Turkey: Antakya and Cappadocia
(Thomas;2006)
More or less across the border from Aleppo lies the Turkish town of Antakya, the classical Antioch on the Orontes, where (among others) the crusaders were hanging around for a while. These mosaics are from the local arts museum which is rightly famous in mosaic-buffs' circles.
Same museum: a Roman sarcophagus which has to be seen in order to believe how well preserved it is after all these millenia.
The rough sandstone facade of a madrasah (Koran school) in Kayseri. The religion may be the same as in Syria but the style is wholly different.
This is what you get if the Turks emulate the Swiss: a sort of stone cheese full of holes in which people actually live. This specific village castle (or castle village), Üchisar, is on the outskirts of the Göreme National Park in Cappadocia which, just to warn you, is one of my favourite regions in the world.
Folks, this is not a set from a Tolkien movie about the life and times of a hobbit estate agent. No, this is a real house in Cappadocia.
Or how about that: a church, complete with arches and columns and naves, hacked out of the sheer rock. Most of the structure has broken down but this makes it possible to admire what is still left. There are hundreds of these churches in Cappadocia and some are very well preserved indeed.
An unreal landscape, seen on a walk between Üchisar and Göreme.
Some local stone mushrooms used as houses.
Want to see more? Go back to Syria: Hama and Aleppo or go on to Turkey: Churches of Cappadocia or go up to Photos.
$updated from: Photos.htxt Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:04:39 trvl2 (By Vero and Thomas Lauer)$