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Turkey’s fifth biggest town, Eskişehir was built over a hot spring in an area which boasts some of the world’s largest reserves of meerschaum. The university has brought a new liveliness to the town, which has also been improved by the provision of new monuments, fountains, and trees. A flashy new tram has made it much easier to get about too. From cafes to Chinese and Italian restaurants, from thermal baths to museums, mosques and ancient ruins, there is much to see and do in and around town.
A thriving modern town
Originally called Dorylaeon by the Greeks and Dorileaum by the Romans, Eskişehir was probably established near an old Phrygian settlement on the banks of the Porsuk River. Famed for its thermal baths, the city prospered through trade and acquired city status in 1925. Through trade and manufacturing, it has always been a prosperous city; it was also the cradle of civil aviation in Turkey and is home to the Anadolu University, one of the country’s biggest institutions of higher learning. After years of hard work, Eskişehir’s star is once again in the ascendant, the new tram (”the Estram”) a symbol of its go-ahead outlook.
Eskişehir may be an “old town” in name, but there’s not a great deal left to see of its past in the town center which was badly damaged during the Turkish War of Independence. Recently, the surviving 19th-century pastel-colored houses in the Odunpazarı (Wood Market) neighborhood have been given a makeover, making it one of the most enjoyable areas to explore.
It’s worth taking a stroll along bustling, pedestrian Hamamyolu Caddesi, where every other shop seems to sell sweets. The large 16th-century Kurşunlu and Haznedar Camii (Mosques) are also worth a visit; the former might be a work of the famous architect Sinan. Spare some time, too, for the museums: the Archaeological Museum, which contains some of the finds from Dorileaum; the Atatürk and Culture Museum; and the Beylerbeyi Konağı, an Ottoman House which is sporadically open to the public.
Don’t leave town without taking a dip in one of the thermal baths. Public baths can be found at the junction of Hamamyolu and Savtekin Caddesis (street), or you can book into a hotel which boasts its own thermal waters.
Meerschaum country
Eskişehir is famous for its light, white meerschaum stone, a substance which is not common elsewhere in the world. It has been mined and processed here for nearly 5,000 years, and many beautiful pipes and other astonishingly elaborate objects made from meerschaum (which means “sea foam” in German) are on display in the small Lületaşı Müzesi (Meerschaum Museum).
Alanya’s ancient name “Korakos” meant “a place full of crows”. The city was called “Kalonaros” (Beautiful Mountain) in the Middle Ages. When the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Keykubat was enthroned, he took on the epithet “Alaeddin” (meaning “superior” or “sovereign”) and Kalonaros became “Alaiye”, or “the city of Ala”. Eventually this was transformed into Alanya, the name the city goes by today.
Modern Alanya is dominated by a huge plug of rock topped off with the remains of a Seljuk castle. This is by far the most interesting part of what is a predominantly modern city. Make it easy on yourself by taking a bus or taxi up and then walking the three kilometers down again to take advantage of the wonderful sea views and to visit the other minor sites on the rock, including a fine Ottoman mosque and bedesten (covered market). Some lovely old Ottoman houses still cling to the hillside as well.
Of Alanya’s several caves, the most famous is the Damlataş Mağrası (Dripping Stone Cave), whose humid atmosphere is supposedly good for asthmatics. Some people will prefer the less crowded Dim Mağarası (Cave), known as the “Gavur İni” (Cave of the Infidel) to the locals. Being the seaside resort it is, Alanya offers a great choice of daily boat tours which visit the Korsanlar, Aşıklar, and Fosforlu Caves, as well as the Cleopatra and Ulaş beaches.
The local museum contains small but interesting archaeological and ethnological collections. The house in which Atatürk stayed overnight on 18 February 1935 is also open to the public.
Kızılkule is the symbol of the city
Although the city of Alanya dates back for many centuries, it never played a major role in history. However, when Alaeddin Keykubat commissioned a Syrian architect to build the aptly-named Kızılkule (the Red Tower) in 1226, he put the city on the world map. Eighty-seven steps lead to the top and a spectacular view out over the sea. The Tersane is another local attraction. Also commissioned by Keykubat, this dockyard, built in 1228, is the only example of its kind to survive from the Seljuk period. The tower next to it is known to have been used as an armory.
One of the best things about Side is the way that the ancient ruins overlap and intertwine with the modern city. The theater, the museum, and the Temples of Apollo and Athena are all within easy walking distance of each other. The bazaar is extremely busy; as a melting pot for many different nationalities and languages, it generates an atmosphere that some find endearing and others find offputting.
The site of a famous love affair…
Some sources say that Side originally meant “pomegranate”, and the pomegranate is the symbol of abundance and wealth. The city experianced its period of greatest prosperity in Roman times when it was a flourishing trade center with a large slave market. Some sources also suggest that it served as a lovenest for Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.
As you walk towards the bazaar from the bus station you will pass a beautiful, newly excavated Roman fountain and then the remains of a colonnaded street once lined with ancient shops. The theater, which has a seating capacity of 15,000, is still used today. Side Museum is housed in what was once the old Roman bath-house; it has a delightful back garden full of stone sarcophagi. The Temples of Apollo and Athena overlooking the sea were built in the 2nd century AD. Few things could be nicer than sipping an evening drink at once of the cafes beside the temples. Protected by its land and sea walls, the ancient city of Side survived the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Unfortunately, the aesthetic beauty of the ancient buildings has not found echoes in many of the structures thrown up in recent years.
Side’s historic sites are some walk from the bazaar in the heat, but the Municipality provides a Disneyesque tractor and trailer to get people from place to place in summer.
More local tourists
Traditionally, Side has been favored by the Germans and the Dutch, but ever since the five-star resorts lowered their prices for dometic tourists, the town has seen an increase in turkish visitors.