The Marmara region consists of the part of Turkey in Europe, called Eastern Thrace, and the coastal areas of Anatolia on the opposite side of the Sea of Marmara and the straits.
Even though Istanbul is not the capital of Turkey, it is a leader in business, tourism, education, education and industry. Anything and everything happen in Istanbul. Although most tourists visit the Sultanahmet district, which is home to UNESCO World Heritage buildings such as the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia.
Canakkale Province, on the western side of the Marmara Region, has two major claims to fame that attract people from all over the world. This is where the Battle of Gallipoli took place, which changed Turkish history forever. The second claim to fame is being home to the ancient city of Troy. Mentioned in Homer's Iliad, many believed it was a mythical city until archaeologists discovered it in the 19th century. They have been around for 4000 years since around 3000 BC. Inhabited and discovered many different layers and treasures, which made them inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bursa Province is Turkey's youngest golden child, and not just for tourism. Bursa is an all-rounder that offers a variety of landscapes and lifestyles, from the historic city centre to Uludag, the ski resort to rural villages and finally beach destinations.
Located in the far east of the Marmara Region, the climate in Bolu is different from other areas. It adopts a typical Black Sea weather pattern. The Yedigoller National Park promotes everything natural. Its name means seven lakes and they are located near several streams and waterfalls. Don't forget to visit the hot springs.
Yalova is another place of natural beauty that is becoming increasingly popular as more Turks and foreigners seek to explore life outside Turkey's leading metropolis.
The other pleasant part of Istanbul is Adalar (Islands) strewn over the Marmara Sea. They are known as Princes’ Islands by foreigners because the rulers of the Byzantine Empire sent troublesome princes to these islands to rot away.
The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest covered markets in the world. It contains more than 4000 shops, restaurants, streets, gates and even two mosques. This old building was built over the remains of the Old Bedesten. The building of the Grand Bazaar has hundreds of silver plated domes with many windows.
The visitor to Istanbul has not only museums and well known historic and natural sights available to him. There is also an extremely exciting night life as well as many chances for shopping, especially for silver, copper and gold jewellery and, of course, carpets.
İstanbul’s Journey to Becoming the European Capital of Culture: The European Capital of Culture concept was launched for the first time in the 1980’s by Melina Mercouri, the Greek Minister of Culture of the period, and approved by the European Union Council of Ministers.
The Sultan Ahmet Mosque or with its more popular name, the Blue Mosque, is located in the oldest part of the city İstanbul, opposite of the famous Cathedral Hagia Sophia, just a short walk from Topkapi Palace.
Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (IATA: SAW, ICAO: LTFJ) is one of the airports serving Istanbul, Turkey. The facility is named after Sabiha Gökçen, the first female combat pilot in the world. It is on the Asian side of the bicontinental city, Istanbul.
Istanbul Airport (formerly Ataturk Airport (IATA: IST, ICAO: LTBA) (Turkish: Ataturk Uluslararası Havalimanı) is an international airport in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The provincial capital of Çanakkale, is located in the Çanakkale Strait’s most narrow region. Çanakkale is located in an area and important stop to be able to take a trip to the 30 km Troy and Gelibolu peninsula.
There are many islands in the immediate vicinity of the Turkish mainland, which, however, mostly belong to the territory of Greece.
Not far from the border with Greece, about 10 kilometres away from the city of Enez near Ipsala, known to many travellers as a border crossing point, is the Lake Gala in South-West of Turkey, which is sometimes also known with the name Celtik Gölü.
Many buildings were built by Sinan, the master builder, during the Ottoman Empire, but his “masterpiece”, as he had seen it, is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (Edirne Selimiye Camii).
Troy is probably one of the most well-known ancient cities. This is primarily due to Homer, who processed the history of the city of Troy in his famous epic "Iliad" almost 3,000 years ago.
Once in the vicinity of Bursa, we of course also wanted to see the large freshwater lake Uluabat (Uluabat Gölü), or as it is often called due to the former Greek city, the Apolyont lake.
Another late Roman bridge worth seeing is in the ancient landscape of Bithynia (in North-Western Anatolia), just about five kilometres outside the city of Adapazarı across the Sangarius River.
Originally, Adapazarı was a small village that was located on a branch of the Sakarya river and was simply called Ada after the Turkish occupation under Sultan Orhan I in 1324.
We were coming from Bursa on the D 575 towards Yalova. Since we only want to go on a day trip to Istanbul this time, we decided to take the speedboat ferry across the Sea of Marmara to avoid having to drive the much longer way around the bay of Izmit.
We were driving on the highway from Istanbul towards Ankara about 15 kilometres after passing Izmit, when we have seen the Sapanca Lake in all its beauty, shimmering blue, on the left.
A Journey to Turkey means a journey into the history, culture, trade and pleasure. You can remember about this admiring souvenirs worth bringing from Turkey by anyone who will go to this country.
Ongoing excavations at the Heraion-Teikhos ancient city in the western province of Tekirdağ have unearthed a temple at the city's acropolis. The temple, belonging to the ancient Thracian civilization, was thought to have disappeared in a fire that occurred in 2 BC.
The picture-perfect bay of Tekirdağ is framed by high mountains, which gave the city its name: Tekir Dağı, in ancient times the mountain Combos. The city was already mentioned by Herodotus.