For millennia, warriors and tribes have passed through the rugged countryside of Eastern Turkey leaving behind impressive architectural remains. Enjoy sweeping, glorious vistas as we journey through this fascinating landscape where splendid tombs, imposing strongholds, elegant palaces, and ancient cities are rarely out of sight. Diyarbikar, at least 5,000 years old and one of the oldest cities in the world, is still encircled by intact black basaltic fortifications almost three miles in length. The 17th-century Ishak Pasa Seray, a palace with a dazzling array of pointed domes and striped minaret, invokes images from “A Thousand and One Arabian Nights.”
Magnificent Hosap Castle was constructed by a Kurdish warlord in 1643. Van, the former Urartian capital of Tuşpa, where the mud fortress built in the 8th century B.C. still dominates the city. Akdamar Island’s breathtaking 10th-century church is resplendent with exquisite friezes depicting stories from the Old Testament. Urfa, or Şanlıurfa, with origins rooted in the Bronze Age and a famous religious and intellectual center during the Byzantine period. And on top of Mt. Nemrud, Antiochus built one of the world’s most amazing tombs. See all of this…but there’s more!
Far Horizons has specially arranged private tours of two of the most recent and exciting excavations. Ziyaret Tepe, continuously occupied for 2,400 years beginning in the Early Bronze Age, is one of the few sites in Turkey where cuneiform tablets have been found. And Göbekli Tepe, a site that has been causing quite a stir in the international news recently, may be the world’s oldest temple predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years.
Experience this fascinating world on Far Horizons’ trip to Eastern Turkey!
