1.
Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey
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There are 81 provinces in Turkey. Among the 81 provinces, thirty are designated metropolitan municipalities, Metropolitan municipalities are subdivided into districts, where each district includes a corresponding district municipality, which is a second tier municipality. The first metropolitan municipalities were established in 1984 and these were the three most populous cities in Turkey, namely, İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir. In each metropolitan municipality a number of second level municipalities were established, in 1986, four new metropolitan municipalities were established in Adana, Bursa, Gaziantep and Konya. Two years later the number was increased to eight with the addition of Kayseri. Before 2004, only the urban centers with a more than 750,000 were declared metropolitan centers. However, in 2004, the concept of metropolitan municipality was redefined in Istanbul and Kocaeli, in 2012, this was extented to other metropolitan municipalities. Thus, all provinces with a population in excess of 750,000 were declared metropolitan municipality, since the total population of Turkey is 77,695,904, the population in the 30 provinces make up 77% of the population of the country. Elections for Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
4.
Marmara Region
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The Marmara Region is a geographical region of Turkey. At the center of the region is the Sea of Marmara, among the seven geographical regions, the Marmara Region has the second-smallest area, yet the largest population, it is the most densely populated region in the country. Islands in the Aegean Sea are Gökçeada and Bozcaada, and in the Sea of Marmara are Marmara Island, Avşa, Paşalimanı, İmralı, summers are warm to hot, humid and moderately dry whereas winters are cold and wet and sometimes snowy. The coastal climate keeps the temperatures relatively mild, provinces of Turkey Golyaka Village, Bursa
5.
Provinces of Turkey
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Turkey is divided into 81 provinces. Each province is divided into a number of different districts, the provincial government is seated in the central district. The central area usually bears the name of the province, there are only two exceptions to this naming scheme, Antakya of Hatay province İzmit of Kocaeli province A province is administered by an appointed governor from the ministry of interior. Below is a list of the 81 provinces of Turkey, sorted according to their license plate code, after Zonguldak the ordering is not alphabetical but in the order of the creation of provinces, as these provinces were created more recently and thus their plate numbers were assigned thereafter. The numbers of the ISO code, the first two digits of the registration plates of Turkey and the first digits of the postal codes in Turkey are the same
6.
Bursa province
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Bursa Province is a province in Turkey, along the Sea of Marmara coast in northwestern Anatolia. Its adjacent provinces are Balıkesir to the west, Kütahya to the south, Bilecik and Sakarya to the east, Kocaeli to the northeast, the province has an area of 11,043 km2 and a population of 2,842,547. Its population was 2,125,140 according to the 2000 census, in 1990 it had a population of 1,603,137. The vast majority of the Bursa Province districts are located within the Marmara Region, but the districts of Büyükorhan, Harmancık, Keles and Orhaneli are located within the Aegean Region
7.
Governor
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A governor is, in most cases, a public official with the power to govern the executive branch of a non-sovereign or sub-national level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, governor may be the title of a politician who governs a constituent state and these companies operate as a major state within a state with its own armed forces. For example, in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, there are governors, school governors. The adjective pertaining to a governor is gubernatorial, from the Latin root gubernyare, the historical female form is governess, though female officials are referred to by the gender-neutral form governor of the noun to avoid confusion with other meanings of the term. Indeed, many regions of the pre-Roman antiquity were ultimately replaced by Roman standardized provincial governments after their conquest by Rome, in Pharaonic times, the governors of each of the various provinces in the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt are usually known by the Greek word. The core function of a Roman governor was as a magistrate or judge, and the management of taxation, under the Republic and the early Empire, however, a governor also commanded military forces in his province. Republican governors were all men who had served in senior magistracies in Rome in the previous year, a special case was Egypt, a rich private domain and vital granary, where the Emperor almost inherited the theocratic status of a Pharaoh. The Emperor was represented there by a sui generis styled praefectus augustalis. Otherwise, the governors of provinces had various titles, some known as consularis, apart from Egypt and the East, each diocese was directed by a governor known as a vicarius. The prefectures were directed by praefecti praetorio and this system survived with few significant changes until the collapse of the empire in the West, and in the East, the breakdown of order with the Persian and Arab invasions of the seventh century. At that stage, a new kind of governor emerged, the Strategos, today, crown colonies of the United Kingdom continue to be administered by a governor, who holds varying degrees of power. Because of the different constitutional histories of the colonies of the United Kingdom. Administrators, Commissioners and High Commissioners exercise similar powers to Governors, frequently the name Government House is given to Governors residences. The term can also be used in a generic sense, especially for compound titles which include it, Governor-general. In the United Kingdoms remaining overseas territories, the governor is normally a direct appointee of the British Government, the Governors chief responsibility is for the Defence and External Affairs of the colony. In some minor overseas territories, instead of a Governor, there is an Administrator or Commissioner, in Australia, each state has the governor as its formal representative of the Queen, as head of the state government. It is not an office but a ceremonial one. Each state governor is appointed by the Queen of Australia on the advice of the Premier, State Governors have emergency reserve powers but these are rarely used
8.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
9.
Eastern European Time
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Eastern European Time is one of the names of UTC+02,00 time zone,2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The zone uses daylight saving time, so that it uses UTC+03,00 during the summer, a number of African countries use UTC+02,00 all year long, where it is called Central Africa Time, although Egypt and Libya also use the term Eastern European Time. The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time all year round, Egypt, since 21 April 2015, used EEST from 1988–2010, Kaliningrad Oblast, since 26 October 2014, also used EET in years 1945 and 1991–2011. Libya, since 27 October 2013, switched from Central European Time, used year-round EET from 1980–1981, 1990–1996 and 1998–2012. Belarus, in years 1922–30 and 1990–2011 In Poland this time was used in years 1918–22, in time of World War II, Germany implemented MET in east occupied territories. Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol used EET as part of Ukraine in years 1991-94 and 1996-2014 Turkey, used EET in years 1910-1978, now uses year round DST timezone called Further-eastern European Time or Turkey Time. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also uses FET, sometimes, due to its use on Microsoft Windows, FLE Standard Time or GTB Standard Time are used to refer to Eastern European Time. Since political, in addition to geographical, criteria are used in the drawing of time zones. The EET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, the easternmost part of the Republic of Macedonia, including the city of Strumica. The absolutely easternmost part of Serbia, in the Pirot District, the easternmost town in Norway, Vardø, lies at 30°51 E, which is located east of even of the central meridian of UTC+2, i. e. east of Istanbul and Alexandria. The Norwegian-Russian border is the place where CET borders Moscow time. There is a point at the Norway-Finland-Russia tripoint, near the town of Rayakoski. Belarus is located between 23°11′E and 32°47′E and is fully located with the physical UTC+2 area, but it uses UTC+3 year around. This also includes the city of Anapa, at the westernmost tip of the Krasnodar Krai near the entrance to the Sea of Azov, the Norway–Russia–Finland tri-zone point at Muotkavaara is surrounded by three different times in winter, two in summer. It had three time zones year-around before 2014, two of the four tripoints of Belarus and the tripoint of the Kaliningrad Region are surrounded by three different times in winter
10.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
11.
Eastern European Summer Time
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Eastern European Summer Time is one of the names of UTC+3 time zone,3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries. During the winter periods, Eastern European Time is used, since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, previously the rules were not uniform across the European Union. Syria, since 1983 Ukraine, Moscow Summer Time in years 1981–89, regular EEST from 1992 In one year 1991 EEST was used also in Moscow, egypt has previously used EEST from 1957–2010 and 2014–2015. Turkey, has previously used EEST from 1970-1978 EEST, Moscow Summer Time from 1979–1983, and EEST from 1985-2016
12.
Vehicle registration plates of Turkey
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Turkish car number plates are license plates found on Turkish vehicles. The plates use a numbering system associated with the geographical info. In Turkey, license plates are made by authorized private workshops, the license plate is rectangular in shape and made of aluminum. On the left, there is the country code TR in a 4×10 cm blue stripe like in EU countries, the text is in black characters on white background, and for official vehicles white on black. On all vehicles two plates have to be present, being one in front and the other in rear except motorcycles, the serial letters use the Turkish letters except Ç, Ş, İ, Ö, Ü and Ğ. The blue stripe was introduced after the entry of Turkey to the European Customs Union in 1995, since then, the blue stripe area is often modified by car owners. The predominant modification of this sorts is to replace the color with red and put up the crescent. This type of modification is in the area of the law. Additionally, vehicle inspection stickers are often stuck on this area, 15×24 cm in rear only for motorbikes, motorcycles and tractors with rubber wheels, 11×52 cm in front and rear for cars, 21×32 cm rear available for off-roadss, vans, trucks and busses. The size is 15×30 cm for imported vehicles if the plate does not fit. On the other hand, a Dolmuş in Eskişehir has a plate of the form 26 M9999,99 - two digits prefix denoting the location, shows the province code number of the main residence of car holder. There are 81 provinces as listed below, X/XX/XXX – one, 9999/999/99 – four, three or two digits, depending on the number of letters before, not exceeding six letters and digits altogether. The ones after the original 67 provinces are newer additions, therefore, these province names go chronologically. Media related to License plates of Turkey at Wikimedia Commons License plates of Turkey Location codes on a map and more detailed info about district codes
13.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
14.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
15.
Anatolia
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Anatolia, in geography known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea to the Armenian Highlands, thus, traditionally Anatolia is the territory that comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. The Turkification of Anatolia began under the Seljuk Empire in the late 11th century, however, various non-Turkic languages continue to be spoken by minorities in Anatolia today, including Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Arabic, Laz, Georgian, and Greek. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line running from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the Black Sea. This traditional geographical definition is used, for example, in the latest edition of Merriam-Websters Geographical Dictionary, under this definition, Anatolia is bounded to the east by the Armenian Highlands, and the Euphrates before that river bends to the southeast to enter Mesopotamia. To the southeast, it is bounded by the ranges that separate it from the Orontes valley in Syria, the first name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula was Ἀσία, presumably after the name of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. As the name of Asia came to be extended to areas east of the Mediterranean. The name Anatolia derives from the Greek ἀνατολή meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise”, the precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme was a theme covering the western, the modern Turkish form of Anatolia is Anadolu, which again derives from the Greek name Aνατολή. The Russian male name Anatoly and the French Anatole share the same linguistic origin, in English the name of Turkey for ancient Anatolia first appeared c. It is derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia, which was used by the Europeans to define the Seljuk controlled parts of Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to the Paleolithic, neolithic Anatolia has been proposed as the homeland of the Indo-European language family, although linguists tend to favour a later origin in the steppes north of the Black Sea. However, it is clear that the Anatolian languages, the oldest branch of Indo-European, have spoken in Anatolia since at least the 19th century BC. The earliest historical records of Anatolia stem from the southeast of the region and are from the Mesopotamian-based Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BC, scholars generally believe the earliest indigenous populations of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians. The region was famous for exporting raw materials, and areas of Hattian-, one of the numerous cuneiform records dated circa 20th century BC, found in Anatolia at the Assyrian colony of Kanesh, uses an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, the Hittite language, originating from Nesa, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BC, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the most widely accepted Kurgan theory on the Proto-Indo-European homeland, however, the Hittites adopted the cuneiform script, invented in Mesopotamia
16.
Ski resort
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A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes, ski trails, the ski industry has identified advancing generations of ski resorts, First generation Developed around a well-established summer resort or village. Second generation Created from a non-tourist village or pasture, third generation or integrated Designed from scratch on virgin territory to be a purpose-built ski resort, all the amenities and services nearby. Fourth generation or village resorts Created from virgin territory or around an existing village, the term ski station is also used, particularly in Europe, for a skiing facility which is not located in or near a town or village. A ski resort which is open for summer activities is often referred to as a mountain resort. Ski areas have marked paths for skiing known as runs, trails or pistes, Ski areas typically have one or more chairlifts for moving skiers rapidly to the top of hills, and to interconnect the various trails. Rope tows can also be used on short slopes, larger ski areas may use gondolas or aerial trams for transportation across longer distances within the ski area. Ski areas usually have at least a basic first aid facility, the ski patrol is usually responsible for rule enforcement, marking hazards, closing individual runs, and removing dangerous participants from the area. Some ski resorts offer lodging options on the slopes themselves, with ski-in, après-ski is a term for entertainment, nightlife or social events that occur specifically at ski resorts. These add to the enjoyment of resort-goers and provide something to do besides skiing and snowboarding, the culture originated in the Alps, where it is most popular and where skiers often stop at bars on their last run of the day while still wearing all their ski gear. People that browse ski resort & hotel websites will commonly seek mention of the quality of après-ski in the area and it is therefore seen as an important factor for skiers to consider before booking a holiday. The concept is similar to the hole in golf. The process of development have progressed since the birth of the skiing industry. Amenities and infrastructure such as buildings, ski-lifts, gondolas, access roads, parking lots. In recent years, the use of snow cannons have increased due to the fall in the volume of snow, in order to obtain good quality snow, dust or bacteria is mixed with the water in the process of snow making to form better snowflakes. Not only that the manufacture of artificial snow is costly and uses large amounts of water, snow cannons redistributes a large amount of water unnaturally over the land and freezes the ground vegetation late into spring, preventing growth and leaving pistes bare. With enough amount of water, and the likelihood of landslides and avalanches would be drastically higher. The required space for hotels, flats and secondary residences has increased the amount of space occupied by roads, while a large amount of people requires special water, sewage and electricity systems, a great deal of construction work is needed
17.
Mausoleum
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A mausoleuma is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph, a mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb, or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum. A Christian mausoleum sometimes includes a chapel, the word derives from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the grave of King Mausolus, the Persian satrap of Caria, whose large tomb was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Historically, mausolea were, and still may be, large, however, smaller mausolea soon became popular with the gentry and nobility in many countries. In the Roman Empire, these were often ranged in necropoles or along roadsides, however, when Christianity became dominant, mausoleums were out of use. Later, mausolea became particularly popular in Europe and its colonies during the modern and modern periods. A single mausoleum may be permanently sealed, a mausoleum encloses a burial chamber either wholly above ground or within a burial vault below the superstructure. This contains the body or bodies, probably within sarcophagi or interment niches, modern mausolea may also act as columbaria with additional cinerary urn niches. Mausolea may be located in a cemetery, a churchyard or on private land, in the United States, the term may be used for a burial vault below a larger facility, such as a church. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California, for example, has 6,000 sepulchral and it is known as the crypt mausoleum. In Europe, these vaults are sometimes called crypts or catacombs. Mausoleum of Mohammed V Bourguiba mausoleum The Dr. John Garang De Mabior mausoleum in Juba, agostinho Netos Mausoleum in Luanda, Angola. Omar Bongos Mausoleum in Franceville, Gabon, kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum Marien Ngouabis mausoleum and Pierre Savorgnan de Brazzas mausoleum in Brazzaville, The Republic of Congo. Mausoleum of the late president Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Yamoussoukro, Côte dIvoire, laurent Kabilas mausoleum in Kinshasa, The Democratic Republic of Congo. The pyramids of ancient Egypt and Nubian pyramids are also types of mausolea, Abdel Nasser Mosque, is the Mausoleum of Gamal Abdel Nasser, in Cairo, Egypt. Unknown Soldier Memorial Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania Al Hussein Mosque, Cairo – Holy Shrine and mausoleum, Qalawun Mausoleum is the Mausoleum of Qalawun, Located in Cairo, Egypt, it was regarded by scholars as the second most beautiful medieval mausoleum ever to be built. Jedars - thirteen ancient monumental Berber mausoleums located south of Tiaret, Late President Eyademas Family Mausoleum in Kara, Togo. Kamuzu Banda Mausoleum, in Lilongwe, Malawi, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi built a mausoleum in which his late first wife and Bingu himself are buried
18.
Ottoman dynasty
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The Ottoman dynasty was made up of the members of the imperial House of Osman. According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, the Ottoman dynasty, named after Osman I, ruled the Ottoman Empire from c.1299 to 1922. During much of the Empires history, the sultan was the regent, head of state. The imperial family was deposed from power and the sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922 after the Turkish War of Independence, the Republic of Turkey was declared the following year. The living members of the dynasty were sent into exile as persona non gratae, though some have been allowed to return. In its current form, the family is known as the Osmanoğlu family, before Orhans proclamation of the dynasty, the tribe was known as the Bilecik Söğüt Beylik or Beys but was renamed Osmanlı in honor of Osman. The Ottoman dynasty is known in modern Turkish as Osmanlı Hanedanı, meaning House of Osman, in Ottoman Turkish it was known as Hanedan-ı Âl-i Osman, thus they still formally acknowledged the sovereignty of the Seljuk Empire and its successor, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. The first Ottoman ruler to claim the title of Sultan was Murad I. The holder of the title Sultan was in Arabic-Islamic dynasties originally the power behind the throne of the Caliph in Bagdad, the Ottoman sultans also claimed the title of Caliph starting with Murad I, who transformed the Ottoman state into a transcontinental empire. With the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II Fatih claimed the title Kaysar-i-Rûm Emperor of Rome and he appointed the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius Scholarius, whom he protected and whose status he elevated into leader of all the Eastern Orthodox Christians. As Emperor of Rome he laid claim to all Roman territories, Sultan Mehmed II also took the title of Padishah, a Persian title meaning Master of Kings and ranking as Emperor, claiming superiority among the other kings. He was the first Ottoman ruler to adopt the title of Padishah. The Ottoman claim to caliphate was strengthened when they defeated the Mamluks in 1517, as the empire grew, sultans adopted secondary titles expressing the empires claim to be the legitimate successor of the absorbed states. Furthermore, they tended to enumerate even regular provinces, not unlike the long lists of -mainly inherited- feudal titles in the style of many Christian European monarchs. Some early Ottoman Sultans even had to accept the status in the eyes of a foreign overlord. However, the Ottoman Caliphate too was abolished soon afterwards, and Abdulmecid II was utterly deposed and expelled from Turkey with the rest of the Ottoman dynasty on 3 March 1924
19.
Spa
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A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneotherapy. The belief in the powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been worldwide, but are especially widespread in Europe. Day spas are also popular, and offer various personal care treatments. The word spa itself denotes fountain, some experts also suggest that the word spa originated from the name of the Belgian town named Spa where a curative natural spring was discovered in the 14th century. Since medieval times, illnesses caused by iron deficiency were treated by drinking chalybeate spring water and it is commonly claimed, in a commercial context, that the word is an acronym of various Latin phrases such as Salus Per Aquam or Sanitas Per Aquam meaning health through water. Spa therapies have existed since the times when taking bath with water was considered as a popular means to treat illnesses. The practice of traveling to hot or cold springs in hopes of effecting a cure of some ailment dates back to pre-historic times, archaeological investigations near hot springs in France and Czech Republic revealed Bronze Age weapons and offerings. In Great Britain, ancient legend credited early Celtic kings with the discovery of the hot springs in Bath, many people around the world believed that bathing in a particular spring, well, or river resulted in physical and spiritual purification. Forms of ritual purification existed among the Native Americans, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, today, ritual purification through water can be found in the religious ceremonies of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus. These ceremonies reflect the ancient belief in the healing and purifying properties of water, complex bathing rituals were also practiced in ancient Egypt, in pre-historic cities of the Indus Valley, and in Aegean civilizations. Most often these ancient people did little building construction around the water, some of the earliest descriptions of western bathing practices came from Greece. The Greeks began bathing regimens that formed the foundation for modern spa procedures and these Aegean people utilized small bathtubs, wash basins, and foot baths for personal cleanliness. The earliest such findings are the baths in the complex at Knossos, Crete. They established public baths and showers within their gymnasium complexes for relaxation, Greek mythology specified that certain natural springs or tidal pools were blessed by the gods to cure disease. Around these sacred pools, Greeks established bathing facilities for those desiring healing, supplicants left offerings to the gods for healing at these sites and bathed themselves in hopes of a cure. The Spartans developed a primitive vapor bath, at Serangeum, an early Greek balneum, bathing chambers were cut into the hillside from which the hot springs issued
20.
Archaeology
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Archaeology, or archeology, is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. In North America, archaeology is considered a sub-field of anthropology, archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology as a field is distinct from the discipline of palaeontology, Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for whom there may be no written records to study. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent of literacy in societies across the world, Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. The discipline involves surveying, excavation and eventually analysis of data collected to learn more about the past, in broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century, Archaeology has been used by nation-states to create particular visions of the past. Nonetheless, today, archaeologists face many problems, such as dealing with pseudoarchaeology, the looting of artifacts, a lack of public interest, the science of archaeology grew out of the older multi-disciplinary study known as antiquarianism. Antiquarians studied history with attention to ancient artifacts and manuscripts. Tentative steps towards the systematization of archaeology as a science took place during the Enlightenment era in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, in Europe, philosophical interest in the remains of Greco-Roman civilization and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Age. Antiquarians, including John Leland and William Camden, conducted surveys of the English countryside, one of the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation was Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England. John Aubrey was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous megalithic and other monuments in southern England. He was also ahead of his time in the analysis of his findings and he attempted to chart the chronological stylistic evolution of handwriting, medieval architecture, costume, and shield-shapes. Excavations were also carried out in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum and these excavations began in 1748 in Pompeii, while in Herculaneum they began in 1738. The discovery of entire towns, complete with utensils and even human shapes, however, prior to the development of modern techniques, excavations tended to be haphazard, the importance of concepts such as stratification and context were overlooked. The father of archaeological excavation was William Cunnington and he undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798, funded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Cunnington made meticulous recordings of neolithic and Bronze Age barrows, one of the major achievements of 19th century archaeology was the development of stratigraphy. The idea of overlapping strata tracing back to successive periods was borrowed from the new geological and paleontological work of scholars like William Smith, James Hutton, the application of stratigraphy to archaeology first took place with the excavations of prehistorical and Bronze Age sites
21.
Shadow play
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The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. Various effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source, a talented puppeteer can make the figures appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh. Shadow play is popular in various cultures, currently there are more than 20 countries known to have shadow show troupes, Shadow play is an old tradition and it has a long history in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. It is also considered as an ancient art in other parts of Asia such as in China, India and it is also known in the West from Turkey, Greece to France. It is a form of entertainment for both children and adults in many countries around the world. Shadow play probably developed from par shows with narrative scenes painted on a large cloth, as the shows were mostly performed at night the par was illuminated with an oil lamp. Similar storytelling with pictures may date back to the Harappa civilization, by at least around 200 BCE the figures on cloth seem to have been replaced with puppetry in Indian tholu bomalatta shows. These are performed behind a screen with flat, jointed puppets made of colorfully painted transparent leather. The puppets are held close to the screen and lit from behind, while hands and arms are manipulated with attached canes and lower legs swinging freely from the knee. Shadow puppets remained popular until recently in India, including the Tholu Bommalata of Andhra Pradesh, the Togalu Gombeyaata, leather puppets in Karnataka, and the Ravana Chhaya of Odisha. There are great similarities between Indonesian shadow puppetry called Wayang kulit and Indian shadow play, but it is whether it was imported from India or originated in Indonesia. It has been theorized to have been around since 1500 BCE, around 860 CE an Old Javanese charter issued by Maharaja Sri Lokapala mentions three sorts of performers, atapukan, aringgit, and abanol. Ringgit is described in an 11th century Javanese poem as a shadow figure. Wayang kulit is particularly popular in Java and Bali, the term derived from the word wayang literally means shadow or imagination in Javanese, also connotes spirit. The word kulit means skin, as the material from which the puppet is made is thin perforated leather sheets made from buffalo skin, the performances of shadow puppet theater in Bali originally lasted as long as six hours or until dawn. The complete wayang kulit troupes include dalang, nayaga, and sinden, some of the nayaga also performed as male choral singer. The dalang played the wayang behind the screen illuminated by oil lamp or modern halogen lamp. The flat puppet has moveable joints that are animated by hand, the handle of the rod is made of carved buffalo horn
22.
Turkish cuisine
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Turkish cuisine is largely the continuation of Ottoman cuisine, which in turn borrowed many elements from Circassian, Central Asian, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Balkan and Greek cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including those of Southeast Europe, Central Europe, Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cuisine of the Black Sea Region uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy, the cuisine of the southeast is famous for its variety of kebabs, mezes and dough-based desserts such as baklava, şöbiyet, kadayıf, and künefe. Especially in the parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly. The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions are rich in vegetables, herbs, Central Anatolia has many famous specialties, such as keşkek, mantı and gözleme. Dishes directly cognate with mantı are found also in Chinese and Korean cuisine, a specialtys name sometimes includes that of a city or region, either in or outside of Turkey, and may refer to the specific technique or ingredients used in that area. For example, the difference between Urfa kebap and Adana kebap is the thickness of the skewer and the amount of hot pepper that the kebab contains, Urfa kebap is less spicy and thicker than Adana kebap. Although meat-based foods such as kebabs are the mainstay in Turkish cuisine as presented in countries, native Turkish meals largely center around rice, vegetables. Turks usually prefer a rich breakfast, a speciality for breakfast is called menemen, which is prepared with tomatoes, green peppers, onion, olive oil and eggs. Invariably, Turkish tea is served at breakfast, the Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı, means before coffee. Homemade food is preferred by Turkish people. Although the newly introduced way of life pushes the new generation to eat out, a typical meal starts with soup, followed by a dish made of vegetables or legumes boiled in a pot, often with or before rice or bulgur pilav accompanied by a salad or cacık. In summertime many people prefer to eat a dish of vegetables cooked with olive oil instead of the soup, either before or after the main course. Although fast food is gaining popularity and many major foreign fast food chains have opened all over Turkey, Turkish people still rely primarily on the rich and extensive dishes of Turkish cuisine. In addition, some traditional Turkish foods, especially köfte, döner, kokoreç, kumpir midye tava börek, eating out has always been common in large commercial cities. Esnaf lokantası are widespread, serving traditional Turkish home cooking at affordable prices, in the hot Turkish summer, a meal often consists of fried vegetables such as eggplant and peppers or potatoes served with yogurt or tomato sauce. Menemen and çılbır are typical dishes, based on eggs. Sheep cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons and melons also make a summer meal
23.
Peach
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The peach is a deciduous tree native to the region of Northwest China between the Tarim Basin and the north slopes of the Kunlun Shan mountains, where it was first domesticated and cultivated. It bears an edible fruit called a peach or a nectarine. The specific epithet refers to its widespread cultivation in Persia. It belongs to the genus Prunus which includes the cherry, apricot, almond and plum, the peach is classified with the almond in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell. Peach and nectarines are the species, even though they are regarded commercially as different fruits. The Peoples Republic of China is the worlds largest producer of peaches, Prunus persica grows to 4–10 m tall and 6 in. in diameter. The leaves are lanceolate, 7–16 cm long, 2–3 cm broad, the flowers are produced in early spring before the leaves, they are solitary or paired,2. 5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals. The fruit has yellow or whitish flesh, an aroma. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, the single, large seed is red-brown, oval shaped, approximately 1. 3–2 cm long, and is surrounded by a wood-like husk. Peaches, along with cherries, plums and apricots, are stone fruits, there are various heirloom varieties, including the Indian peach, which arrives in the latter part of the summer. Cultivated peaches are divided into clingstones and freestones, depending on whether the flesh sticks to the stone or not, Peaches with white flesh typically are very sweet with little acidity, while yellow-fleshed peaches typically have an acidic tang coupled with sweetness, though this also varies greatly. Both colors often have red on their skin. The scientific name persica, along with the word peach itself, the Ancient Romans referred to the peach as malum persicum Persian apple, later becoming French pêche, hence the English peach. The scientific name, Prunus persica, literally means Persian plum, fossil endocarps with characteristics indistinguishable from those of modern peaches have been recovered from late Pliocene deposits in Kunming, dating to 2.6 million years ago. In the absence of evidence that the plants were in other ways identical to the modern peach, until recently, it was believed that the cultivation started circa 2000 BC. Nevertheless, the recent evidence indicates that domestication occurred as early as 6000 BC in Zhejiang Province of China, the oldest archaeological peach stones are from the Kuahuqiao site. Archaeologists point at the Yangzi River valley as the place where the selection for favorable peach varieties likely took place. Peaches were mentioned in Chinese writings as far back as the 10th century BC and were a fruit of kings
24.
Turkish delight
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Turkish delight, lokum or rahat lokum and many other transliterations is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel, traditional varieties are mostly flavored with rosewater, mastic, Bergamot orange, or lemon. The confection is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar, copra, or powdered cream of tartar, other common flavors include cinnamon and mint. In the production process, soapwort may be used as an emulsifying additive, the exact origin of these sweets is yet to be definitively determined, however, lokum comes from the Arabic Halkum or Al-Halkum. In the Arab world, Turkish delights are called rāḥat al-ḥulqūm which means Throat Comfort, according to the Hacı Bekir company, the sweets as they are known today were developed by Bekir Efendi, named Hacı Bekir, after performing the Hajj. He moved to Istanbul from his hometown Kastamonu and opened his shop in the district of Bahçekapı in 1777. The company still operates under the founders name, Ottoman confectionery was originally sweetened with honey and molasses, using water and flour as the binding agents, with rosewater, lemon peel and bitter orange as the most common flavors. Hacı Bekir introduced the use of glucose in 1811, shortly after it had discovered by Gottlieb Kirchhoff. In Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia it is known as ḥalqūm, while in Kuwait it is called كبده الفرس chabdat alfaras and in Egypt it is called malban or ʕagameyya and its name in various Eastern European languages comes from Ottoman Turkish lokum or rahat-ul hulküm. Its name in Greek, λουκούμι shares an etymology with the modern Turkish. In Cyprus, where the dessert has protected geographical indication, it is marketed as Cyprus Delight. In Armenian it is called lokhum and its name in Bosnian is rahat lokum, and derives from a very old confusion of the two Ottoman Turkish names found already in Ottoman Turkish, indeed this mixed name can also be found in Turkey today. Its name in Serbo-Croatian is ratluk, a form of the same name. In Persian, it is called rāhat-ol-holqum, in English, it was formerly alternatively known as Lumps of Delight. In Bulgarian, Turkish Delight is known as lokum and enjoys some popularity, while it presumably came with the Ottoman Empire, it may have arrived earlier, as the Middle East has been very influential to the country in terms of cuisine. Bulgaria produces its own brands of lokum, which may be plain or spiced with rose petals, white walnuts, loukoumi is a common traditional treat, routinely served instead of biscuits along with coffee. In addition to the common rosewater and bergamot varieties, Mastic-flavored loukoumi is available, another sweet, similar to loukoumi, that is made exclusively in the town of Serres, is Akanés. The Romanian word to describe this confection is rahat, an abbreviation of the Arabic rahat ul-holkum, however, in the Romanian language, the word rahat took a pejorative sense, in this case a euphemism that translates as shitty
25.
Nicaea
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The ancient city is located within the modern Turkish city of İznik, and is situated in a fertile basin at the eastern end of Lake Ascanius, bounded by ranges of hills to the north and south. It is situated with its west wall rising from the lake itself, the lake is large enough that it could not be blockaded from the land easily, and the city was large enough to make any attempt to reach the harbour from shore-based siege weapons very difficult. The ancient city is surrounded on all sides by 5 kilometres of walls about 10 metres high and these are in turn surrounded by a double ditch on the land portions, and also included over 100 towers in various locations. Large gates on the three sides of the walls provided the only entrance to the city. Today the walls have been pierced in places for roads. The later version however was not widespread even in Antiquity, Antigonus is also known to have established Bottiaean soldiers in the vicinity, lending credence to the tradition about the citys founding by Bottiaeans. Following Antigonus defeat and death at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, the city was captured by Lysimachus, who renamed it Nicaea, in tribute to his wife Nicaea, who had recently died. Sometime before 280 BC, the city came under the control of the dynasty of the kings of Bithynia. This marks the beginning of its rise to prominence as a seat of the royal court, the two cities dispute over which one was the pre-eminent city of Bithynia continued for centuries, and the 38th oration of Dio Chrysostom was expressly composed to settle the dispute. Along with the rest of Bithynia, Nicaea came under the rule of the Roman Republic in 72 BC. The geographer Strabo described the city as built in the typical Hellenistic fashion with great regularity, in the form of a square, measuring 16 stadia in circumference, i. e. approx. This monument stood in the gymnasium, which was destroyed by fire but was restored with increased magnificence by Pliny the Younger, in his writings Pliny makes frequent mention of Nicaea and its public buildings. Emperor Hadrian visited the city in 123 AD after it had been damaged by an earthquake. The new city was enclosed by a wall of some 5 kilometres in length. Reconstruction was not completed until the 3rd century, and the new set of walls failed to save Nicaea from being sacked by the Goths in 258 AD, by the 4th century, Nicaea was a large and prosperous city, and a major military and administrative centre. Emperor Constantine the Great convened the First Ecumenical Council there, the city remained important in the 4th century, seeing the proclamation of Emperor Valens and the failed rebellion of Procopius. During the same period, the See of Nicaea became independent of Nicomedia and was raised to the status of a metropolitan bishopric, many of its grand civic buildings began to fall into ruin, and had to be restored in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian I. Nicaea became the capital of the Opsician Theme in the 8th century and remained a center of administration, a Jewish community is attested in the city in the 10th century
26.
Mudanya
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Mudanya, is a town and district of Bursa Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is located on the Gulf of Gemlik, part of the southern coast of the Sea of Marmara, as of 1911, it was connected with Bursa by the Mudanya–Bursa railway and a carriage road, and with Istanbul by steamers. Mudanya has only an open anchorage usable in calm weather, the town produces olive oil and there is a pier used by local fishing and cargo boats. As of 1920, Mudanya was reported as having a population of 5,000. A port city, it also had a connection to Bursa which was completed in 1875. The railway had a pier at the seaport of Mudanya for exporting, Istanbul was often the recipient of exported goods from Mudanya. The town was the place of the Armistice of Mudanya between Turkey, Italy, France and Britain on October 11,1922, following the Turkish War of Independence. Nea Moudania District governors official website District municipalitys official website
27.
Tirilye
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Tirilye is a town in Bursa Province, Mudanya, Turkey, situated 12 km west of Mudanya. It is a township along the Marmara Sea shoreline, the area, which was inhabited since the 5th century BC, was formerly known as Τρίγλεια, Trigleia or Βρύλλειον, Brylleion in Greek. When demand for the products of Southern Marmara from the ancient world increased, ports have been constructed in Kios, Kurşunlu, Apamea Myrlea, Siği, and Trilye and the region boomed. The most important historical structure in Trilye is that of the Byzantine Haghioi Theodoroi Church, Mudanya, a residential and commercial development in this township is under state protection as a historical site. Trilye has been an important religious center for Greek Orthodox Christians for a long time, Trilye is a first level protected area since 1980 because of the Byzantine and Ottoman architectural monuments and is considered as an open-air museum thanks to the historical buildings and houses. Osman Gazi’s Turkmens in Bursa and surroundings have started settling in this location from the beginning of the year 1303, kaymak Oba, Mirza Oba and Çepni villages located at the back of Trilye are believed to have been established during this era. After Mudanya was conquered in 1321 Trilye’s ports and other ports in the region started being used, the land at the western parts of Bursa namely the area between current Minor Industry Area and Uluabat Lake were very fertile. Grapes, cocoons and cereal crops were grown in this region, in addition the Tahtalı, Demirci and Doğancı regions had high quality wood used in the production of ships. There are signs proving a Genoese cargo boat has visited Trilye port in the 1330s, churches and monasteries were constructed in Trigleia and its surroundings on the patronage of Byzantine Emperors. Only 2500 people currently live in the town, in the town are the ruins of old Byzantine churches. Old Greek houses built at the end of the 19th century line what few streets are left and this town is under the protection by the Ministry of Culture so no one can destroy the old houses or rebuild them in a different style than the original one. The place is famous for its olives and had historically inhabited by Greek artisans engaged in the silk trade. The area has been host to various civilizations since antiquity, although the name of the village has been officially changed to Zeytinbağı, that name is rarely, if ever, used in daily life, and the name Trilye is used instead. There are several legends about the origins of the name, one is that the area was famous for red mullet and red gurnard and that those fish were the main course of the Byzantine emperors tables. Trigleia is a word in Greek for such fish, another legend comes from the Genoese. Three inhabitants of the village were distressed by the looting of pirates, therefore, they combined their power and decided to live together. The name Tirilye is said to be derived from three villagers. Even after the Ottoman Empire absorbed the area, it remained Greek-populated, the Greeks migrated to Greece with the help of local businessman and ship owner Phillipos Kavounidis
28.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
Turkey
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Darmstadt, Germany, since 1971 (suspended by the mayor of Bursa End of March 2017)[23][24]
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 1972[23]
Multan, Pakistan, since 1975[23]
Oulu, Finland, since 1978[23][25]
Tiffin, Ohio, United States, since 1983[23]
Kairouan, Tunisia, since 1987[23]
Denizli, Turkey, since 1988[23]
Lefkoşa, Northern Cyprus, since 1990[23]
Anshan, China, since 1991[23]
Bitola, Macedonia, since 1996[23]
Ceadîr-Lunga, Moldova, since 1997[23]
Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan, since 1997[23]
Muaskar, Algeria, since 1998[23]
Pleven, Bulgaria, since 1998[23]
Tirana, Albania, since 1998[23]
Košice, Slovakia, since 2000[23][26]
Vinnytsia, Ukraine, since 2004[23]
Rabat, Morocco, since 2010[23]
Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, since 2011[23]
Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
