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- Category:
- Geography - Countries
- Description:
- * The focus of this group is on history, archaeology, mythology, anthropology, culture & arts
* The aim is to enhance peaceful communication, understanding, interest and cultural exchange
* All members are invited to share and communicate little or unknown facts about Turkey they consider interesting or newsworthy to a global community - Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public.
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- Simin (creator)
Basic Info
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- Little known facts about Turkey
- Category:
- Geography - Countries
- Description:
- * The focus of this group is on history, archaeology, mythology, anthropology, culture & arts
* The aim is to enhance peaceful communication, understanding, interest and cultural exchange
* All members are invited to share and communicate little or unknown facts about Turkey they consider interesting or newsworthy to a global community - Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public.
Contact Info
- Location:
- Istanbul, Turkey
Recent News
- News:
- Parts of the following list were gathered by Esin Akalin and Simin Gürler in March 2005 for a university brochure and it has grown continuely ever since:
DID YOU KNOW THAT.....
......the land which is called Turkey today (Asia Minor in historical terms) is
- an open-air museum of archaeology, history, art and architecture?
- a country which has been at the crossroads of the world’s civilizations for thousands of years?
- a country where geografically the continent of Europe meets the continent of Asia right in the middle of the city of Istanbul?
- a country, not only a bridge between continents, but between cultures, where east meets west refered to as the cradle of civilizations?
- a country with five thousand miles of superb coastline on four different seas?
- a country with one of the world’s greatest cuisines ?
DID YOU KNOW THAT..........
the land called Turkey today.....
--- has been the homeland of the Hattis, Hittites, Assyrians, Urartans, Phyrigians, Lydians, Persians, Trojans, Ionians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks and Ottomans?
--- Mesopotamia, the fabled land ‘between the rivers’ Tigris and Euphrates lies in South-East Turkey?
--- Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey on the Agean coast is the birthplace of Homer?
--- The legend of Chimera, the fire-breathing monster and Bellerophon took place near Antalya at the south mediterranean coast?
--- Daphne was turned into a bay tree by Zeus to escape the amorous advances of Apollo in the Mediterranean region near Antalya?
--- Mark Anthony once gave part of Turkey’s southern shore in Antalya and Side (Turkish Riviera) to Cleopatra as a wedding present?
--- the Virgin Mary is believed to have spent the last days of her life in a chapel near Izmir (Selcuk/Ephesus), a famous pilgrimage site today?
--- St. Paul who came from Tarsus has preached in the great theatre in Ephesus and traveled and lived around Turkey for years?
--- St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) once lived in Demre (Myra), south of Turkey near Antalya, and is burried here?
--- in the 13th Century, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, world famous mystic poet whose tolerance and humanity were quite exceptional for his age, founded the Whirling Dervishes in Konya, central Turkey, a cult still active and alive today?
--- Yunus Emre, a Turkish humanist and a contemporary of Jellaladdin Rumi, much like his European successors Erasmus and Martin Luther, sought to modify man’s traditional concept of himself and the world?
--- Sinan, the greatest of all Ottoman architects was a worthy rival of his near contemporary Michelangelo and that the architect of the Tajmahal in India was one of Sinan´s students?
--- 9000 different species of plants grow in Turkey and that 3000 of these grow only in Turkey and nowhere else in the world?
--- In the sixteenth century, Busbecq, the Ambassador in Istanbul of the Habsburg Emperor first introduced the tulip flower to Europe brought with him from Turkey?
--- Agatha Christi’s famous story "Orient Express" was mainly written in the Pera Palas Hotel in Istanbul between 1926-32?
--- The card game "Bridge" was invented in the 1860’s in Istanbul and named after the Galata Bridge?
--- The movie "Troy" is based on the legendary tale told by Homer in the Iliad and the real Troy is located in Turkey on the Dardanelles Straits, the meeting point of continents?
--- The Christian church first took root, grew, developed and spread throughout the world from Turkey and that Turkey is referred to as the Cradle of Christianity?
--- Many of the Old and New Testament stories happened throughout Turkey and therefore it is often referred to as the "second holy land"?
--- After the flood, Noah's Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey?
--- The rainbow first appeared at Mt. Ararat in eastern Turkey (Gen. 9:12-15)?
--- One of the oldest known human cities, Çatal Höyük, is in Turkey and was the largest and probably the earliest example of a Neolithic Anatolian village about 9000 years ago?
--- Atatürks adopted daughter Sabiha Gökçen was the world’s first female combat pilot in the 1930ies?
---- Almost one and a half centuries before the history of flight started ın 1783, the Turkish scientist Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi (1609-1640) flew across the Bosphorus from the Galata Tower?
--- Aphrodisias, the temple of Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love, is located near Izmir?
- that turkish beauty Keriman Halis Ece became "Miss World" in 1932 in Brussels?
--- Europe’s second oldest subway "Tunel" was built by the French in Istanbul 1875 before they build the "Metro" in Paris?
--- The horse carriage statues on San Marco square of Venice were once adorning the Emperor box on the Hippodrome in Istanbul?
--- The grave of the famous Carthaginian commander Hannibal is located in the town of Gebze on the northern shores of the Marmara Sea?
--- about 500 B.C. the first silver, bronze and gold money trade coins first appeared in Lydia, Turkey?
--- the famous Amazon warrior women lived at the turkish black sea coast between Samsun and Giresun and are believed to have later settled down near Izmir to build the temple of Arthemis in Ephesus and spend the rest of their lives as temple priestesses?
--- women in Turkey were given the right to vote and to be elected in 1934, before these rights were granted to Swiss women?
--- the world´s first car ferry called "Suhulet" was first developped by turkish engineers in 1871 to run on the Bosphorus and was later introduced in England?
--- the world´s oldest bath & healing spa Allianoi is located near Bergama, Izmir?
--- the world´s first military band was the turkish military band called "Mehter Takimi"?
--- there is evidence of a genetic relation between Turkish tribes of Central Asia and Native American tribes of North America due to migration over Siberia/Bearing Sea ?
--- wine was already being produced in south-east Anatolia (Antakya) as early as 4000 B.C.?
--- coffee was introduced to Europe from Turkey?
--- the Mosaic Museum in Antakya (old Antioch, capital of Hatay) is the largest of its kind (pebble floor mosaic) in Turkey and second largest mosaic museum in the world?
--- Homer and Herodotus studied and wrote in Pergamon (near Izmir), and the library was the 2nd largest in the world, next to Alexandria's, with over 200,000 books and Marc Anthony gave the library's treasures to Cleopatra for the Library of Alexandria, after Julius Caesar had burnt it down?
--- the "Turquoise" gem stone (and the same color tone) was first introduced to Europe from Turkey in the 16th century and therefore named after its exporters?
---- open to be continued ----