Ýzmir'in ingilizce tanýtýmý, Information about izmir, Turkish city, Izmir is the pearl of the Aegean, information about AGORA, ALSANCAK, ANGLICAN CHURCH, ASANSOR, BALCOVA, Street of Bars, CLOCK TOWER, CESME, HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN MARY,IZMIR FAIR

26/10/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

Izmir is the pearl of the Aegean, a fascinating city whose history begins in the mists of legend. Turkey's third largest city and second most important port, Izmir is the center of tourism in the region. This modern city still retains traces of its ancient, Ottoman and Levantine past.

AGORA: Revealed in central Izmir during excavations carried out in 1932-1941 in the district of Namazgah. eovering an area of 120 x 80 m, the agora throws invaluable light on Roman period Izmir. it was not only a market place, but the location of public institutions and the Temple of Zeus. The agora is open to the public between 9.00 -12.00 and 13.00 -18.00. The statues found here are on exhibit in Izmir Archaeological Museum.
ALSANCAK: A select neighbourhood with a unique character in modern Izmir. Stretching from the waterfront esplanade inland most of the area has been transformed into a pedestrian precinct, so there is no trarffic to disturb shoppers and strollers.The streets lined by modern buildings and attractive shops lead onto the square where Alsancak station stands. Dating from 1858 the colonial architecture of the station distinguishes it in style from the rest of the city. Trains to Buca, Aydin and Denizli depart from here.
ANGLICAN CHURCH : This church was built in 1835 by Levantines of English extraction living in Buca. The church is famous for its wood carving, beautiful stained glass windows and huge organ.
ASANSOR: The city's famous public elevator, and a symbol of Izmir. This elevator links Mithatpasa street below with Halil Rifat Pasa street at the summit of the precipitous hill. It was built in 1907 and restored by the municipality in 1993. The upper terrace has a breathtaking view over the city and the bay. Here there is an Open-air cafe, a restaurant and a Genoese tavern.
BALCOVA: This spa is on the outskirts of Izmir on the road to Urla and Çesme. Turn left at Inciralti crossroads to reach Balçova thermal springs one kilometer down the road. Known as the Agamemnon Springs in antiquity, this may have been the first hydrotherapy center of the ancient world. Today there are modern facilities for visitors to the hot springs and luxury hotels. The temperature of the water is 63 degrees C.
BARLAR SOKAGI: Street of Bars. Some of the attractive old houses under conservation order in Alsancak now house bars and restaurants.
BASMANE: In this district are Izmir's oldfashioned shopping streets, the park where the famous Izmir Fair is held each summer, and Basmane station. The trains to Manisa, and suburban rail buses to Bornova and other destinations leave from this station.
BORNOVA: A suburb of Izmir, Bornova was the hub of the Levantine community in the late l9th and 20th centuries. Today it houses the campus of Ege University The Izmir-Manisa road passes through Bornova, which is linked to the city centre by a 7 km railway line.

BUCA: Once Izmir's summer resort, Buca is today part of the city. With a population of 200000 in 1990, Buca is today a commercial and university district. The British Levantine merchants who ran businesses in Izmir from the late l8th century onward s built imposing mansions here. Not until the 1950s did Buca undergo radical change as various institutions moved into the mansions, whose extensive gardens are under conservation.
CLIMATE: Typical mediterranean climate, with hot dry summers and warm wet winters. The average temperature is 18 degrees C. Snowfall is extremely rare, and approximately 148 days of the year are clear and sunny.
CLOCK TOWER: Another symbol of the city, this picturesque clock tower in Konak Meydan was build in 1901 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Abduhamit II's accession to the throne. The clock itsetf was a gift of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. The 25 m high tower is currently being restored.

CESME: This popular and attractive resort west of lzmir is famous for its modern hotels, sparkling clean sea and wonderful sandy beaches.
CIPURA: Izmir's Iegendary fish. Found widely in both the Mediterranean and Aegean, this delicious fish with a dark blue back and silvery sides is now extensively farmed. Go into any of Izmir's many sea food restaurants and order grilled Cipura, acc ompanied by a salad of diverse local herbs and pure olive oiI. What could be more sublime!
DOKUZ EYLUL: 9 September l922... The day when Izmir was liberated from three years of Greek occupation following the Great Attack launched by the Turkish army on 26 August. One of the major events ln the Turkish War of Independence, this date is th e name of one of the city's universities.

FOCA: A picturesque fishing town 50 km north of Izmir. A magnet for holliday makers during summer today, Foca was an important Ionian town in antiquity. The Phokaians were famed for their commercial prowess, courage and seamanship. They establishe d trading cololnies at distant ports, and were the founders of the French port of Marseilles (the ancient Massalia).
HISAR MOSQUE: The city's most magnificent mosque in the district of Hisar next to Kemeralti office complex. The mosque was built by Yakup Bey in 1592. It is roofed by a large dome resting on eight piers, and noted for the decoration on the altar ni che and pulpit.
HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN MARY: This holy Christian shrine on Mt.Bulbul between Selcuk and Ephesus was sanctifìed by Pope Paul VI in 1967, after the Vatican confirmed that the Virgin Mary had spent the last years of her life here. Numerous travel agencie s in Izmir organise day tours to the House of the Virgin Mary and Ephesus.

IMBAT : The sea breeze which brings relief to Izmir's inhabitants in the blazing heat of high summer.
IZMIR FAIR: Since I932 this international trade fair has been the highlight of the summer season in Izmir. From late August to early September the fair doubles as a popular festival of music and stage events in the Culture Park.
IZMIR KOFTE: 'Izmir's best known local dish, now popular almost everywhere in Turkey. But to enjoy it at its finest you must eat it at the house of an Izmir family or in an old fashioned backstreet restaurant in the city. Finely minced meat is kne aded with Onion juice, salt, pepper and fresh breadcrumbs. Shaped into balls or fingers this mixture is fried, and placed on a bed of fried green peppers, tomatoes and potatoes in a shallow pan. Serve hot.
KADIFEKALE: Velvet Castle, to be literal. This 4th century BC castle commands a bird's eye view of Izmir and is th perfect place to watch the sun set over the city.

KARSIYAKA: The name of this district of Izmir on the north shore off Izmir Bay means "opposite shore", as indeed it is. The inhabitants of this pleasant residential area with its Own esplanade claim an identity distinct from the rest of the city. In their view, Karsiyaka is a town in its own right with an individual cultulre and history.
KEMERALTI: The old fashioned shopping district of Izmir, consisting of narrow streets winding their way from Konak towards central Izmir around Anafartalar Caddesi. Here you can find jewellers, drapers, shoemaker, and shops specialising in all kind s of goods from leather to olives and cheese. The atmosphere of an earlier century still pervades the bulidings here, with their distinctive 19th century doorways and roof tiles.
KORDON: The famous esplanade between Konak Meydan and Alsancak is packed with promenaders on weekends and fine evenings. As families and young lovers hand in hand stroll along the waterfront, horse-drawn phaetons with colourful ponpons swinging from the harnesses es trot past, and cars cruise by. Izmir's esplanade is the subject of a popular old song:"My lover seemed to say/Let us meet on the Kordon one day/Perhaps at ten o'clock".
LOKMA: Lokma is Izmir's celebrated sweet pastry. Tiny balls of yeast dough are fried in hot oil and steeped in syrup as you wait. Queues olf customers gather at the stalls where the best lokma is made.
PASAPORT: (Not a printing error, but the Turkish for "passport). The name for the dock and pier between Konak and Cumhuriyet Meydan. Pasasaport Dock was built in 1876. The dock building is in the Turkish revival style inspired by Ottoman and Selcuk architecture which was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Until not so long ago the area was full of old fashioned coffee houses which served waterpipes as well as tea and coffee, but today pubs have supplanted most of them.
PERGAMUM: The remains of this magnificent ancient city are situated north of Imir. Founded in the early 3rd century BC, Pergamum was the most powerful and extensive kingdom of Western Anatolia throughout the Hellenistic periold. Parchment is though t to have been invented here. On the hill which rises steeply in the centre of Pergamum is the Acropolis and the world's steepest amphitheatre with seating for 16,000 people. The remains of temples Of Athena and Dionysus. The splendid altar of Zeus at the entrance of the Acropolis was taken to Berlin Museum by Carl Humann in 1871. A fligth of 20 steps leads up to this remarkable structure, which dwarfs the room at Berlin Museum, as it awaits expectantly the day when it will be released from confinement and return to its hilltop site in Pergamum.The ruins of the Asclepion on the plain below reveal almost all the original features as a result of the excavations. Named after the god of medicine Asclepios, this complex was one of the foremost heath cent ers of the ancient world.
SELCUK: A town in the foothills of the Aydin mountains 94 km south of Izmir. SeIcuk is the site of Ephesus Museum, a magnificent castle and the 6th century Basilica of St.John. The road to the resorts of Marmaris and Bodrum passes through Selcuk, w hile Kusadasi, port of call for many yachts and cruise liners, is just a twenty minute drive to the north.
SMYRNA: The ancient name for Izmir and the heroic Amazon who founded the city according to Herodotus and Strabon.
TEOS: The ruins of Teos are set amidst olive groves at one end of Sigacik harbour near Seferihisar, famous for its beaches and thermal springs. Thales relates that Teos was selected as capital of the league of twelve Ionian cities in the 7th centur y BC. The largest temple of Dionysus ever built in Teos.
TEPEKULE: Excavations at Tepekule in the district of Bayrakli have thrown light on Izmir's early history. Izmir was oriinally a settlement of the Aeolians, who were conteporaries of the first Trojans, and dates back to the third miilenium BC. The c ity was subsequently occupied by the Ionians, and the Lydian King Alyattes conquered the region in 600 BC, razing Izmir's temples and houses. Today the ruins of the Temple of Athena and houses can be seen at Tepekule.
URLA: Urla is a resort 42 km from Izmir n the road to Cesme. Izmirians spend their summers and weekends here, the site of the ancient Ionian city of Klazomenai. This city was the birthplace of the illustrious philosopher Anaxogoras, and is latterly also famous for a local pastry dish "katmer" and for its meat and fis restaurants.
WILD HERBS: Dishes made with fresh herbs have a special place in the Aegean cuisine. When spring comes local markets are filled with green vegetables, many of them local wild varieties gathered from meadows and mountains, such as radika, turpotu, h ardalotu, and cibes (the first shoots of cauliflower) and many more. The leaves are washed, blanched and served with a ressing of lemon juice and olive oil.

Information about Eminönü is a district of Istanbul in Turkey, Ýstanbul Eminönü Ýngilizce Tanýtýmý, Eminönü hakkýnda ingilizce bilgi, Golden Horn, Sultanahmet, Bosphorus open into the Marmara Sea, Galata Bridge, Topkapý Palace, Aya Sofia

26/10/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

Eminönü is a district of Istanbul in Turkey, stretching from the mouth of the Bosphorus, where it has ferry crossings to the Asian shore and the Prince's Islands up the hill to Sultanahmet, the main tourist destination in Istanbul. This is the heart of the walled city of Constantine, the focus of a history of incredible richness, the point where the Golden Horn and the mouth of the Bosphorus open into the Marmara Sea. The Golden Horn was a natural port, particularly the Eminönü/Sirkeci shore, which being on a peninsula was also eminently defensible. It was for this port that Ýstanbul was built, and from here that Ýstanbul grew, with the oldest neighbourhoods being the port districts along the Golden Horn. In time the Byzantine port was also occupied by merchants from Genoa and Pisa, who eventually acquired their own wharfs and waterfront districts.

The Golden Horn was still a thriving port in Ottoman times, occupied by importers, warehousemen, sailors and traders of every description, the centre of trade in the city, a labryinth of narrow streets wokshops and markets leading uphill to Topkapi Palace, the Ottoman capital. The district's name, Eminōnū, also reflects its' place in history. Translated from Turkish to English it roughly means 'in front of justice'. Emin meaning 'justice', ōnū meaning 'in front of'. While the exact root of the name is uncertain, some Ottoman historians believe the name was given because the most important Ottoman courts were in the area. To this day many important governmental buildings are found in the neighborhood, including the municipality of Istanbul's headquarters.



The nature of the palace did of course change in the industrial age; the Galata Bridge was built across the Golden Horn; steamships came, then electricity, then the railway and the Istanbul terminal of the Orient Express was naturally sited at Sirkeci Station. The sea walls still surrounded the city, and the sea gates of the port of Eminonu were the point of entry for goods, and for people.

Following the huge railway station, other grand stone buildings followed in the late Ottoman period, commercial buildings, the central post office among others. And in the early days of the Turkish Republic, Eminönü was renovated extensively; the big square was opened up in front of Yeni Cami (by clearing out the tollbooths at the end of the Galata Bridge); The Spice bazaar was restored; the fish market was cleared off the shore of the Golden Horn and a road opened up to the new bridge at Unkapaný. By the 1950s, the area was continuously clogged up with traffic, which was eased somewhat by the construction of the large coast road around the point and all the way out to Istanbul airport.

Although Istanbul has expanded rapidly to becoming the enormous city we have today, and the centre of the business world is now in huge shiny buildings elsewhere in the city, Eminönü is still buzzing, still has the busiest ferry crossings for the Bosphorus and for the Marmara Sea, still has the only car ferry across the Bosphorus and still has the only mainline railway terminus (where trains can be caught to Eastern Thrace (Trakya) and Europe) Eminönü has many historical mosques and buildings such as the Yeni Mosque, one of Istanbul's landmarks. Recent development has improved Eminonu greatly and many of its winding streets which can at first seem imposing have been developed and improved.

Sub-districts (semt) of Eminönü include Sirkeci - the waterfront by the railway station where all the ferries dock; Çaðloðlu -Istanbul's Fleet Street - a maze of printers, booksellers and traditionally newspapers; Sultanahmet - which contains Topkapý Palace, Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque among about a thousand other incredible pieces of architecture; Süleymaniye - the huge mosque complex of Suleyman the Magnificent; Beyazýt -the home of Istanbul University and the far end of the Grand Bazaar; Laleli - buzzing with hotels, bars and people from Eastern Europe buying discount clothing; Kumkapý - the fish market and restaurants about as numerous as the fish themselves.Several public transport lines like buses, tram (known as the "Tramvay" in Istanbul, light metro (Which starts at Aksaray, some distance walk from Eminonu but can be reached by taking the Tramvay to Yusuf Pasa and then changing train (there is no extra cost for changing from tramvay to metro in Istanbul), ferryboat (there are boats to almost all destinations from Eminonu, boats leave to Kadikoy and Uskudar on the Asian side, the Islands, Karakoy, Beykoz, Eyup and Sile) and sea bus have stations here.Meanwhile,Eminonu has started to repair all mosques

Fýrtýna Vadisi ve Kaçkar Daðlarý Milli Parký'nýn Sorunlarý ve Ekoturizm

6/9/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

 Kaynak deðerleri yönünden hayli zengin çok sayýda vadi ve diðer doðal alanlara sahip olan Doðu Karadeniz Bölgesi'nde Çamlýhemþin-Fýrtýna Vadisi içerdiði kaynak deðerleri açýsýndan sadece ulusal deðil, uluslararasý düzeyde önemli bir vadidir. Bu gerekçelerden hareketle alanýn büyük bir bölümü (51 500 Ha) 1994 yýlýnda uluslararasý bir koruma statüsü olan "Milli park" olarak ilan edilmiþtir.

Çalýþma sahasýnýn bir bölümünün milli park olmasý, alanda uzun süredir adý konulmamýþ bir yayla ve termal turizmin yapýlmakta oluþu, öte yandan ormanlar üzerindeki baskýnýn artarak sürmesi ve en önemlisi bölgeye yönelik turizm talebinin hýzla yükseliþinin getirdiði olumsuzluklar, çevre dengesi üzerindeki en önemli sorunlardýr.

Bunlara ek olarak, yukarýdaki sorunlarýn özellikle su kaynaklarýnýn enerji amaçlý deðerlendirilmesi için yapýlmasý planlanan bazý önemli yatýrýmlarla birleþmesi durumu, alanýn fiziksel yapýsý ve biyolojik çeþitliliðinin ne denli büyük bir tehdit altýnda bulunduðunun çok açýk göstergelerindendir.

Bugüne kadar turizm bahanesiyle sürdürülebilir olmayan uygulamalarýn yoðun þekilde sürmesi, çalýþmaya konu olan doðal ve kültürel deðerlerin bozulma ya da azalmasýnda önemli bir etken olmuþtur.

Bu gerekçelerden hareketle alandaki doðal kaynaklarýn sürdürülebilir kullanýmýný saðlayacak doðru ve uygulanabilir planlamalara ihtiyaç vardýr. Ancak bunun için, öncelikle doðal kaynaklar ile bu kaynaklarý tehdit eden olumsuzluklarýn ve daha sonra da bu sorunlara yönelik çözümlerin ortaya konmasý gerekmektedir.

Ne var ki tüm planlarýn uygulanabilirliði yerel halkýn ve yöneticilerin alanýn kaynak deðerleri ve korunmasý ile ilgili yeterli bilgiye sahip olmasýyla mümkün olacaktýr.

Bu nedenle öncelikle alan kullanýmýnda etkin rol oynayan taraflarýn ve ilgi gruplarýnýn eðitimi/bilgilendirilmesi öncelikli çalýþma nedenini oluþturmaktadýr. Bu alana ait bir eðitim programýnýn düzenlenmesindeki temel gerekçeler þöyle açýklanabilir:

* Alanýn önemli bir bölümünün milli park olmasýna raðmen bir doðal kaynak yönetim planý veya uzun devreli geliþim planý (master plan)'nýn bulunmamasý.
* Ýleride hazýrlanacak kaynak yönetim planlarýnýn doðru deðerlendirilmesi ve uygulanmasýnda eðitimin en geçerli alt yapý durumunda olmasý.
* Deniz seviyesinden baþlayarak 50 km gibi kýsa sayýlabilecek bir mesafede yaklaþýk 4000 m yüksekliðe ulaþmasý ve bu yükseklikler arasýnda, neredeyse bölgede bulunan tüm ekosistemleri ve canlýlarý barýndýrmasý, bunlarýn bazý bölümlerinin bozulmamýþ, tipik, nadir ya da endemik olmasý,
* Alanýn sahip olduðu kaynaklardan faydalanmaya yönelik yerel ya da ulusal ölçekli taleplerin oluþturduðu ciddi çevresel bozulma ve tehditlerin varlýðý.
* Çok zengin bir yaylacýlýk kültürü ve folklor ile orijinal durumu bozulmamýþ çok sayýdaki yaylanýn bulunmasý ve çeþitli deðiþim baskýlarýnýn artýþý.
* Yörenin uzun sayýlabilecek bir turizm geçmiþinin olmasý ve özellikle yaz aylarýnda önemli bir nüfus yoðunluðuna sahne olmasý.
* Alan üzerinde birden fazla yönetim yapýsýnýn (statü) bulunmasý ve bu durumun oluþturduðu çok sayýda yönetsel ve çevresel sorunlarýn varlýðý.
* Alanýn tüm doðal ve kültürel kaynaklarýna yönelik bütünsel yaklaþýmlý ve katýlýmlý bilimsel bir çalýþmanýn yapýlmamýþ olmasý.

''NE YAPMALI?'' SORUSUNA VERÝLECEK YANIT:

Turizm faaliyetlerinin doðal ve kültürel kaynaklar üzerindeki olumsuz etkileri ve bu etkilerin turizmin kendi geleceðini de tehlikeye attýðýnýn anlaþýlmaya baþlanmasý ile sürdürülebilirlik anlayýþý turizme de yansýdý ve "Sürdürülebilir turizm" konusu gündeme geldi. Sürdürülebilir turizm ve eko-turizm tanýmlarýnda doðal ve kültürel kaynaklarýn hem geleceði düþünülerek kullanýlmasý hem turizm sermayesinin, mevcut ziyaretçilerin ve yöre halkýnýn amaçlarýnýn en üst düzeyde karþýlanmasý öne çýkarýlmaktadýr.

Kitle turizmiyle ilgili memnuniyetsizliklerin ortaya çýkmasý ve artmasýyla birlikte turizm faaliyetlerinin çevreye etkileri konusunda ilgi ve tartýþmalar da artmýþ, bu durum arzu edilmeyen sonuçlarý ve bazen de imajlarý deðiþtirmeye yönelik acil ve sürekli çözüm arayýþlarýný ortaya çýkarmýþtýr.

1998'de Birleþmiþ Milletler Ekonomik ve Sosyal Konseyi, 2002 yýlýný "Uluslararasý Eko-turizm Yýlý" olarak ilan etmiþtir. 2001'den baþlayarak Mozambik, Brezilya, Avusturya, Seyþel (Seychel) Adalarý, Cezayir, Ekvator, Maldiv Adalarý, Fiji ve Ýsveç'te "Eko-turizmin Yönetimi, Geliþimi ve Planlanmasý" konusunda çeþitli toplantýlar düzenlenmiþ ve nihayet 19-22 Mayýs 2002'de, Kanada'da UNEP (Birleþmiþ Milletler Çevre Programý)'in önderliðinde "Dünya Eko-turizm Zirvesi" toplanmýþtýr.

Bu, eko-turizm konusunda yapýlan ilk dünya zirvesidir. Zirvede eko-turizm, sürdürülebilir kalkýnmanýn bir parçasý olarak ele alýnmýþ ve az geliþmiþ bölgelerdeki yoksullukla mücadelede bir çözüm olarak öne sürülmüþtür. Bu tarihten sonra da Güney Afrika, Belize ve Ruanda gibi ülkelerde benzer toplantýlar devam etmiþtir.

Ruanda'da yapýlan "Afrika'da Milli Park ve Korunan Alanlarda Ekoturizm Semineri" korunan alanlarla ilgili olarak gerçekleþtirilen ilk seminerdir.

Eko-turizmin kritik ve hassas yapýsý Rize-Çamlýhemþin Ayder Yaylasý, Fýrtýna Vadisi ve Kaçkar Daðlarý Milli Parký'nýn çevre ve doða açýsýndan Türkiye'nin en hassas bölgelerinden biri olmasý, yerel halkýn gelir düzeyini artýracak sosyal etkinliklere ihtiyaç duymaktadýr.

Eko-turizm alanýnda bütün paydaþlarýn bilgilendirilmesi, sivil toplum ile kamu kurumlarý arasýnda iletiþim aðý kurulmasý, sivil toplum ve kamu sektörünün sürekli fikir alýþveriþi yapabileceði kurumsal danýþma mekanizmalarýnýn kurulmasý ve sivil toplumun karar sürecine katýlýmý kritik önem taþýmaktadýr.

Munzur fotoðraflarý, tunceli (Dersim) resimleri, Munzur vadisi ve munzur gözelerinden en güzel görüntüler, Munzur milli parký fotoðraflarý, Muhteþem munzur vadisinden en güzel manzarlar, Tunceli ve ovacýk fotoðraflarý, munzur nehrinin doðuþ yeri

5/9/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

Safranbolu hakkýnda bilgiler, Safranbolu evleri ile ilgili bilgi, safranbolu tarihi, Coðrafya ve iklimi, Nüfus ekonomi ve kültürü hakkýnda bilgi ve safranbolu fotoðraflarý

14/6/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

Safranbolu, Karabük ilinin en büyük ve geliþmiþ ilçesidir. Konumu yaklaþýk olarak Ankara'nýn 200 km kuzeyinde ve Karadeniz'in 100 km güneyindedir. Karabük ilçe merkezinin de 8 km [3] kuzeyinde bulunmaktadýr. Safranbolu þehir merkezi ile Karabük il merkezi bitiþiktir.
Ev örneklerine, Beypazarý, Göynük, Odunpazarý gibi Türkiye'nin birçok yerinde rastlanan Klasik Osmanlý kent mimarisini yansýtan tarihî evleri ile ünlü olan þehir, bu özelliði sayesinde 17 Aralýk 1994 tarihinden beri Türkiye'de Dünya Miras Listesi'nde yer alan 9 kültürel varlýktan biridir ve turistik ilgi çekmektedir.[4] Safranbolu ismini, bölgede yetiþen ve nadir bir bitki olan safrandan alýr.
Safranbolu coðrafi konumu nedeniyle tarih boyunca idari ve ticari bir merkez olmuþtur. 2007 adrese dayalý nüfus sayýmýna göre nüfusu 49.821'dir.
Tarihte Paflagonya olarak adlandýrýlan bölgede bulunur ve birçok medeniyete ev sahipliði yapmýþtýr. Türkler tarafýndan kesin olarak alýnýþý 1196 yýlýndadýr. Osmanlý zamanýnda 17. yüzyýlda Ýstanbul-Sinop yolu üzerinde olmasý nedeniyle tarihteki en önemli dönemini yaþamýþtýr.
2002'de kurulan Zonguldak Karaelmas Üniversitesi'ne baðlý Fethi Toker Güzel Sanatlar ve Tasarým Fakültesi ve Safranbolu Meslek Yüksek Okulu bulunmaktadýr. Þu anda ise bu fakülteler Karabük Üniversitesine baðlýdýr.

Tarih


Safranbolu'da tarihî bir çeþme


Þehir eski çaðlarda Homeros'un Ýlyada destanýnda geçen Paflagonya bölgesinde yer almaktadýr ve bilinen tarihi M.Ö. 3000 yýllarýna kadar gider. M.Ö. 3000 ve 4000 tarihli tümülüsler, Safranbolu'nun insan yerleþimi açýsýndan uzun bir tarihî olduðunu göstermektedir. Þehir Flaviopolis, Theodoropolis, Hadrianopolis, Germia ve Dadibra (Dadybra) gibi antik kasabalarla yorumlanmýþtýr. Bölgedeki bilinen ilk medeniyetler Hititlerin komþularý olan Gaspalar ve Zalpalardýr.[5] Bölgede sýrasý ile Hititler, Frigler, dolaylý yoldan Lidyalýlar, Persler, Helenistik Krallýklar (Pondlar), Romalýlar (Bizans), Selçuklular, Çobanoðullarý, Candaroðullarý ve Osmanlýlar egemenlik kurmuþlardýr.
Þehir Selçuklular tarafýndan fethedildiðinde adý Dadibra idi. Safranbolu, Selçuklu Sultaný II. Kýlýç Arslan'ýn oðlu Muhiddin Mesut Þah tarafýndan 1196 tarihinde Türklerin eline geçmiþtir. Muhiddin Mesut Þah, Yunan-Bizanslý nüfusa savaþmadan teslim olmalarý durumunda hayatlarýný koruyacaðýna söz vermiþ fakat kayýtlara göre þehir savaþla ele geçirilmiþtir. Hristiyanlara ne olduðu hakkýnda bir bilgi yoktur. 1213-1280 tarihleri arasýnda Çobanoðullarý, 1326-1354 tarihleri arasýnda Candaroðullarý ve 1423 yýlýndan sonra da Osmanlý Devleti'nin elinde bulunmuþtur. Þu anki Kýranköy bölgesinde, Yunan topluluk bulunmaktaydý. Burasý daha sonra merkez Yunan mahallesi olmuþ ve 1923'teki nüfus deðiþimi bu bölgede gerçekleþmiþtir.[5]
Selçuklularýn idaresinde þehrin adý Zalifre olmuþtur ve Sinop - Kastamonu - Safranbolu - Gerede - Söðüt uç bölgesi durumuna gelmiþtir. Sonraki yýllarda þehir Türkmenler ve Bizanslýlar arasýnda birkaç defa el deðiþtirmiþtir. 1213 ile 1280 yýllarý arasýnda kasabayý, Anadolu Selçuklu Devleti'nin uç beyliði durumundaki Kastamonu ve Sinop bölgesine yerleþmiþ olan Çobanoðullarý Beyliði yönetmiþtir. Daha sonra Çobanoðularý Moðol Ýlhanlýlar'a vergi vermeye baþlamýþtýr.[6]
1326'da Candaroðulu Süleyman Paþa þehri ele geçirmiþtir. 1332'de Kastamonu'ya gitmekte olan Ýbn Battuta ve Kastamonu paþasýnýn oðlu vali Ali Bey ile görüþmüþtür. Ýbn Battuta'ya göre geldiðinde, Hanefi ögretisini öðretmekte olan bir medrese bulunmaktaydý. Candaroðullarý dönemiyle bölgede Ýslami mimari hareketlenmiþtir, bu dönemde Gazi Süleyman Paþa Camii kullanýlmaktaydý. Ayrýca eski bir Bizans kilisesi, iki hamam ve çeþitli çeþmeler bulunmaktaydý. Diðer benzer bir Ýslami yapýlanma ancak 17. yüzyýlda olacaktýr.[6]

Geleneksel Safranbolu evi


Safranbolu 14. yüzyýlýn ortalarýnda ilk defa Osmanlý kontrolüne geçmiþtir ve bu tarihten 1416'da tamamen fethedilene kadar Osmanlý Devleti ile Candaroðullarý arasýnda bir sýnýr bölgesi olmuþtur. Bölgeye Osmanlýlar Yörükan-i Taraklý olarak bilinen çok sayýda Türkmen göçebeyi yerleþtirmeye çalýþmýþtýr ve þehrin ismi bu dönemden sonra Taraklý Borglu veya kýsaca Borglu ve Borlu olarak adlandýrýlmýþtýr. 18. yüzyýlýn ortalarýnda ZaðfiranPolis kullanýlmaya baþlanmýþtýr ve daha sonra 19. yüzyýlýn ortasýnda kýsa bir süre için Zaðfiran Benderli kullanýlmýþtýr fakat 19. yüzyýlýn son çeyreðinde Zaðfiran Bolu olarak deðiþmiþtir.[6][7] En son olarak ise Zafranbolu ve daha sonra Safranbolu þekline dönüþmüþtür.[7]
Osmanlý Devleti zamanýnda özellikle 17. yüzyýlda Ýstanbul-Sinop kervan yolu üzerinde konaklama merkezi olmasýyla kültürel ve ekonomik olarak en yüksek düzeyine ulaþmýþtýr. Ayný devirde Osmanlý sarayý ve devlet adamlarý þehre önemli eserler katmýþtýr.
18. yüzyýldan baþlayarak, III. Selim ve II. Mahmud dönemlerinde de devam eden ve 1850'den sonra artan Ýstanbul'a olan belgelenmiþ göç ile Safranbolulular sarayda etkili olmaya baþlamýþlardýr. Göçmenlerin çoðunluðu fýrýncýlýk veya denizcilik yapmaktaydýlar. Xavier de Planhol'a göre 1860'dan baþlayarak Safranbolulular Ýstanbul'da fýrýncýlýk konusunda tekel kurmuþlardý ve fýrýnlarda çalýþan yaklaþýk her beþ kiþiden üçü Safranbolu bölgesinden gelmekteydi. Büyük ihtimalle mevki sahibi ve tanýnmýþ kiþiler Safranbolu'dan akrabalarýný, arkadaþlarýný veya müþterilerini Ýstanbul'a getirmekteydiler. Planhol'a göre Safranbolu'dan Ýstanbul'a gelen Yunanlarýn büyük çoðunluðu denizcilik yapmaktaydýlar.[8]
1939'da iþletmeye alýnan Karabük Demir Çelik Fabrikasý ile Karabük ilgi merkezi durumuna gelmiþtir ve Safranbolu 1950'lerde Anadolu'da gerçekleþen modern þehirleþmeden fazla etkilenmemiþtir. Bu nedenle mimari gelenekleri, özellikle yarý ahþap, üç odalý Pontian Yunan stilinde depreme dayanýklý evleri korunmuþtur.[5] UNESCO tarafýndan 17 Aralýk 1994 tarihinde Dünya Miras Listesi'ne alýnarak "Dünya Kenti" unvanýný almýþtýr. Dünya Miras Þehirleri Organizasyonu'nun (OWHC) aktif üyesi olan Safranbolu'da 2000 yýlýnda OWHC yönetim kurulu toplantýsý düzenlenmiþtir. [4]



Asmazlar konaðý içindeki havuzlu oda.




Coðrafya ve iklim


Þehrin genel coðrafyasý tepelik bölgelerden oluþur.



Safranbolu'da bulunan tümülüslerden bir tanesi.


Batý Karadeniz Bölgesi'nde yer alan Safranbolu, il merkezinden 8 km ve denizden 65 km içerdedir. Ýlçe, Karabük (merkez, Ovacýk ve Eflani), Bartýn (Ulus) ve Kastamonu (Araç) illeri ile çevrilidir.
Büyük bölümü ormanlýk olan ve yüzölçümü 1.013 km2 olan þehir coðrafi açýdan engebeli bir bölgededir. Þehrin en alçak noktasýnýn rakýmý 300 metre iken en yüksek noktasý 1.750 metre ile Sarý Çiçek Tepesidir. Þehir merkezinde ise en alçak nokta 400 metre ve en yüksek nokta 600 metre civarýnda olup ortalama yükselti 500 metredýr.
Ýlçeden geçen önemli akarsulardan Araç Çayý, Soðanlý Çayý ve Ovacuma Deresi'nin yanýnda su miktarý az olan ve büyük kanyonlar oluþturan çok sayýda küçük derecik bulunmaktadýr. Derin ve uzun kanyonlarýn yanýnda, büyük maðaralar ve dað yamaçlarýnda bulunan maðara aðýzlarýndan çýkan büyük çaplý sular bulunmaktadýr. Tokatlý (Gümüþ), Akçasu ve Bulak dereleri üç ayrý kanyon oluþturarak þehirden geçip Araç Çayý'na karýþýrlar. Araç Çayý ise Soðanlý Çayý ile birleþir ve Filyos Çayý'ndan Karadeniz'e ulaþýr.
Safranbolu'da Uluyayla ve Sarýçiçek olmak üzere iki yayla bulunmaktadýr. Þehre 50 kilometre uzaklýkta bulunan, 280 hektar ve 7 kilometre uzunluktaki Uluyayla'nýn ortasýnda bir gölet ve içinde yer altý nehri olan bir maðara vardýr. Safranbolu'ya 8 kilometre uzaklýkta olan Sarýçiçek yaylasýnda ise kamp ve daðcýlýk yapýlmaktadýr.[9] Ayrýca þehirde kanyonlar ve maðaralar bulunmaktadýr. Uzunluðu 2.725 m olan Bulak (Mencilis) Maðarasý'nýn iki giriþi bulunmaktadýr ve 350 metrelik kýsmý ýþýklandýrýlmýþtýr. Yatay geliþmiþ ve fosil Hýzar Maðarasý'nýn büyük bir giriþi vardýr. Aðzýkara Maðarasý ise sarkýt ve dikitleri ile dikkat çekmektedir.[10]
Karadeniz ve Ýç Anadolu iklimleri arasýnda bulunan Safranbolu'da yazlar sýcak, kýþlar soðuk, baharlar ýlýk ve serin geçer. Ýlkbahar ve sonbahar oldukça uzundur. Özellikle son yýllarda yaz aylarý kurak geçmeye baþlamýþtýr, yaðýþlar ilkbahar, sonbahar ve kýþ aylarýnda olur. Yýllýk yaðýþ miktarý ortalama 500 mm, nem oraný ise %60 civarýndadýr. Yýlda ortalama 35 gün kar yaðýþý olur.

Kentin genel görünümü



Þehrin Çarþý ve Baðlar kýsýmlarý farklý yüksekliklerde olup çevrelerinde ormanlar bulunur. Bu nedenle bölgeler arasý sýcaklýk farklýlýklarý vardýr. Çarþý kýsmý vadilerin yan yamaçlarýnda bulunur, daha ýlýk ve rüzgârsýz olan bölge kýþlýk olarak kullanýlýr ve daha az kar yaðýþý olur. Yüksek kesimlerde bulunan Baðlar kýsmý ise, rüzgârlara açýk, yaz aylarýnda serin, kýþ aylarýnda karlýdýr, bu nedenle yazlýk olarak kullanýlýr.



Nüfus

19. yüzyýlýn sonlarýna doðru þehrin nüfusu yaklaþýk 7.500'dü. 1923'de Yunan Ortodoks nüfusun 1923 mübadelesi ile Yunanistan'a göç ettirilmesi sonucunda nüfus 5.000'e düþmüþtür ve 1940'lara kadar bu þekilde kalmýþtýr. 1939'da Karabük Demir Çelik Fabrikasý'nýn açýlmasý ile birçok zanaatkâr ve çiftçi fabrikada çalýþmak için Safranbolu'yu terketmiþ ve Karabük'ün nüfusu 100.000'e çýkmýþtýr. Bununla birlikte, dýþ göçe raðmen Safranbolu'nun nüfusu 1940'lardan sonra yaklaþýk 20.000'e çýkmýþtýr.[11]
1997 sayýmýnda 44.788 olan nüfus,[2] 2000 sayýmýna göre 31.697'si merkezde, 15.560'ý ise köylerde olmak üzere 47.257'dir.[1] 1997 yýlý Safranbolu Belediyesi nüfusu 32.150'dir[12] ve Ovacuma Belediyesi nüfusu 1879'dur.[13]
Ýlçenin nüfusu 2000 genel nüfus sayýmýna göre 'dir. Bunun 'si ilçe merkezinde, 127706'i ise kasaba ve köylerde yaþamaktadýr.
Ýlçe baðlýsý olmak üzere ilçe merkezine baðlý; 1 belde, 55 köy ve ilçe merkezinde 20, Ovacuma'da 5 olmak üzere toplam 25 mahalleden oluþmaktadýr.

Geleneksel Safranbolu evi


Yýllara göre ilçe nüfus verileri Yýllar Merkez Köyler Toplam 2007 38.334 11.487 49.821 2000 31.697 15.560 47.257 1997 32.150

1990 24.351 18.464 42.815 1985 22.404

1980 19.440

1975 14.793

1970 12.470

1965 9.712

1960 7.383


Yönetim


Þehre hakim konumuyla eski hükûmet binasý ve saat kulesi


19. yüzyýlda Osmanlý Devleti'nin idari yapýlanmasýndaki reformlar sonucunda Safranbolu, Safranbolu kazasýnýn merkezi olmuþtur ve Kastamonu iline baðlanmýþtýr. 19. yüzyýlýn sonlarýna doðru eski zamanlarda kale olan tepeye modern bir hükümet binasý yapýlmýþtýr.[8]
Osmanlý zamanýnda önemli bir kýsmý idari olarak Kastamonu'ya baðlý olan Safranbolu Cumhuriyet döneminde Zonguldak'a baðlanmýþtýr.[5] Daha sonra 1937 yýlýna kadar Safranbolu'ya baðlý Öðlebeli Köyü'nün bir mahallesi olan, Karabük'ün 6 Haziran 1995'de il olmasý ile Karabük'ün bir ilçesi durumuna gelmiþtir.
Safranbolu kaymakamý Ýzzettin Küçüktür.[2] Ýlçenin Safranbolu ve Ovacuma olmak üzere iki belediyesi bulunur. 2004 yýlý seçimlerinde Safranbolu belediye baþkanlýðýný AKP'den Nihat Cebeci %46.27,[12] ve Ovacuma belediye baþkanlýðýný DSP'den Abdullah Deniz %42.70 oyla almýþtýr.[13]
Ýlçe yerleþim açýsýndan üç önemli bölüme ayrýlmýþtýr. Eski þehir olarak adlandýrýlan kýsým, birçoðu koruma altýnda olan ve bazýlarý müze olarak kullanýlan yarý ahþap üç katlý evlerin olduðu kýsýmdýr. Resmi adý Misaký Milli olan ve halk tarafýndan Granköy olarak adlandýrýlan Kýranköy ise, 1923 mübadelesinden önce Yunan Ortodoks halkýn yaþadýðý bölgedir. Baðlar bölgesi ise varlýklý ailelerin yaz aylarýný üzüm baðlarýnda ve meyve bahçelerinde geçirdiði bölgedir.1923'e kadar baðlarda Türk ve Yunan aileler yakýn olarak yaþamaktaydýlar, 1923'den sonra eski Safranbolu'da yaþayanlar nüfus devamlý olarak baðlarda yaþamaya baþlamýþtýr.[14]

Ekonomi


48 odalý Cinci Haný tarihteki ekonomik canlýlýðýn bir göstergesidir, sað üstte Cinci Hamamý ve solda Köprülü Mehmet Paþa Camii bulunmaktadýr.


Osmanlý devrinde Ýpek yolu üzerinde olmasý ve üretilen mallarýn Ýstanbul'da satýlmasý Safranbolu'nun ticarette uzun yýllar etkili olmasýna yardýmcý olmuþtur. Ticaretin yoðun olduðu bu dönemlerde Cinci Haný ve Hamamý etkin olarak kullanýlmaktaydý. Bu devirlerde üreticiler ve esnaflar lonca sistemi ile örgütlenmiþlerdi.
Çok kültürlü, çok etnik ve çok dinli bir bölge olan Safranbolu eski zamanlarda önemli yollardan uzak olmasý nedeniyle Anadolu deri endüstrisinin önemli merkezlerinden biri deðildi, fakat bölgesinde dericilik açýsýndan önemli bir yere sahipti. Dericilik tarým ve kerestecilikten sonra üçüncü sýrada gelmekteydi.[15]
1940'larda Karabük Demir Çelik Fabrikasý'nýn kurulmasý ile Safranbolu, ekonomideki eski gücünü kaybetmeye baþlamýþtýr. Ýþgücünun fabrikaya yönelmesinden, dericilik gibi üretim sektörleri ve üzümcülük, safran üretimi gibi tarýmsal ve hayvansal üretim de etkilenmiþtir. 1970'lerden sonra þehrin ekonomisi turizm ile tekrar canlanmaya baþlamýþtýr.
Tarýmsal açýdan ormancýlýk ve tahýl ekimi baþta gelir. Hayvancýlýk ise temel olarak büyükbaþ hayvancýlýk konusunda yapýlmaktadýr.
2004 yýlý kayýtlarýna göre; 1855 gelir vergisi mükellefi, 934 adet basit usul ticari kazanç, 218 adet kurumlar vergisi, 3007 vergi mükellefi bulunmaktadýr. 2005 yýlý itibariyle ilçede tahakkuk eden vergi 17.393.507,75 YTL ve tahsil edilen vergi 13.971.967,41 YTL'dir. Ticaret ve Sanayi Odasý'na kayýtlý 365 þahýs firmasý, 38 anonim þirket, 2 kollektif þirket, 1 komandit þirket, 1 adi þirket, 139 limited þirket, 42 adi ortaklýk, 6 tüketim kooperatifi, 23 kalkýnma kooperatifi, 85 yapý kooperatifi olmak üzere toplam 702 iþletme bulunmaktadýr.[16]

Eðitim

Safranbolu'da 451 öðrencinin eðitim gördüðü iki tane baðýmsýz okul öncesi eðitim kurumu vardýr. 11'i merkezde, 5'i köylerde olmak üzere 5.229 öðrencinin eðitim gördüðü 16 ilköðretim okulu bulunmaktadýr. 1.981 öðrencinin eðitim gördüðü 9 tane ortaöðretim kurumu bulunmaktadýr.[17] 2002 yýlýnda kurulan Zonguldak Karaelmas Üniversitesi'ne baðlý Fethi Toker Güzel Sanatlar ve Tasarým Fakültesi'nin yanýnda bir de Meslek Yüksek Okulu bulunmaktadýr. Bu iki öðretim kurumu kentin dinamik yapýsýný ayakta tutmaktadýr. 2005-2006 öðretim yýlýnda Fethi Toker Güzel Sanatlar ve Tasarým Fakültesi'nde 77 ve Safranbolu Meslek Yüksek Okulu'nda 1.839 öðrenci eðitim almýþtýr.[18]
Þehirde Safranbolu ve Ovacuma halk kütüphaneleri bulunmaktadýr. Safranbolu Ýlçe Halk Kütüphanesi 1981'de yapýlmýþtýr ve 23 Nisan 1982'de açýlmýþtýr. Ayrýca Safranbolu Kütüphanesine baðlý olarak 12 Aralýk 2002 tarihinde Ovacuma Belde Halk Kütüphanesi açýlmýþtýr.[19]

Kültür


Geleneksel Safranbolu evi



Geleneksel Safranbolu evi



Hýdýrlýk'ta bulunan Hasan Paþa Türbesi


Safranbolu'nun ünlü evleri 18. ve 19. yüzyýl Türk toplumunun geçmiþini, kültürünü, ekonomisini, teknolojisini ve yaþama biçimini yansýtan mimarlýk bilgisi ile yapýlmýþtýr. Þehirde bulunan yaklaþýk 2.000 geleneksel yapýdan 1.008 adeti tescil edilmiþ ve yasal koruma altýna alýnmýþtýr.
19. yüzyýlýn sonunda 28 cami, 2 Yunan Ortodoks kilisesi, 13 tekke (Nakþibendiye ve Halvetiye), 2 kütüphane, 2937 öðrencinin eðitim gördüðü 191 okul, 12 medrese, 8 Yunan okulu, 1 telgraf istasyonu, 24 han, 11 hamam, 940 dükkân ve fakirler ve daha çok eski askerler ve akrabalarý olan sifilitik hastalar için 1 hastane bulunmaktaydý.[8]
Yaklaþýk 3000 yýllýk tarihi geçmiþinde pek çok uygarlýðýn yaþadýðý þehirde önemli kültürel zenginlikler vardýr. Özellikle Osmanlý döneminden kalma han, hamam, cami, çeþme, köprü ve konaklar ziyaretçilerin ilgisini çekmektedir.
UNESCO'nun 17 Aralýk 1994'de Dünya Miras Listesi'ne aldýðý Safranbolu, Türkiye'de bulunan yaklaþýk 50.000 korunmasý gerekli kültür ve tabiat varlýðýnýn 1.125'ini barýndýrýr. Bu nedenle, müze kent durumundadýr.
Kültür ve Tabiat Varlýklarýný Koruma Yüksek Kurulu'nun 1975 yýlýnda þehri kentsel sit alaný ilan etmesi akademik çevrelerin ilgisini çekmiþ ve bu ilgi zamanla Türkiye dýþýna da taþmýþtýr. Turistlerin ilgisi ile 90'larýn baþýndan itibaren küçük ve orta ölçekli turistik tesislerin oluþumu baþlamýþtýr ve bu sayede terk edilen konaklar otel ve lokanta gibi yapýlara dönüþmüþ, anýtsal eserler restore edilmeye baþlanmýþ ve unutulmakta olan el sanatlarý tekrar canlanmýþtýr.
Dünya Kültür Mirasýna dahil olup sit alaný ilan edilen eski þehir merkezinde 1.008 adet tarihi eser tescil edilmiþtir. Bunlar; 1 özel müze, 25 cami, 5 türbe, 8 tarihi çeþme, 5 hamam, 3 han, 1 tarihî saat kulesi, 1 güneþ saati ile yüzlerce ev ve konaktýr. Bunlarýn dýþýnda höyükler, tarihî köprüler ve kaya mezarlarý da bulunmaktadýr.
Safranbolu'da her yýl Aðustos ayýnýn ikinci haftasýnda Uluyayla Þenlikleri, Eylül ayýnda da Altýn Safran Belgesel Film Festivali düzenlenmektedir.

Belediye

Safranbolu ilçesinde belediye teþkilatý ilk kez 1923 yýlýnda cumhuriyet ile birlikte kurulmuþtur. Seçildikleri yýllara göre belediye baþkanlarý, oy oranlarý ve siyasi partileri:
2004 - Nihat Cebeci AKP %46.272002 - Nihat Cebeci (Belediye Baþkan Vekili)1999 - Mehmet Ceylan FP (2002 genel seçimlerinde AKP Karabük milletvekili seçilmiþtir)1994 - Mustafa Eren DYP(1994 genel seçimlerinde DYP Karabük Milletvekili seçilmiþtir)1989 - Mustafa Eren

Ephesus Ancient City of Anatolia information about Ephesus, History, Neolithic age, Bronze age,Classical period, Hellenistic period, Ephesus and Christianity, Roman Period, Byzantine era (395-1071), Turkish era, Efes Antik kentinin ingilizce anlatýmý

19/5/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

Ephesus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the ancient city in Anatolia. For the town in the southern United States, see Ephesus, Georgia. For homonyms of the Turkish word Efes, see Efes.
Ephesus (Ἔφεσος)
Ancient City of Anatolia
(Efes)

Library of Celsus
Ephesus
Ephesus (Efes)
Ephesus (Ancient Greek Ἔφεσος) was an ancient Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, in the region known as Ionia during the Classical Greek period. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League.

The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BCE), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Temple was destroyed in 401 CE by a mob led by St. John Chrysostom.[1] Emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. The town was again partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614. The city's importance as a commercial centre declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Cayster River (Küçük Menderes).

Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation.[2] The Gospel of John may have been written here.[3] It is also the site of a large gladiators' graveyard.

Today's archaeological site lies 3 kilometers southwest of the town of Selçuk, in the Selçuk district of Ýzmir Province, Turkey. The ruins of Ephesus are a favorite international and local tourist attraction, partly owing to their easy access from Adnan Menderes Airport and via the port of Kuþadasý.

Contents
1 History
1.1 Neolithic age
1.2 Bronze age
1.3 Dark age
1.4 Archaic period
1.5 Classical period
1.6 Hellenistic period
1.7 Roman Period
1.8 Byzantine era (395-1071)
1.9 Turkish era
2 Ephesus and Christianity
3 Main sites
4 Seven sleepers

History
Neolithic age
The area surrounding Ephesus was already inhabited during the Neolithic Age (about 6000 BC) as was revealed by the excavations at the nearby hoyuk (artificial mounds known as tells) of Arvalya and Cukurici.[4]

 Bronze age
Excavations in recent years have unearthed settlements from the early Bronze Age at the Ayasuluk Hill. In 1954 a burial ground from the Mycenaean era (1500-1400 BC) with ceramic pots was discovered close to the ruins of the basilica of St. John.[5] This was the period of the Mycenaean Expansion when the Achaioi (as they were called by Homer) settled in Ahhiyawa during the 14th and the 13th centuries BC. Scholars believe that Ephesus was founded on the settlement of Apasa (or Abasa), a Bronze Age-city noted in 14th century BC Hittite sources as in the land of Ahhiyawa. [6]

 Dark age
 
Site of the Temple of Artemis in the town of Selçuk, near Ephesus.The city of Ephesus itself was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC on the Ayasuluk Hill, three kilometers from the center of antique Ephesus (as attested by excavations at the Seljuk castle during the 1990s). The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens named Androklos, who had to leave his country after the death of his father, king Kadros. According to legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality ("A fish and a boar will show you the way"). Androklos drove away most of the native Carian and Lelegian inhabitants of the city and united his people with the remainder. He was a successful warrior and, as king, he was able to join the twelve cities of Ionia together into the Ionian League. During his reign the city began to prosper. He died in a battle against the Carians when he came to the aid of Priene, another city of the Ionian League.[7] Androklos and his dog are depicted on the Hadrian temple frieze, dating from the second century. Later, Greek historians such as Pausanias, Strabo and the poet Kallinos, and the historian Herodotos however reassigned the city's mythological foundation to Ephos, queen of the Amazons.

The Greek goddess Artemis and the great Anatolian goddess Kybele were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus. The many-breasted "Lady of Ephesus", identified with Artemis, was venerated in the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the largest building of the ancient world according to Pausanias (4.31.8). Pausanius mentions that the temple was built by Ephesus, son of the river god Caystrus.[8] before the arrival of the Ionians. Of this structure, scarcely a trace remains.

 Archaic period
About 650 BC Ephesus was attacked by Cimmerians who razed the city, including the temple of Artemis. A few small Cimmerian artifacts can be seen at the archaeological museum of Ephese.

When the Cimmerians had been driven away, the city was ruled by a series of tyrants. After a revolt by the people, Ephesus was ruled by a council called the Kuretes. The city prospered again, producing a number of important historical figures, such as the iambic poets Callinus [9] and the satirist Hipponax, the philosopher Heraclitus, the great painter Parrhasius and later the grammarian Zenodotos, the physicians Soranus and Rufus.

About 560 BC Ephesus was conquered by the Lydians under the mighty king Croesus. He treated the inhabitants with respect, despite ruling harshly, and even became the main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis.[10] His signature has been found on the base of one of the columns of the temple (now on display in the British Museum). Croesus made the populations of the different settlements around Ephesus regroup (synoikismos) in the vicinity of the Temple of Artemis, enlarging the city.

Later in the same century, the Lydians under Croesus invaded Persia. The Ionians refused a peace offer from Cyrus the Great, siding with the Lydians instead. After the Persians defeated Croesus the Ionians offered to make peace but Cyrus insisted that they surrender and become part of the empire.[11] They were defeated by the Persian army commander Harpagos in 547 BC. The Persians then incorporated the Greek cities of Asia Minor into the Achaemenid Empire. Those cities were then ruled by satraps.

Classical period
Ephesus continued to prosper. But when taxes continued to be raised under Cambyses II and Darius, the Ephesians participated in the Ionian Revolt against Persian rule in the Battle of Ephesus (498 BC), an event which instigated the Greco-Persian wars. In 479 BC, the Ionians, together with Athens and Sparta, were able to oust the Persians from Anatolia. In 478 BC, the Ionian cities entered with Athens and Sparta the Delian League against the Persians. Ephesus did not contribute ships, but only participated with financial support by offering the treasure of Apollo to the goddess Athena, protector of Athens.

During the Peloponnesian War, Ephesus was first allied to Athens[citation needed] but sided in a later phase, called the Decelean War, or the Ionian War with Sparta, which also had received the support of the Persians. As a result, the rule over the kingdoms of Anatolia was ceded again to Persia.

These wars didn't affect much the daily life in Ephesus. In those times, Ephesus was surprisingly modern in their social relations. They allowed strangers to integrate. Education was much valued. Through the cult of Artemis, the city also became a bastion of women's rights. Ephesus even had its female artists. In later times Pliny mentions having seen at Ephesus a representation of the goddess Diana by Timarata, the daughter of a painter.

In 356 BC the temple of Artemis was burnt down, according to legend, by a lunatic called Herostratus. By coincidence, this was the night that Alexander the Great was born. The inhabitants of Ephesus started at once with the restoration and even planning a larger and grander temple.

 Hellenistic period
 
Historical Map of Ephesus, from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1888.When Alexander the Great defeated the Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC, the Greek cities of Asia Minor were liberated. The pro-Persian tyrant Syrpax and his family were stoned to death and Alexander was greeted warmly in Ephesus when he entered it in triumph. When he saw that the temple of Artemis was not yet finished, he proposed to finance the temple and have his name as an inscription of the front. But the inhabitants of Ephesus refused, claiming that it was not fitting for a god to build a temple for another god. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, Ephesus came under the rule of Lysimachus, one of Alexander's generals, in 290 BC.

As the river Cayster was silting up the harbour, the resulting marshes were the cause of malaria and many deaths among the inhabitants. The people of Ephesus were forced to move to a new settlement 2 kilometers further on, when the king flooded the old city by blocking the sewers.[12] This settlement was called after the king's second wife Arsinoe II of Egypt. After Lysimachus had destroyed the nearby cities of Lebedos and Colophon in 292 BC, he relocated their inhabitants to the new city. The architectural layout of the city would remain unchanged for the next 500 years.

Ephesus revolted after the treacherous death of Agathocles, giving the Syrian king Seleucus I Nicator an opportunity for removing and killing Lysimachus, his last rival, at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. After the death of Lysimachos the town took again the name of Ephesus.

Thus Ephese became part of the Seleucid Empire. After the murder of king Antiochus II Theos and his Egyptian wife, pharao Ptolemy III invaded the Seleucid Empire and the Egyptian fleet swept the coast of Asia Minor. Ephesus came under Egyptian rule between 263-197 BC.

When the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great tried to regain the Greek cities of Asia Minor, he came in conflict with Rome. After a series of battles, he was defeated by Scipio Asiaticus at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. As a result, Ephesus came under the rule of the Attalid king of Pergamon Eumenes II (197-133 BC). When his grandson Attalus III died without male children of his own, he left his kingdom to the Roman Republic.

Roman Period
 
Theater.
Temple of Hadrian.Ephesus became subject of the Roman Republic. The city felt at once the Roman influence. Taxes rose considerably and the treasures of the city were systematically plundered. In 88 BC Ephesus welcomed Archelaus, a general of Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, when he conquered Western Anatolia. This led to the Asiatic Vespers, the slaughter of 80,000 Roman citizens in Asia Minor, or any person who spoke with a Latin accent. Many had lived in Ephesus. But when they saw how badly the people of Chios had been treated by Zenobius, a general of Mithridates, they refused entry to his army. Zenobius was invited into the city to visit Philopoemen (the father of Monima, the favorite wife of Mithridates) and the overseer of Ephesus. As the people expected nothing good of him, they threw him into prison and murdered him. Mithridates took revenge and inflicted terrible punishments. However, the Greek cities were given freedom and several substantial rights. Ephesus became, for a short time, self-governing. When Mithridates was defeated in the First Mithridatic War by the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Ephesus came back under Roman rule in 86 BC. Sulla imposed a huge indemnity, along with five years of back taxes, which left Asian cities heavily in debt for a long time to come. [13]

When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, he made Ephesus instead of Pergamum the capital of proconsular Asia, which covered the western part of Asia Minor. Ephesus entered an era of prosperity. It became the seat of the governor, growing into a metropolis and a major center of commerce. It was second in importance and size only to Rome.[14] Ephesus has been estimated to be in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants in the year 100, making it the largest city in Roman Asia and of the day. Ephesus was at its peak during the first and second century AD.

The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (Diana),[15] who had her chief shrine there, the Library of Celsus, and its theatre, which was capable of holding 25,000 spectators. This open-air theater was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage, with the first archaeological evidence of a gladiator graveyard found in May 2007.[16] The population of Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various points while the city was under Roman rule. The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world, with multiple aqueducts of various sizes to supply different areas of the city, including 4 major aqueducts.

The city and the temple were destroyed by the Goths in 263. This marked the decline of the splendour of the city.

 Byzantine era (395-1071)
Ephesus remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia after Constantinople in the 5th and 6th centuries. The emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected a new public bath. In 406 John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople, ordered the destruction of the Temple of Artemis.[17] Emperor Flavius Arcadius raised the level of the street between the theatre and the harbour. The basilica of St. John was built during the reign of emperor Justinian I in the sixth century.

The town was again partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614.

The importance of the city as a commercial centre declined as the harbour slowly filled with silt from the river (today, Küçük Menderes) despite repeated dredges during the city's history.[18] (Today, the harbor is 5 kilometers inland). The loss of its harbor caused Ephesus to lose its access to the Aegean Sea, which was important for trade. People started leaving the lowland of the city for the surrounding hills. The ruins of the temples were used as building blocks for new homes. Marble sculptures were ground to powder to make lime for plaster.

Sackings by the Arabs first in the year 654-655 by caliph Muawiyah I, and later in 700 and 716 hastened the decline further.

When the Seljuk Turks conquered it in 1071-1100, it was a small village. The Byzantines resumed control in 1100 and changed the name of the town into Hagios Theologos. They kept control of the region until 1308. Crusaders, passing through, were surprised that there was only a small village, called Ayasalouk, where they had expected a bustling city with a large seaport. Even the temple of Artemis was completely forgotten by the local population.

 Turkish era
The town was conquered in 1304 by Sasa Bey, an army commander of the Menteþoðullari principality. Shortly afterwards, it was ceded to the Aydinoðullari principality that stationed a powerful navy in the harbour of Ayasluð (the present-day Selçuk, next to Ephesus). Ayasoluk became an important harbour, from where the navy organised raids to the surrounding regions.

The town knew again a short period of flourishing during the 14th century under these new Seljuk rulers. They added important architectural works such as the Ýsa Bey Mosque, caravansaries and Turkish bathhouses (hamam).

They were incorporated as vassals into the Ottoman Empire for the first time in 1390. The Central Asian warlord Tamerlane defeated the Ottomans in Anatolia in 1402 and the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I died in captivity. The region was restored to the Anatolian Turkish Beyliks. After a period of unrest, the region was again incorporated into the Ottoman Empire by sultan Mehmed II in 1425.

Ephesus was eventually completely abandoned in the 15th century and lost her former glory. Nearby Ayasluð was renamed Selçuk in 1914.

 Ephesus and Christianity
 
House of the Virgin Mary.Ephesus was an important center for early Christianity from the AD 50s. From AD 52-54, Paul lived here, working with the congregation and apparently organizing missionary activity into the hinterlands.[19] He became embroiled in a dispute with artisans, whose livelihood depended on selling the statuettes of Artemis in the Temple of Artemis (Acts 19:23–41). He wrote between 53 and 57 A.D. the letter 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (possibly from the "Paul tower" close to the harbour, where he was imprisoned for a short time). Later Paul wrote to the Christian community at Ephesus, according to tradition, while he was in prison in Rome (around 62 A.D.)

Anatolia was associated with John,[20] one of the chief apostles, and the Gospel of John might have been written in Ephesus, c 90-100.[21] Ephesus was one of the seven cities addressed in Revelation (2:1–7), indicating that the church at Ephesus was still strong.

Two decades later, the church at Ephesus there was still important enough to be addressed by a letter written by Bishop Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians in the early 2nd century AD, that begins with, "Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fullness of God the Father, and predestinated before the beginning of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory" (Letter to the Ephesians). The church at Ephesus had given their support for Ignatius, who was taken to Rome for execution.

The house of the Virgin Mary, about 7 km (4 mi) from Selçuk, is believed to have been the last home of Mary, mother of Jesus. It is a popular place of pilgrimage which has been visited by three recent popes.

The Church of Mary close to the harbor of Ephesus was the setting for the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, which resulted in the condemnation of Nestorius. A Second Council of Ephesus was held in 449, but its controversial acts were never approved by the Catholics. It came to be called the Robber Council of Ephesus or Robber Synod of Latrocinium by its opponents.

Main sites
 
Roman Library of Celsus.
Gate of Augustus.
Tomb of St. John in St. John's Basilica.The site is large. In fact, Ephesus contains the largest collection of Roman ruins east of the Mediterranean. Only an estimated 15% has been excavated. The ruins that are visible give some idea of the city's original splendour, and the names associated with the ruins are evocative of its former life. The theater dominates the view down Harbour Street, which leads to the long-silted-up harbor.

The Library of Celsus, whose façade has been carefully reconstructed from all original pieces, was built ca. AD 125 by Gaius Julius Aquila in memory of his father and once held nearly 12,000 scrolls. Designed with an exaggerated entrance — so as to enhance its perceived size, speculate many historians — the building faces east so that the reading rooms could make best use of the morning light.

A part of the site, Basilica of St. John, was built in the 6th century AD, under emperor Justinian I over the supposed site of the apostle's tomb. It is now surrounded by Selçuk.

The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is represented only by one inconspicuous column, revealed during an archaeological excavation by the British Museum in the 1870s. Some fragments of the frieze (which are insufficient to suggest the form of the original) and other small finds were removed – some to London and some to the Archaeological Museum, Istanbul. Other edifices excavated include:

The Odeon - a small roofed theatre[22] constructed by Vedius Antonius and his wife in around 150 A.D. It was a small salon for plays and concerts, seating about 1,500 people. There were 22 stairs in the theater. The upper part of the theatre was decorated with red granite pillars in the Corinthian style. The entrances were at both sides of the stage and reached by a few steps.[23]
The Temple of Hadrian dates from the 2nd century but underwent repairs in the 4th century and has been reerected from the surviving architectural fragments. The reliefs in the upper sections are casts, the originals being now exhibited in the Selçuk Archaeological Museum. A number of figures are depicted in the reliefs, including the emperor Theodisius I with his wife and eldest son.[24] The temple was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 20 million lira banknote of 2001-2005[25] and of the 20 new lira banknote of 2005-2009.[26]
The Temple of Domitian was one of the largest temples on the city. It was erected on a pseudodipteral plan with 8 x 13 columns. The temple and its statue are some of the few remains connected with Domitian.[24]
The Theater - At an estimated 44,000 seating capacity, it is believed to be the largest outdoor theater in the ancient world.[27]
The Tomb/Fountain of Pollio - erected by a grateful city in 97 AD in honor of C. Sextilius Pollio, who constructed the Marnas aqueduct, by Offilius Proculus. It has a concave facade.[23][24]
There were two agoras, one for commercial and one for state business.[28][29]

Seven sleepers
Ephesus is believed to be the city of the Seven Sleepers. The story of the Seven Sleepers, who are considered saints by Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims, tells that they were persecuted because of their belief in God and that they slept in a cave near Ephesus for centuries.

Efes Atik kenti hakkýnda bilgiler, Efes antik kentinin tarihi

19/5/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

Ýzmir Ýli Selçuk Ýlçesi sýnýrlarý içindeki antik Efes kenti’nin ilk kuruluþu M.Ö. 6000 yýllarýna, Neolitik Dönem olarak adlandýrýlan Cilalý Taþ Devri’ne kadar inmektedir. Son yýllarda yapýlan araþtýrmalar ve kazýlarda Efes çevresindeki höyükler (tarih öncesi tepe yerleþimleri) ve kalenin bulunduðu Ayasuluk Tepesi’nde Tunç çaðlarý ve Hittitler’e ait yerleþimler saptanmýþtýr. Hititler Dönemi’nde kentin adý Apasas’týr. M.Ö. 1050 yýllarýnda Yunanistan’dan gelen göçmenlerin de yaþamaya baþladýðý liman kenti Efes, M.Ö. 560 yýlýnda Artemis Tapýnaðý çevresine taþýnmýþtýr. Bugün gezilen Efes ise, Büyük Ýskender’in generallerinden Lysimakhos tarafýndan M.Ö. 300 yýllarýnda kurulmuþtur. Hellenistik ve Roma çaðlarýnda en görkemli dönemlerini yaþayan Efes, Asya eyaletinin baþkenti ve en büyük liman kenti olarak 200.000 kiþilik nüfusa sahipti. Efes, Bizans Çaðýnda tekrar yer deðiþtirmiþ ve ilk kez kurulduðu Selçuk’taki Ayasuluk Tepesi’ne gelmiþtir. 1330 yýlýnda Türkler tarafýndan alýnan ve Aydýnoðullarý’nýn merkezi olan Ayasuluk, 16.Yüzyýl’dan itibaren giderek küçülmeye baþlamýþ, 1923 yýlýnda Cumhuriyetimizin kuruluþundan sonra Selçuk adýný almýþ ve bugün 30.000 kiþilik nüfusa sahip turistik bir yerdir.

Antik dünyanýn en önemli merkezlerinden biri olan Efes, Ý.Ö. 4.bine dek giden tarihi boyunca uygarlýk, bilim, kültür ve sanat alanlarýnda her zaman önemli rol oynamýþtýr.

Doðu ile Batý (Asya ve Avrupa) arasýnda baþlýca kapý durumunda olan Efes önemli bir liman kenti idi. Bu konumu Efes’in çaðýnýn en önemli politik ve ticaret merkezi olarak geliþmesini ve Roma Devrinde Asia eyaletinin baþkenti olmasýný saðlamýþtýr.
Ancak, Efes antik çaðdaki önemini yalnýzca büyük bir ticaret merkezi olarak geliþmesini ve baþkent oluþuna borçlu deðildir. Anadolu’nun eski anatanrýça (Kybele) geleneðine dayalý Artemis kültünün en büyük tapýnaðý da Efes’de yer alýr. Bu tapýnak dünyanýn yedi harikasýndan biri olarak kabul edilir.

Efes tarihi boyunca birçok kez yer deðiþtirdiðinden kalýntýlarý geniþ bir alana yayýlýr. Yaklaþýk 8 km²lik bir alana yayýlan bu kalýntýlar içinde kazý-restorasyon ve düzenleme çalýþmalarý yapýlmýþ, ziyarete açýk olan bölümlerdir.
1- Ayasuluk Tepesi (Ý.Ö. 3. bine tarihlenen en erken yerleþim ile Bizans Devrine ait, Hýristiyanlýk dünyasý için büyük önem taþýyan St. Jean Kilisesi),
2- Artemision (Ý.Ö. 9-4. yüzyýllara ait önemli bir dini merkez; dünyanýn yedi harikasýndan biri olan Artemis Tapýnaðý)
3- Efes (Arkaik-Klasik-Hellenistik-Roma ve Bizans Devri yerleþimi),
4- Selçuk (Selçuklu, Osmanlý Dönemi yerleþimi ve bu yerleþimi barýndýran, bugün önemli bir turizm merkezi olan modern kent),

Antik Çaðda önemli bir uygarlýk merkezi olan Efes bugün de yýlda ortalama 1,5 milyon kiþinin ziyaret ettiði önemli bir turizm merkezidir.
Efes’teki ilk arkeolojik kazýlar British Museum adýna J.T. Wood tarafýndan 1869 yýlýnda baþlamýþtýr. Wood’un ünlü Artemis Tapýnaðýný bulmaya yönelik bu çalýþmalarýna 1904 yýlýndan sonra D.G. Hogarth devam etmiþtir. Bugün de çalýþmalarýný sürdüren Avusturyalýlarýn Efes’teki kazýlarý ilk olarak 1895 yýlýnda Otto Benndorf tarafýndan baþlatýlmýþtýr. Avusturya Arkeoloji Enstitüsü’nün 1. ve 2. Dünya Savaþlarý sýrasýnda kesintiye uðrayan çalýþmalarý 1954 yýlýndan sonra aralýksýz devam etmiþtir.
Efes’te Avusturya Arkeoloji Enstitüsü’nün çalýþmalarýnýn yaný sýra 1954 yýlýndan itibaren Efes Müzesi de T.C. Kültür Bakanlýðý adýna kazý, restorasyon ve düzenleme çalýþmalarýný sürdürmektedir.

Hotels in Istanbul, Choose and book a room for your travel in Istanbul Hotels.Welcome to our selection of the most charming hotels in the center of Istanbul and Turkey, Ýstanbul's otels, istanbl otelleri, istanbuldaki otellerin adres ve telefonlarý

10/5/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

ÝSTANBUL'DAKÝ OTELLER ADRES VE TELEFON

Türkiye'nin önemli turistlik yerleri hakkýnda ilginç bilgiler ve fotoðraflar, Kapadokya, Ayasofya, Hasankeyf, Nemrut Daðý, Divriði Ulu Cami, Pokut Yaylasý, Aðýrnas Mimar Sinan Evi, Aspendos Antik Tiyatrosu, Süleymaniye Cami, turkey touristic pleaces

7/4/2009 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

Hagia Sophia ISTANBUL Ayasofya HAKKINDA INGILIZCE BILGI

20/12/2008 · Kategori: Turizm-tourism

Hagia Sophia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia, (the Church of) Holy Wisdom, now known as the Ayasofya Museum, was an early Christian Church ^[1] and later an Eastern Orthodox church which was transformed into a mosque in 1453 by the Turks, ^[2] and converted into a museum in 1935. It is located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is regularly considered one of the greatest, and most beautiful buildings in history. Its conquest by the Ottomans at the fall of Constantinople is considered one of the great tragedies of Christianity by the Greek Orthodox faithful.

The name comes from the Greek name Ἁγία Σοφία, a contraction of Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, meaning "Church of the Holy Wisdom of God". It is also known as Sancta Sophia in Latin and Ayasofya in Turkish. Although it is sometimes called "Saint Sophia" in English, it is not named after a saint named Sophia — the Greek word sofia means "wisdom."

It was constructed in five years, from 532 to 537, at the orders of Emperor Justinian I and designed by Isidore of Miletus.^{[citation needed]}

 

Hagia Sophia at night

Hagia Sophia is covered by a central dome with a diameter of 31 meters (102 feet) and 56 meters high, slightly smaller than the Pantheon's. The dome seems rendered weightless by the unbroken arcade of arched windows under it, which help flood the colourful interior with light.

The dome is carried on pendentives — four concave triangular sections of masonry which solve the problem of setting the circular base of a dome on a rectangular base. At Hagia Sophia the weight of the dome passes through the pendentives to four massive piers at the corners. Between them the dome seems to float upon four great arches.

At the western (entrance) and eastern (liturgical) ends, the arched openings are extended by half domes carried on smaller semidomed exedras. Thus a hierarchy of dome-headed elements builds up to create a vast oblong interior crowned by the main dome, a sequence unexampled in antiquity. All interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marbles, green and white with purple porphyry and gold mosaics, encrusted upon the brick. On the exterior, simple stuccoed walls reveal the clarity of massed vaults and domes.

Construction

A section of the original architecture of Hagia Sophia

Nothing remains of the first church that was built on the same site during the 4th century. Following the destruction of the first church, a second was built by Constantius II, the son of Constantine I, but was burned down during the Nika riots of 532. The building was rebuilt under the personal supervision of Emperor Justinian I and rededicated on December 27, 537.

Justinian chose Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, a physicist and a mathematician, as architects; Anthemius, however, died within the first year. The construction is described in Procopius' On Buildings (De Aedificiis). The Byzantine poet Paul the Silentiary composed an extant poetic ekphrasis, probably for the rededication of 563, which followed the collapse of the main dome.

After the great earthquake in 989, which ruined the dome of St Sophia, the Byzantine government sent for the Armenian architect Tirdat, creator of the great churches of Ani and Agine, to repair the dome.^[3]

Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture. Of great artistic value was its decorated interior with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings. The temple itself was so richly and artistically decorated that Justinian proclaimed "Solomon, I have surpassed thee!" (Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών). Justinian himself had overseen the completion of the greatest cathedral ever built up to that time, and it was to remain the largest cathedral for 1,000 years up until the completion of the cathedral in Seville.

Justinian's basilica was at once the culminating architectural achievement of late antiquity and the first masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. Its influence, both architecturally and liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Muslim worlds alike. Under Justinian's orders, eight Corinthian columns were disassembled from Baalbek, Lebanon and shipped to Constantinople for the construction of Hagia Sophia.^[4]

Interior of the Hagia Sophia, February 2007

The dome of Hagia Sophia has spurred particular interest for many art historians and architects because of the innovative way the original architects envisioned the dome. The dome is supported by pendentives which had never been used before the building of this structure. The pendentive enables the round dome to transition gracefully into the square shape of the piers below. The pendentives not only achieve a pleasing aesthetic quality, but they also restrain the lateral forces of the dome and allow the weight of the dome to flow downward.

Although this design stabilizes the dome and the surrounding walls and arches, the actual construction of the walls of Hagia Sophia weakened the overall structure. The bricklayers used more mortar than brick, which, of course, constitutes a weak wall. The structure would have been more stable if the builders at least let the mortar cure before they began the next layer; however, they did not do this. When the dome was placed atop the building, the weight of the dome caused the walls to lean outward because of the wet mortar underneath. When Isidorus the Younger rebuilt the original dome, he had to first build up the interior of the walls so that they were vertical in order to support the weight of the new dome. Another probable change in the design of the dome when it was rebuilt was the actual height of the dome. Isidore the Younger raised the height of the dome by approximately twenty feet so that the lateral forces would not be as strong and the weight of the dome would flow more easily down the walls.

A second interesting fact about the original structure of the dome was how the architects were able to place forty windows around the base of the dome. Hagia Sophia is famous for the mystical quality of light that reflects everywhere in the interior of the nave, which gives the dome the appearance of hovering above the nave. This design is possible because the dome is shaped like a scalloped shell or the inside of an umbrella with ribs that extend from the top of the dome down to the base. These ribs allow the weight of the dome to flow between the windows, down the pendentives, and ultimately to the foundation.

The anomalies in the design of Hagia Sophia show how this structure is one of the most advanced and ambitious monuments of late antiquity.

History

Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople and a principal setting for Byzantine imperial ceremonies.

The structure has been severely damaged several times by earthquakes. The dome collapsed after an earthquake in 558; and was replaced in 563. There were additional partial collapses in 989 after which an Armenian architect named Trdat was commissioned to repair the damage. During the Latin Occupation (1204–1261) the church became a Roman Catholic cathedral. After the Turks invaded Constantinople, Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque in 1453. In 1935, under the orders of Turkish president Kemal Atatürk, Hagia Sophia was turned into the Ayasofya Museum.

The building was restored and repaired numerous times by Ottoman architects. The most famous and extensive work was done by Mimar Sinan, one of the most famous Muslim architects in history (who incidentally was converted to Islam from Christianity when he was young), in the 16th century, which included the addition of structural supports to the exterior of the building, the replacement of the old minarets with the minarets that stand today, and the addition of Islamic pulpits and art.

For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Ayasofya served as model for many of the Ottoman mosques such as the Þehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque.

Mosaics

Following the building's conversion to a mosque in 1453, many of its mosaics were destroyed or covered with plaster, due to Islam's ban on representational imagery. This process was not completed at once, and reports exist from the 17th century in which travellers note that they could still see Christian images in the former church. In 1847-49, the building was restored by two Swiss brothers, Gaspare and Guiseppe Fossati, and Sultan Abdülmecid allowed them to also document any mosaics they might discover during this process. This work did not include repairing the mosaics and after recording the details about an image, the Fossatis painted it over again. This work included covering the previously uncovered faces of two seraphim mosaics located in the centre of the building. The building currently features a total of four of these images and two of them are restorations in paint created by the Fossatis to replace two images of which they could find no surviving remains. In other cases, the Fossatis recreated damaged decorative mosaic patterns in paint, sometimes redesigning them in the process. The Fossati records are the primary sources about a number of mosaic images now believed to have been completely or partially destroyed in an earthquake in 1894. These include a great mosaic of Christ Pantocrator in the dome, a mosaic over a now unidentified Door of the Poor, a large image of a jewel-encrustred cross and a large number of images of angels, saints, patriarchs, and church fathers. Most of the missing images were located in the building's two tympana. The Fossatis also added a pulpit (minbar) and the four large medallions on the walls of the nave bearing the names of Muhammad and Islam's first caliphs.

20th-century restoration

The interior of the dome undergoing restoration.

A large number of mosaics were uncovered in the 1930s by a team from the American Byzantine Institute led by Thomas Whittlemore. The team chose to let a number of simple cross images remain covered by plaster, but uncovered all major mosaics found.

Due to its long history as both a church and a mosque, a particular challenge arises in the restoration process. The Christian iconographic mosaics are being gradually uncovered. However, in order to do so, important, historic Islamic art would have to be destroyed. Restorers have attempted to maintain a balance between both Christian and Islamic cultures. In particular, much controversy rests upon whether the Islamic calligraphy on the dome of the cathedral should be removed, in order to permit the underlying Pantocrator mosaic of Christ as Master of the World, to be exhibited (assuming the mosaic still exists).