Turkey

However, these routes have all been developed in the last 20 years – the first route, the Lycian Way, was opened in 1999. The Culture Routes Society, which manages the routes, was formed in 2012 and has grown gradually in cooperation with international organisations, both statutory and NGO, and tourism operators, rather than local NGO’s and the Turkish Government. It’s only in the last couple of years that Türkiye’s Culture and Tourism Ministry has started planning Cultural Routes in Türkiye. Currently, it is carrying on a study which will determine which European Cultural Routes could be extended to Türkiye, and which routes Türkiye could instigate.

History

The country has absorbed various tribes and nations for thousands of years – migrations from the middle east, steppes of Asia and southern Europe have left the mark of their cities (and their roads) across the countryside. In around 500 BC, the Persians made the first attempt to govern the whole country – they established satrapies or provinces as far as the western coast, defeating the famously wealthy King Croesus. However, the attempt to conquer Athens resulted in a defeat at sea and a long-term war.

Alexander the Great believed his mission was to free the nations of Asia Minor from Persian rule, so in 330 he set off with his army across the Dardanelles. At first supplied by a fleet, he followed the western coasts, ‘liberating’ the coastal cities as he went. He succeeding in driving the Persian king Darius out of Asia Minor, but left his own governance system in their place.

After the death of Alexander and the gradual breakup of his successor empires, the western kingdoms started to be dominated by the Romans. Gradually establishing first military provinces, then setting up civilian governance, the Romans established the famous Pax Romana across Asia Minor as far as the Euphrates. Unlike both Persia and the Macedonians, the Romans came to stay. They established first a network of military roads and camps, then  refounded or expanded the cities with elegant buildings supporting an urban lifestyle. Trade followed the roads and ports and the wealth of the cities can still be seen today.

From th early 300’s,under pressure from barbarian invaders,  the Roman empire split into east (Greek speaking) and west (Latin speaking) parts. In the east, Christianity and isolation from the west gradually transformed the governing class to the Rum, or Byzantine Empire. This survived and at times flourished, but was under successive and sometimes simultaneous pressure from Balkan tribes and the rise of the Arab Muslim empire.

From the 1000’s, Turkish tribes from central Asia challenged the Persians then the Arabs. In 1072, they fought their first battle against the Byzantines in Eastern Türkiye. Under the rule of the Selçuk Türks, as well as many smaller clans, their armies spread gradually westwards, taking nearly 400 years to reach the Aegean sea, and intermarrying with the Byzantines as they went. Finally, the Ottoman clan rose to prominence in the western lands bordering the remains of the Byzantine Empire. Moving into Europe, in 1453 Constantinople / Istanbul fell to Turkish rule.

From 1300 to 1920, the Ottoman Empire ruled not only Asia Minor but also much of the Balkans, Greece, Crimea and the Middle East. This empire gave them the right to succeed the Arabs as the caliphs of İslam, thus exercising influence in parts of the Islamic world that were not under their direct control. Until the early 18th C, the Ottoman Empire expanded, but was challenged by Russia, which had also unified and was bent on expansion southwards and into the Balkans. Similarly, western powers were concerned that the Ottomans controlled access to India via the Silk Road and Suez.

In the 17th and 18th C, the world was completely reconfigured. Trade around the Cape of Good Hope established alternative access to India and the East Indies. The conquest of South America flooded the world with gold and silver in untold quantities. European powers, warring or trading at sea, rose and fell. The Ottoman Empire’s monopoly of Silk Road trade became worth far less, thus leaving them as unstable masters of a shrinking empire.

Russian expansionism and European nationalism were the causes of the final breakup of the Empire. During the first world war, a military dictatorship chose the wrong side and the war resulted in the deposition of the last Sultan and a war of independence (from the Great Powers), which resulted in the establishment of a new Turkish Republic.

Türkiye now consists of the heartlands of the former Otoman Empire, but has established a successful Muslim democratic state within secure borders. Since the War of Independence, Turks have welcomed their co-religionists from Bulgaria, the Causasus, the Crimea and Greece. The population which, under the Ottomans, was multicultural and had diverse religions, has now become monocultural and is dominated by İslam. However, people value regional diversity, customs and dialects and welcome visitors of any religion or cluture.

Rural Türkiye:

Türkiye is a huge country, and offers many possibilities for trekking at almost any season. The central plateau is ringed by mountain ranges which descend to the Black Sea in the north and Mediterranean in the south and west. These coasts are often indented and wooded, with hidden beaches and fishing villages. However, they are often being developed for mass tourism, which restricts their attractiveness for walkers.

Inland, the mountains are limestone in the south and mainly granite in the north. Most ranges are well-wooded, with dense evergreen cover ranging from cedars to larches and pines. The central plateau is drier and in places desertified. Irrigation makes agriculture productive in the south and east, close to the major dam systems along the Euphrates. In the west, fruit trees, opium poppy, sunflowers, wheat and vegetables all flourish.

A population drift to the cities has emptied many villages of all except the elderly, but others are used as summer retreats from the noise and crush of the cities. The government finds it easier to deliver health and education to the cities, so young families move out, often only returning for holidays. Turks returning from Europe often retire to their ancestral village, where they build mansions in concrete.

The former civilisations have left their mark on the countryside – in the south and west are the remains of Greek and Roman cities vying with those of Italy in terms of wealth and monumental building. In the mountains are the relics of minor civilisations, the Phrygians, Pisidians, Lycians, which defended their remote strongolds and left their graves and religious monuments as well as their roads. In the centre, the Selçuks built austere and grand cities with monumental public and religious buildings influenced by Persian and Armenian predecessors.

The greatest buildings are those of the Ottomans. Bursa and Edirne are the two gems of Ottoman architecture. Bursa was an early capital, so has a massive fortification as well as many mosques and huge trading hans. Edirne is a gem – the capital of the Empire for only a short time,it is isolated amongst rivers and accessed by numbers of grand stone bridges which lead towards the sharp minarets of the Selimiye mosque, pointing heavenwards. The Selimiye, a magnificent building, created to rival St Peter’s in Rome, and in a far more accessible setting, is the centrepiece. But around it are two more magnificent mosques, several hans and many later Ottoman buildings.

The route of the Via Eurasia enters Turkey at Edirne and proceeds past Bursa to the south coast and the finest Roman cities. The route is made by linking several sub-routes representing the different civilisations which ruled Asia Minor. Find more about them via the map and the province pages.