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You are here: Home / Archives for ruins

Living History While Traveling in Trabzon Turkey

August 1, 2013 By Danny

It about three  years ago when we found ourselves traveling through Turkey during Ramadan.  Turkey itself is a wonderful place to travel but what we found difficult was that as we headed further east, to the more religious parts of the country, we encountered the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.  During the holiday, Muslims traditionally don’t eat during the day and instead pig out at night.  Trying to be sensitive, and challenged by what food options were available to us, we tried to do the same which left us hungry during the day and awake at night as our busses made frequent food stops.

This past week we read an article in The Economist detailing how a Byzantine Monastary was being used as a Mosque to celebrate Ramadan.  The article took me back to that time on the trip, travlling through that very city during this same very holiday.  Although we didn’t visit this specific site, The Hagia Sophia of Trabzon, we were passing through during Ramadan and did visit another Byzantine Monastery, the Sumela Monastery.  The site was itself quite beautiful and, as a tourist site, made a nice reprieve for us from the restrictions of traveling during Ramadan.  Reading the Economist article I am left to wonder if it may to find a day when its own purpose is changed to another religion.  This is something that happens all the time, especially in the Middle East, but I just can’t help to wonder what the future holds for sites such as this.

I intend to offer no opinion regarding the cultural and religious politics of that region of Turkey, but instead just want to offer a few photos from the Sumela Monastary

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Filed Under: Headline, photos, Turkey Tagged With: cultures, politics, religion, ruins, sumela monastery, travel, turkey

Exploring the Ruins of Olympos Turkey

August 17, 2012 By Jillian

Exploring Olympos, Turkey is a bit like a mythological tale. Ancient Lycian ruins, an isolated Mediterranean beach accessed only by boat, unending flames from the side of a mountain and treehouses.  Yes, it’s all a bit like a fantastical tale from an epic poem from ancient times.

Indeed, Olympos itself is a small smattering of homes, hotels and restaurants along the coast, but it’s history dates back much further than the meager tourist infrastructure we see today.  Famed for it’s unending flames,famous in the myth of Bellarophon and the Chimera, the area has been inhabited for thousands of years.   The ancient ruins of Lycia are tucked away just off the pebbled beach, and exploring them on well worn, but unkempt paths maintains that feeling of being in ancient mythology.  Relative to Ephesus the ruins are smaller, but also less trafficked, so it is a great place to get up close and personal with the stone work and intricate architectural decorations.  We came across the wall of this Lycian temple after wandering down an overgrown path.  Symbolically, only the front gate remains.  Olympos is covered with ruins like this, most not as large, but tucked away off overgrown foot paths.

If You Go: The beach is spotted with various accommodation of all comfort levels and prices.  Just inland are even more options, including treehouses.  The village of Olympos is relatively relaxed at night with more nightlife going on in Bayrams.  We walked from Olympos to the Chimera, a long, but pleasurable walk in the night.  After Jill put out the eternal flame of Olympos, we took a cab back to the beach and from there hiked inland to Olympos.  Olympos is a short dalmus ride from Antalya.  A paved road now runs from the main road into the village, but it does not go all the way to the beach.

 

This post has been brought to you by Holiday Hypermarket with great deals to Turkey.

Filed Under: Headline, photos Tagged With: olympos, ruins, turkey

Romantic Sunsets

November 11, 2011 By Jillian

Admittedly I’m more of a sunset person than a sunrise person, which is ironic given that I’m a morning person.  All of that aside, this is one of my favorite pictures from our entire trip.  We’re sitting on the edge of calcium pools in Turkey, at a site called Pamukkale, which has been a popular bathing spot for thousands of years.

Called castle of cotton in Turkish, the travertine and calcium hot springs sit just below the ancient greek city of Heiropolis on the side of a cliff in Eastern Turkey.  Today, tourists are only allowed in the man-made baths for conservation reasons, but it hardly takes away from the places ambiance or atmosphere.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Pamukkale is worth an overnight stay just to see sunset from the travertine pools.  Bring good sunglasses as during the day the calcium and travertine deposits are absolutely blinding.  Towels and lockers can be rented at the “hot springs” at the top- the lush garden areas are worth the admission price alone.  It’s easy to spend a full day exploring both the ruins and the pools, but avoid being at either during the heat of the day- the site almost completely lacks shade.

Filed Under: photos Tagged With: romance, ruins, sunsets

Teotihuacan… say that five times.

November 10, 2011 By Jillian

The Aztecs are a civilization of legend.  From enormous pyramids to human sacrifice to accounts of gold and tremendous wealth they’re a people and a culture that’s become a symbol of Mexico.  Teotihuacan, their capital was likely one of the largest cities in the Americas before the Spanish came.  At its zenith, the city may have been home to over 200,000 people.  With modern amenities like trash collection and multi-story apartment complexes, and practices such as bathing 2-3 times per day,  the city was likely a shock to Europeans who were coming from cities where urban live was at the very least unhygienic and unpleasant.

Today Teotihuacan remains part of one of the largest cities in the world.  About 30 miles outside Mexico City, the ancient site is enormous, even by today’s standards.  Evidence of large residential complexes, specialized markets and enormous religious buildings remain.  Teotihuacan’s Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon are the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico.

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Fortunately we toured the site before the crowded tour buses rolled in.  From atop the Temple of the Sun a huge expanse of river plain laid out before us.  Today it’s dotted with villages, roads and parking lots, but during the time of the Aztecs, the view from atop the Temple must have been breathtaking.

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Like many archaeological sites, the line between preservation and conservation has been blurred with construction.  Much of the Temple of the Sun has been rebuilt.  In fact, today the Temple has one more level then it did when the Aztec’s used it as a religious building.  Go figure.

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We climbed from temple peak to temple peak.  Most of the colorful murals have been removed to museums, but a few areas of decorative tile still exist.  I was struck by the similarity of the site’s layout and design to other Pre-Columbian sites and religious center’s we’ve visited throughout the Americas.  Teotihuacan’s Temple of Quetzalcoatl (or the feathered serpent) bore a striking resemblance in both construction and motif to Huaca del Sol (Burial place of the sun) in Trujillo, Peru, so much so that I had to wonder whether the Aztecs and Moches (builders of the Huaca del Sol) had any interaction. Interestingly enough the Huaca del Sol is also situated near a Huaca de la Luna.

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IF YOU GO: Unsurprisingly the site has little shade so go early and bring plenty of water.  There are steps and handrails up most of the pyramids, but respect the barriers and don’t walk beyond the paths.  Many Mexican’s believe the site holds special energy- you may see ceremonies or rituals designed to draw in the energy- be respectful and maintain a distance as for some people these ceremonies have deep spiritual meaning.  The site is completely mobbed during the solstices because of the energy and alignment with the sun.

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Yes, we had to do it!

Filed Under: Destinations, Headline, Mexico, North America Tagged With: historical sites, ruins

Photo: Luxor, err Thebes

October 6, 2011 By Danny

Luxor is the ancient city of Thebes.  Sure, I had heard of Thebes but didn’t really know much more about it than that.  Our only real priority in Egypt was to visit the Pyramids of Giza but little did we realize that Thebes was where the real action had been in Egypt.
The city of Thebes, in its heyday, was the place to be for most of Egyptian history.  The temple of Luxor itself, right in the middle of the city is an impressive display of what Thebes was but Karnak temple just down the road and on the edge of town is even larger and more impressive.  Featured in the Bond flick The Spy who Loved me this is what ancient Egypt was about.  It’s where we snapped this photo of a headless guard and where we could have spent all day long examining every nook and cranny had it not been for the suffocating heat.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.


IF YOU GO:
This is a cheap and exiting place to spend a few days.  We had a nice private room with breakfast and A/C for about $10/night.  Don’t be afraid to shop around and treat yourself nicely given the favorable exchange.  We could have visited the sites on our own but given the heat the tour was worth every penny.

Filed Under: photos Tagged With: ancient egypt, religion, ruins

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