Turkey is full of places to see and visit: from the fascinating Istanbul skyline adorned with domes and minarets to Roman ruins along the western and southern coasts, from the beaches of Antalya with its Mediterranean seaside resorts to the misty mountains of the Black Sea.
It is really difficult to draw up a ranking of the most beautiful tourist attractions in Turkey, but below we propose the 10 most visited. These places can be considered as the beginning of a wonderful holiday in Turkey. Then, gradually, you can discover other places, perhaps less known, but certainly equally enchanting and interesting.
Visit Bodrum Castle Located
in the city of Bodrum in southwestern Turkey, St. Peter’s Castle was built by the Crusaders in the 15th century. It is one of the best preserved medieval monuments. The structure is now a museum, and in particular houses the Museum of Underwater Archeology. It overlooks Bodrum’s inland marina, a stopping point for many million-euro sailboats belonging to wealthy owners.
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Pamukkale
Pamukkale, which means “cotton castle”, is one of the most fantastic places on Earth. It is located in western Turkey, and is famous for its white travertine terraces that form pools in which to soak and relax. The water inside these natural pools has a high mineral content. In the world, there are very few places like this, and we find one in Italy, at the Terme di Saturnia. The ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was built atop the Pamukkale hot springs by the kings of Pergamum. The ruins of Greek baths, temples and other monuments are still found on this wonderful site.
Nemrut Dağı
Nemrut Dağı is a mountain 2134 meters high, located in southeastern Turkey, near the city of Adıyaman. In 62 BC, King Antiochus I of Commagene had a tomb-sanctuary built flanked by huge statues representing himself, two lions, two eagles as well as various Greek and Persian gods. With the passage of time and due to atmospheric agents, the heads have detached from the bodies and now lie scattered throughout the site. The summit of Nemrut Dağı offers great views of the surrounding mountains. The main attraction is watching the sunrise from the eastern terrace, which invests the bodyless heads in an orange hue, adding even more mystery to this fascinating place.
Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque in Istanbul is undoubtedly a work of great architecture. Commissioned by Sultan Ahmed in the seventeenth century, it is still a mosque, as well as one of the most famous tourist attractions in Turkey. The name of the mosque derives from the internal ceiling covered with 21,043 turquoise tiles, which blends well with the cold and neutral tones that dominate the entire structure.
Fairy chimneys
In Göreme, in Cappadocia, it is possible to admire natural rock formations with bizarre and enchanting shapes, not surprisingly called fairy chimneys, or earth pyramids. They are the result of the erosion of volcanic rocks due to strong winds and water. Specifically, these natural structures consist of a thick layer of tuff (magmatic rock) covered by a thin layer of basalt, which is more resistant to erosion. Due to the extreme friability of the tuff, many of the fairy chimneys present in Cappadocia have even been excavated for housing.
