Xanthos is the oldest and largest city of the mountainous province of Lycia, settled around 8th century BC in the valley of the Xanthos (today's Kinik) river in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. Until thePersian invasion in the 4th century BC it was an independent state. When the people of Xanthos, who had bravely tried to defend their city against Persians, realized that they could not repulse the invasion, they first killed their woman and committed mass suicide by throwi

Mimar Sinan, the "Great Architect Sinan", was born in Anatolia in a small town called Agırnas near the city of Kayseri, Turkey in 1489. He was conscripted as a soldier into the Ottoman royal house by the Devsirme System in 1512. After he completed his primary education as a cadet, he joined Belgrade(1521), Rhodes(1522), Mohacs(1526), Germany(1529), Iraq(1534), Corfu and Apulia(1537), Moldovia(1538) campaigns. During all these campaigns, he found an opportunity to identify man

From the days of the Ottoman Empire through the present, coffee has played an important role in Turkish lifestyle and culture. The serving and consumption of coffee has had a profound effect on betrothal and gender customs, political and social interaction, prayer, and hospitality customs throughout the centuries. Although many of the rituals are not prevalent in today's society, coffee has remained an integral part of Turkish culture. Brought to Istanbul in 1555 by two Syria

The art of Turkish tiles and ceramics occupies a place of prominence in the history of Islamic art. Its roots can be traced at least as far back as the Uighurs of the 8th and 9th centuries. Its subsequent development was influenced by Karakhanid, Ghaznavid, and (especially) Iranian Seljuk art. With the Seljuks' victory over the Byzantines at Malazgirt in 1071, the art followed them into Anatolia and embarked upon a new period of strong development fostered by the Anatolian Se

The harem was defined to be the women's quarter in a Muslim household. The Imperial harem (also known as the Seraglio harem) contained the combined households of the Valide Sultan (Queen Mother), the Sultan's favorites (hasekis), and the rest of his concubines (women whose main function was to entertain the Sultan in the bedchamber). It also contained all the Sultanas (daughters of the Sultan) households. Many of the harem women would never see the Sultan and became the serva

Everybody thinks that tulips come from Holland. Actually, Tulips are native to Central Asia and Turkey. In the 16th Century they were brought to Holland from Turkey, and quickly became widely popular. Today Tulips are cultivated in Holland in great numbers and in huge fields. Dutch bulbs, including tulips and daffodils, are exported all around the world so people think that it's originated from there as well. In fact many cultivated varieties were widely grown in Turkey long

The Turks are a society devoted to their traditions, and this extends to their dress. Şalvar (trousers), inner robes, and kaftan (outer gown or robe) they wore in Central Asia came to Anatolia with the Seljuks (1037-1157) and continued to be worn by the Ottomans. The range of dress worn by the Anatolian Seljuks is revealed through the miniatures and ceramics of the period. The most striking aspects of Seljuks’ dress are the V shape of the neck opening and the decoration of th

Known to the west as Whirling Dervishes, the members of the Mevlevi Order (named for their founder Mevlana) from Konya lived in what we might call coisters or monasteries - what to them was a Mevlevihane. The one at Galata in Istanbul is a product of late Ottoman architecture, and quite elaborate in having a tomb, a large chamber for the ceremony of the whirling dance (Sema), a fountain from which water was charitably distributed to the public, a time keeper's room, cells for

Karagöz & Hacivat is a Turkish shadow play taking its name from its main character Karagöz. The origin of the shadow plays is accepted as southeastern part of Asia around Java. Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi says that the play was first performed at the Ottomanpalaces in the late 14th century. Some others say that this play came into Anatolia after Yavuz Sultan Selim, who had conquered Egypt in 1517, had brought the shadow play artists to his court.   According to a legend, t