaeologists have also discovered the ruins of a synagogue during excavations of the ancient site of Limyra, near the Mediterranean town of Finike. Limyra is the second synagogue to be unearthed in ancient Lycia, the first being a Jewish house of worship in Myra (Demre). And after decades of neglect, the Selcuk's Ayasuluk Castle has been exhumed to reveal a commanding fortress set atop above the remains of the Basilica of St. John.
Photo caption: Yerkapi Gate at Bogazköy, Turkey.
It seems like Turkey is in the news every day these days, and not just because of the countrys heightened involvement in Middle East and Central Asian affairs (or its retaliatory shelling over the Syrian border). For the first time in nearly a century, Turkey is on the minds of record numbers of people (and media) in search of whats culturally significant, artistically relevant, culinarily important, historically momentous and religiously meaningful.
Photo caption: View from Museum of Underwater Archaeology in Bodrum, Turkey.
Photo caption: Turkish Airlines in flight.
Photo caption: Halic Metro Bridge, Istanbul.
Another cool new locale is Bank, one of the area's go-to lunchtime eateries located inside the Gradiva Hotel (Bankalar Caddesi No. 2/1; tel. 90 0212 249-7700; www.gradivahotels.com). Stay tuned for the opening of the hotel's Nublu jazz bar and Zelda Zonk bar.
Photo caption: Karaköy Lokantasi and Karaköy Rooms, Istanbul.
Photo caption: Antalya Aquarium, Antalya, Turkey.
Photo caption: The Selcuk Citadel, the well preserved Byzantine castle sits on the hill of Ayasuluk, overlooking the town of Selcuk.
Photo caption: Yerkapi Gate at Bogazköy, Turkey.