- Visiting the Van Castle, Van Museum, Hoşap Castle, Muradiye Waterfalls, Edremit and Gevaş shores and the Van Lake,
- Seeing the work famous Van cats having one eye yellow and one eye blue,
- Purchasing the world famous Van carpets and handcrafts
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The history of the Yalova province extends to the Britannia Kingdom. The region had entered under the reign of Frigian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman civilizations.
As it was a district of Istanbul, it had become a province in 1995.
The Urartu had settled in Eastern Turkey in an area to the north of Kars, to the west of Lake Urmiye and between Ninova and Malatya. The capital of this state was Van. The climatic conditions of this region are such that the summers are hot and the winters are cold. The streams flowing into Lake Van dry up in summer. Average annual rainfall is 380 mm and the average annual evaporation rate, 1260 mm. The thickness of the snow varies between 40 and 60 cm and the average annual temperature is 9 °C. It is not possible that climatic conditions in the region would have been very different when the Urartu were there. Total rainfall in the months of June, July, August and October is 36 mm, thus it is obvious that irrigation is necessary if crops are to obtained.
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Zonguldak is a valuable city to see its historical and natural beauties, thousands of years old caverns and infinitive green, which has a rich ancient history.
Surfing is possible in the dam lake of Adana. There are excellent trekking, cycling, and horse-riding trails in the highlands. Fishing is popular around the Seyhan and Ceyhan rivers, and the mountain streams have a good supply of trout. Adana also offers many possibilities for hunting, as well as various wildlife preserves breeding mountain goats, fallow and roe deer at the slopes of Toros Mountains. (more…)
Rock Catacombs
The great majority of the catacombs later housed those who utilized them as places of retreat and most of them were destroyed. The necropolises continued to be constructed in the Byzantine period. The rock catacombs at Avcilar originate in the third and fourth centuries; these catacombs are important from the perspective of their having belonged to the high priests of Venessa, the city dedicated to Zeus Uranios. The unusual tombs in the vil- lage of Mazı are dated to the Early. Macedonian and Christian eras. The canyon contains five tombs.The grave on the east face was made in the well-known Lycian-Carian style. The others from the sixth century B.C. of the closed tomb type, which is common everywhere. The figure of a woman has been depicted on one of this type of tomb, which has columns (Doric order). The Roman necropolis at the village of Mazı köy is located in the canyon near the edge of the village. Less care has been shown in the tombs here; all are small with doors and over a roughly smoothed surfâce a representation of the deceased can, with difficulty, be made out. On the interior, there are three stone benches reminiscent of the Greek period. In addition, tombs belonging to the Cappadocian dynasty can be found at Salarköy, Sofular, Ortahisar and Machan. All these tombs resemble the Asiatic type. The most beautiful among the Roman tombs are at Ağzıgüzel near Fraktin, east of Ürgüp.The structure of these attractive tombs has finished to per fection; and in some of them the recess for laying the corpse has been very carefully worked. The tombs of the ordinary subjects of the Roman period can been encountered everywhere.
A monumental rock tomb believed to be that of Menua standing on a huge platform to the south is referred to as an “oil well” in publications in the subject. The rock tomb to the south west of the Castle is known locally as “Horhor Cave”. The cuneiform inscription in the entrance of the cave (the Horhor Chronicles) tells of the works performed by Argishti I in the fırst 15 years of his reign. All the rock tombs of Van Castle were, as Evliya Çelebi wrote in 1655 A.D, used to store food, drink and weapons in the Ottoman period.
The Analı-kız, which is located to the north east of the Castle, consists of a platform 50 m in length and 10 m wide and two monumental niches hewn into t (more…)
ANCIENT CITIES
Most important antic cities within the territories of the city, are Ereğli (Herakleia Pontike) and Filyos (Teion). Ereğli, which is founded by Mariandines, who were the successors of Frigs, during the 6th century B. C., and was an important commercial wharf (emperion), had taken its name from the famous hero of the mythology, Hercules (Heracles). City had preserved its importance during Roman, Byzantium, Seljukian, Otooman periods. Important historical ruins of the region are leading Acheron Valley Ruins, in which Cehennem Ağzı Caverns are present, Helen, Roman, Byzantium and Ottomans periods’ products, rampart ruins, Ereğli castle, Heracles (Hercules) palace, Çeştepe lighthouse tower, Byzantium water cistern, Krispos mausoleum, Byzantium church, Hagia Sophia Church and Halil Paşa Mansion.
Filyos, other antic city of the city is known as Teion (or Tion) during antic period. Ruins within the region, holds the signs of Roman, Byzantium and Genevan periods. Antic port, castle, aqueducts, open - air theater and church ruins are remained from this period.
Adana, founded on the the Seyhan delta and by the Ceyhan rivers, dates back to 6000 BC. The area has had a long string of rulers, starting with the Luvi Kingdom from 1900 BC (a branch of the Hittites), through a succession of Hittites, Phrygians, Assyrians, Persians, Seluicuds and Byzantines. There was an on-off struggle between the Greeks and Persians, which lasted 1000 years, and ended once the Romans came in the 1st century BC.
The city first became an important trade centre under the Romans. Following the age of Islam, which began in 638 AD, there were then the Egyptian Mamelukes, the Ramazanogullari (Turks), and the Ottomans who captured the city in the 16th century. (more…)