The Culture Routes
Historical Routes
Turkey has for thousands of years been the gateway between Europe and the Middle East and Africa. Here early man assembled for religious rituals and to build his first cities. Great kingdoms grew up and left their monuments strewn across the landscape – the Hittite empire was succeeded by the Phrygians, the Persians conquered from the East and were driven back by Alexander the Great from the west. The Romans ruled as far as the Euphrates and many of their cities still occupy impressive coastal sites. They were succeeded by the Byzantines, then the Selçuk Turks. Violent but short -lived incursions by the Mongols were followed by the rise of the Ottoman Turks. At its heyday the Ottoman Empire stretched from Mecca to Hungary, but by the First World War had shrunk back to its heartlands. Turkey emerged from the ashes of war as a struggling but independent, secular republic and gradually built itself into the vibrant, modern society you see today.
Many of our routes represent periods of our history. They thread their way between ancient sites and historical cities, using old roads, sometimes marked by caravansarays. The coastal routes dip down to harbours from which forgotten fleets ruled the seas.
| Route | Civilisation | Things to see |
| Abraham’s Path | All religions | Abraham’s birthplace, Göbekli Tepe and other religious sites. |
| Çoruh Valley | Georgian Empire | Medieval Georgian churches and castles in spectacular settings |
| Carian Way | Carian kingdom/Roman province | Carian and Roman cities; the Mausoleum and Crusader castle at Bodrum; ancient rock paintings and frescoes around Bafa Lake |
| Evliya Çelebi Way | Ottoman Empire | Cities of Iznik, Bursa, Kütahya and Afyon; caravanserays, saints tombs, old roads |
| Hittite routes | Hittite Kingdom | Boğazköy – Hittite capital city and temple sites, old roads |
| Independence Way | Turkish war of Independence | The road used to bring armaments from the Back Sea to Ankara |
| Lycian Way | Lycian Kingdom/Roman province | 27 Lycian, Greek and Roman cities along the route; remote Byzantine churches, graves, old roads and harbours |
| Phrygian Way | Phrygian Kingdom | Midas’ grave and other Royal graves; old cities, old roads; later caravansarays. |
| St Paul Trail | St Paul’s 2nd Journey | Route used by St Paul from Perge – Antioch in Pisidia, Roman cities, old roads, ruined churches |
| Sultan’s Trail | Sultan Suleyman’s route to Vienna | The Ottoman military road through the Balkans, bridges and caravansarays, castles, Roman cities, |
