Damien and Renee wedding photos

Cappadoccia, Caravanserai

 Houses carved form rock, with many rooms and stairs. Imagine what the dusting would be like after a windy day.

 Robert the photographer gets his photo taken

 No he is not a Turk, he just looks like one! As his mother is Greek, I better watch what I say but he does look the part. Yes, he did buy that hat!

 Now that is a backpack!

 Got to love this, old meets new. A steel ladder to climb up onto a camel [a very old form of transportation.]

 Market stall.

Amazing region of Turkey, rock formations that resemble fairy towers. These were formed by ancient volcanic action, entire villages are carved out with people still living in some of the towers, there are underground cities and christian catacombes with amazing frescoes with the colours still vibrant after all this time. We went to open air museum in Goreme through the Avcilar Valley, Kayamakli Underground City, the place were early christians hid from persecutors, Pasabagi in Zelve region and Avanos, shopped for handicrafts this area is famous for.
Caravanserai
The first picture is of the portal of the Karatay Han near ayseri in Central Anatolia.
A caravanserai, essentially a transit stop where men and beasts rested overnight, layovers in the great bazaars could easily extend into weeks or even months.  These huge stone buildings were made to shelter the caravaneers, their camels, horses and donkeys, and their cargoes, to keep them safe from highwaymen and to provide needed travel services, a huge square or rectangular building with high walls of local stone. The walls are smoothly finished but devoid of decoration, except for the potal which is elaborately decorated with bands of geometric design, Kur’anic inscriptions in Arabic script, and the sculpted geometric patterns of mukarnas (stalactite vaulting).
Walk through the main portal and you pass the room of the caravanserai’s manager and enter a large courtyard. At its center may be a mescit (small mosque or prayer-room), usually raised above ground level on a stone platform. (The mescit may also be built into the walls above the main portal.) Around the sides of the courtyard, built into the walls, are the service rooms: refectory, treasury, hamam, repair shops, etc.
At the far end of the courtyard from the main portal is the grand hall, a huge vaulted hall usually with a nave and three side aisles. The hall is usually lit by slit windows in the stone walls and/or a stone cupola centered above the nave. The hall sheltered goods and caravaneers during bad winter weather.
Most caravanserais were built as pious endowments: a wealthy Seljuk gave money for the building’s construction and also made available a source of income to be used for its maintenance.
Caravans were welcomed into the caravansarai in the evening, and were welcome to stay free for three days. Food, fodder and lodging were provided free of charge, courtesy of the building’s founder. (Most caravans probably moved on the next morning.)

Holiday in Turkey, Bosphorus River

Breathtaking waterway. We cruised by ornate Ottoman palaces and grand villas. Saw the great rounded domes and elegant minarets gracing the skyline. The boat dancing merrily across the waters from Europe to Asia, fusing reflections of blues and greens, an unmissable and truly magical day trip, wine beer and coffee available on board. Went to the highest point in Instanbul and rode a cable car down, went to craft markets and shops.

Istanbul

This photographic  tour will take you through Istanbul’s old city, with its Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman monuments of an historic past. We admired the defensive walls, the Roman aqueduct and the hippodrome. Saw the Galata Tower and paid a visit to the Blue Mosque as well as Hagia Sophia, today a museum that’s one of the best surviving examples of Byzantine architecture [pink building] . At night entertained by a Turkish belly dancing performance, watched the Swirling Dervish dancers, toured the markets and ate at local restaurants and food stalls. We wandered the Topkapi Palace, cobblestone streets and of course, the Grand Bazaar which is the biggest undercover market in the world [I think] with over 5,000 stalls. Here I did some serious icon shopping and boy, I could have spent a lot of money if I had it!

The last 9 photos were taken inside the Hagia Sophia.

Robert and Vicky, holiday in Turkey [Kusadasi, Pergamum, Troy, Canakkale, Gallipoli]

Kusadasi, Pergamum, Troy, Canakkale, Gallipoli

The sign says it all!

Country side between Kusadasi and Pergamum

Pergamum

 More old meets new

 A carpet shop in Turkey. I didn't know there was carpet shops in Turkey, did you?

 Pergamum

Oh what a beauty, the car that is! Robert found this in the garden of a huge leather factory, retail centre.

Troy

Anzac Cove

Gallipoli

Pamukkale, Hierapolis ,Ephesus

Pamukkale, the center of natural thermal spring waters with healing properties. Due to the chemical properties in the water, pure white colored travertines and stepped water terraces have been created on the mountain slope. It is for its resemblance to cotton piles that it is called 'Cotton Castle' in Turkish.

Photos of our visit to the travertines and the ancient city of Hierapolis which has the biggest Nekropol with 1200 gravestones in Anatolia. The sacred pool also is one of the highlights of the site. There shallow thermal waters ripple over a wonderful scattering of ancient roman ruins that lie beneath.  Hierapolis with the Temple of Apollo, the breathtaking Theater, the fascinating Necropolis and the last the great baths of Hierapolis antique city, where St. Philip was martyred. St. Philip is connected with the early church in Hierapolis and played an important role in Pamukkale the history of the city.

  Ephesus, looked at the remains of the Artemis Temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Afterwards, it proceeds to the spectacular main site of Ephesus, undoubtedly the most superbly preserved Greco-Roman city. Unmistakable highlights surviving among the ruins are the Celsius Library, Agora, Theater, Odeon, Trajan Fountain, Domitianus Temple and Roman Latrines. This was so amazing, so many colums just laying on the ground and miles of half unearthed stonework and as well as half constructed and reconstructed buildings.

Temple of Aphrodite

House of the Virgin Mary

 A visit the House of Virgin Mary; reputed to be where she spent her final days. Hundreds of people cued down the hill, quietly waiting to walk through the house [is a small functional chapel now], waiting to fill containers with holy water and a Nun who looks after the chapel. There is a huge statue of the Virgin Mary on the roadside.
Caravanserai
The first picture is of the portal of the Karatay Han near ayseri in Central Anatolia.
A caravanserai, essentially a transit stop where men and beasts rested overnight, layovers in the great bazaars could easily extend into weeks or even months.  These huge stone buildings were made to shelter the caravaneers, their camels, horses and donkeys, and their cargoes, to keep them safe from highwaymen and to provide needed travel services, a huge square or rectangular building with high walls of local stone. The walls are smoothly finished but devoid of decoration, except for the potal which is elaborately decorated with bands of geometric design, Kur’anic inscriptions in Arabic script, and the sculpted geometric patterns of mukarnas (stalactite vaulting).
Walk through the main portal and you pass the room of the caravanserai’s manager and enter a large courtyard. At its center may be a mescit (small mosque or prayer-room), usually raised above ground level on a stone platform. (The mescit may also be built into the walls above the main portal.) Around the sides of the courtyard, built into the walls, are the service rooms: refectory, treasury, hamam, repair shops, etc.
At the far end of the courtyard from the main portal is the grand hall, a huge vaulted hall usually with a nave and three side aisles. The hall is usually lit by slit windows in the stone walls and/or a stone cupola centered above the nave. The hall sheltered goods and caravaneers during bad winter weather.
Most caravanserais were built as pious endowments: a wealthy Seljuk gave money for the building’s construction and also made available a source of income to be used for its maintenance.
Caravans were welcomed into the caravansarai in the evening, and were welcome to stay free for three days. Food, fodder and lodging were provided free of charge, courtesy of the building’s founder. (Most caravans probably moved on the next morning.)