In 1999, we traveled through eastern Turkey at the start of a 5 week trip, some of the most isolated and beautiful terrain in the world. We flew from Istanbul to Trabzon, a place I’d longed to visit after reading Dorothy Dunnett’s 2nd Niccolo book The Spring of the Ram. It’s another amazing combination of devious plotting with historical accuracy concentrating on the barely known period just after the Ottomans seized Constantinople. The remnants of the Byzantine court fled to a far corner of the Black Sea – Trebizond, where shifting alliances and treachery led to its fall to Ottoman Empire– 8 years after the capture of Constantinople in 1453
Like its predecessors the 4th Crusade in 1204 intended to journey to the Holy Land but it was in trouble from its start. The Venetians were still owed a large part of the payment promised for building and manning the crusading fleet, because the Crusaders had failed to assemble enough men to cover the agreed cost. As tensions mounted, Venetians urged the Crusaders to recoup their costs by the taking the capital of their longtime rival the Byzantine Empire.
The Crusaders and Venetians broke through Constantinople’s defenses and spent three days sacking the city, plundering its wealth and sacred relics and leaving widespread destruction behind. They set up the short-lived Latin empire. Among countless trophies they transferred to Venice were the Triumphal Quadriga among the most remarkable surviving metalworks of antiquity. T 4 bronze horses stood in Constantinople for about 800 years but are believed to have been created by the Greek sculptor Lysippos in 4th century BCE. (They visited Paris for about 20 years under Napoleon . )
The Byzantine Empire
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did eventually return to Constantinople, but it never recovered from the Latin conquest and was slowly strangled by the emerging Ottoman empire
Today, travelers require intense mental effort to conjure the glorious past from the current grimy industrial port of Trabzon, with its Russian flea markets, Russian prostitutes, fly-blown markets and dilapidated bridges over the canyon running thru the city. But the people are friendly & hospitable – when we entered a bakery and asked to sample a piece of baklava, the owner gave us 4 generous pieces to sample.
In Journey to Kars- Philip Glazebrook writes
disappointments are brought about by the mis-preparation of your mind for what really exists; yet it’s the mis-preparation the treasure trove buried in your mind under certain place-names … which draws you on to travel in the first place. Perhaps if I’d known what it’s really like in most of Trabzon nowadays, I wouldn’t have come. Only by not knowing, by refusing to listen, by insisting on setting out with pickaxe and secret map, can you hope to find Trabezond
But. several parks with pleasant tea shops and mosques are worth a visit, especially the Aya Sophia, standing on a bluff overlooking the Black Sea.
A short drive took us to a trail that steeply climbed to the Sumela monastery which clings to the mountainside. Inside its chapel is decorated with ancient frescoes, with faces pocked and scarred by centuries of iconoclasts, both Christian and Islamic. The hike to the monastery was listed as one kilometer along a moderately steep but well maintained trail. One of our party was sure it was much longer than a kilometer but persevered and for the rest of the trip we’d tell him any distance was “ Only a kilometer”
Glazebrook also captures the next phase of our trip –
We then moved inland to Erzerum, much reduced now from its medieval status as an educational and trading center. The distinctive Seljuk architecture can still be examined in the Ulu Cami and the medressehs. From Erzerum we drove to Kars, visiting the medieval Armenian town of Ani.
This is mountain scenery of the most magnificent variety. At Kale stands an old blackened castle in a desperate pass, the rushing river between sheer rock walls, the wild sharp mountains upreared against the sky. From the heights above Torut, in the very matrix of mountains, such a wilderness of peaks and winding valleys as I never saw before lay below us, threaded with rivers gleaming up through the smoky, cloudy light of the evening.
This is scenery for the hand of the illustrator, and the vocabulary of the narrator, to work upon until they produce together a volume which will satisfy the romantic expectations of the armchair traveller. Here the crags “beetle”, the cliffs “frown”, the heights are “dizzy”, chasms “yawn”, and the rivers are all “cataracts”.
Link 2 a separate post concerning Erzurum Cars and ANI on multiple visits then pick up as we approach Mount Ararat
-We were in Erzurum on our first trip. Went to celebration in stadium – students formed map of turkey, then a cardboard boat held up by 6 students ‘landed’ at samsun & the students marched in the direction of Ataturk’s advancer
Several days later after visiting Erzurum KaRS & Ani, we’re traveling along the eastern edge of Turkey – only a few miles from Armenia and then Iran. Passing mustard meadows of bright yellow, there are fields of sheep, ravines with Armenian watchtowers across the way. At Tuzluca the river valley widens, but watchtowers continue dot each side. In the distance we can see nuclear power plants in Erevan, Armenia.
Approaching Iran at (1600l m) stopping at the Beyazit Mosque, built in 1512 for an overall view of the Ishak Pasha Palace. From afar it’s a magical-looking castle, set on the side of a hill. Up close, it’s a disorienting pastiche of architectural cliches , designed by its eccentric owner. A mix of Seljuk, Armenian and Georgian styles leads to an unorganized overall effect. The castle dominates the road below, part of the ancient Silk Road route going thru Iran and farther east.
Igdir is a small town, dominated by Mt. Ararat that straddles the Iranian and Turkish borders. A lenticular cloud is forming on this peak of almost 17,000′, the mythical final resting place of Noah’s ark.
=========== link ==to flood myths =======
That night we stayed at the Sim-Er Hotel with wonderful views out to the broad white slopes of Ararat. It’s out of season, and the hotel has neither heat, nor hot water. We played bridge in front of a wood fire in the main room, at times wondering if we could buy some of the furniture to keep the fire going. (Conjuring the steamboat scene in ‘80 days around the world’) Ararat clouded over in the evening but was clear again by breakfast.
Early departure to Van. The vast plain of Chaldiran holds Ararat in view. There’s little to see, but this area is historically rich, being fought for by various empires over 3000 years . On 23 August 1514 a battle was fought here, between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Empire of Persia. The victorious Ottomans temporarily captured the Safavid capital of Tabriz, but were unable to hold it But it did establish the border between the two empires, which later became the boundary between Turkey and Iran today. Tabriz, the former capital, became a frontier city, strategically too close to the Ottoman enemy. That became a major factor leading the Safavids to move their capital to Qazvin, in the mid-16th century, and later to Isfahan, in central Persia, in 1598. This wasn’t the first time a major battle was fought here – it was also the site of one of the first large chariot battles as the Hittites conquered this area in the 16th century BCE
Farther south, we entered the town of Van, once the capital of Ancient Urartia. Van dates to the times of Gilgamesh and the Great Flood. Other legends place the Garden of Eden here. Van Kalesi, (ancient Tushpa) is an 10th – 8th century BCE Urartu fortress stretching along a hilltop. The lower walls date to the 16th – 19th centuries. Good examples of Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions on the temple ruins. Also trilingual cuneiform inscription of the Achaemenid King Xerxes The inscription consists of 27 lines of writing in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. The inscription reads the same in each language.
A translation reads:
“A great god is Ahura Mazda, the greatest of the gods, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, created happiness for man, who made Xerxes king, one king of many, one lord of many.
I (am) Xerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of all kinds of people, king on this earth far and wide, the son of Darius the king, the Achaemenid.
Xerxes the great king proclaims: King Darius, my father, by the favor of Ahura Mazda, made much that is good, and this niche he ordered to be cut; as he did not have an inscription written, then I ordered that this inscription be written.
May Ahura Mazda protect, together with the gods, and my kingdom and what I have done.”
Next was Cavustepe to see the remains of the 8th century BCE capital of the Urartian Kingdom. Built by Sardar II, it was held until the Urartians were conquered by the Cimmerians and Scythians. The outlines of the defensive walls are clearly seen, stretching along the low hills, dominating the major roads that still run below it. Storage chambers still contain wheat that’s 3000 years old. A cuneiform inscription, loosely translated, reads “I did this! Mess with me or my work and my god-pals will kill you“
At the end of the fortress is the citadel, carved out of rock with cisterns to sustain a siege. The ceilings are 4 feet thick, then rock carved and hollowed out below.
A local man uncovered a cistern and handed us so blackened seeds that may have been 2000+ year old wheat kernels
Farther to the southeast, Hosap Castle is a photogenic landmark dating from 1643 and built by Sari Suleyman. Like European castles, this stronghold allowed its owner to control the trade routes, and at times even challenge the claims of the Ottoman empire. The castle presents a solid front to the main road. You must walk around the castle and through a series of external walls to approach the main gate. Completing a spiral passageway around the citadel, you end up in an open courtyard. The citadel itself is climbed by stairs cut out of the rock. Lots to explore – remains of outer walls, the harem area, the old mosque. From the top of the citadel you look over the road hundreds of feet below. There was a haman [Turkish bath] at the top, with water pumped from below.
We had tea in a shop just below the castle, near the remains of a 16th century stone bridge. Back in the city, the Van Museum nicely displays artifacts from all these sites we’d visited
Just outside the city, Aktamar Island sits with its beautiful 10th century Armenian Apostolic cathedra of the Holy Cross. We hired a small boat to take us out to the island. The architecture repeats as a mix of Seljuk, Armenian and Georgian styles, but harmonius this time. fantastic Bible stories carved in relief as bands around the church. The interior is less impressive – the once beautiful frescoes are now washed out, defaced or vandalized, as at Ani.
The mountains of Chandir Dagi rise at the other end of the lake, and outside a small graveyard presents expansive views of the blue-green lake.
Diyarbakir
25 May 1999. Tensions were still high, even though an armistice and truce were supposed to be in effect with the Kurdish insurgents in the PKK. So along the road we’d pass oxcarts and armored personnel carriers. Checkpoints, with machine guns were spaced along the road, but we, in our tourist van had no trouble; locals, though, might be delayed for hours. We dropped into a deep rocky canyon, with more greenery than we’ve seen for a few days. But the narrow road and military presence doesn’t allow for easy stops. I did get out to take pictures of the Malabodi Koprusu, an old Ottoman stone bridge with a 100-foot span. At the next checkpoint, we were met by a military jeep just setting out to find us – they had expected us 10 minutes earlier.
Arriving at Diyarbakir, we discovered a new defense, none of its medieval attackers had to face. A ring of ugly tenements block access to good views of the city walls. Most of the black basalt walls are in good condition. Its a mix of Byzantine rounded barbicans with later accretions over the centuries. We mounted the wall at the south gate for good views in both directions.
The local museum had good coverage of the neighboring Neolithic sites, Cayuna from 8-6000 BCE and Uctepe from from 5000 BCE. Then a quick stop at Ulu Cami (Old Mosque), which despite its name is a fairly recent restoration of an 11th century mosque. It resembles the far larger Omayyad Mosque of Damascus from around the same time. Outside, old men sit drinking tea around a central oven. A group of younger men with large scythes lounge nearby, but assume heroic poses when they see our cameras.The next day we headed for one of the highlights of any trip to Turkey – . Nemrut Dag, a monument to the megalomania of the pre-Roman King Antiochus I.
