Scratch the surface of Turkey’s epic history with the help of our videos or a tailored tour.
Calling all history buffs: Turkey has more ruins from more periods of history than any other single country in the world. Göbeklitepe has recently and officially been recognized as the oldest evidence of human civilization ever discovered, knocking the ruins of Canal Huyuk (also in Turkey) into second place and literally rewriting history.
Akkadians, Assyrians, Hittites, Persians, Ancient Greeks, and Romans, to name but a few, have settled in what is now Turkey, some of them for thousands of years at a time. Unsurprisingly, this has given Turkey a rich heritage of historically important UNESCO heritage sites (19 in 2021) that are both well looked after and accessible, but also so remote and mysterious that they will thrill even the most grizzled archaeologist.
Although Istanbul is probably the daddy of all classical cities, the ruins of Ephesus and Perga used to be the second- and third-biggest cities in the Roman Empire. Long before that, the ancient Greeks had built oracles, temples, and palaces right across the Western half of Turkey while they were assailed by the Sassanians, Scythians, Mongols that inhabited the East. Long before that, the Hittites battled with Ancient Egypt under Rameses from their capital Hattusha, which still stands 4000 years later. And that is to say nothing of the culmination of this heritage: 700 years of the Ottoman Empire, which for most of its history was one of the most powerful, wealthy, and sophisticated civilizations in the world.
It is difficult to travel very far anywhere in Turkey without stumbling upon the remnants of past civilizations, which indeed are an occupational annoyance to local farmers and road builders. However, there are a few routes that deserve special consideration and can easily be combined with other priorities and interests. Get in touch to get our two cents on the matter.