When I told my students in Istanbul I was visiting Kırşehir, I got funny looks and lots of “why?”. They had a point. Kırşehir is a mostly uninteresting city in Central Anatolia.
Eski Gümüşler Monastery (Eski Gümüşler Manastırı) is a Byzantine-era cave monastery rediscovered in 1963. It’s located a short drive from the city of Niğde.
Kaliakra is a narrow cape with stunning views of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. It’s a nature reserve and archaeological site with steep cliffs plunging 70m down to the sea.
The oldest part of Varna is the Greek quarter, where you’ll find the most historic parts of the city. Varna has had a Greek population since antiquity, when the city was known as Odessos, a mixed Greek and Thracian city that was later annexed by the Romans.
Shumen wasn’t always located where it is today. Since being settled in the 12th century BC, the city consisted of a fortress on a hill three kilometers west of present day Shumen.
Sexaginta Prista (Port of Sixty Ships) is the most important archaeological site in Ruse. It’s a Roman naval base along the Danube River.
The famous Theodosian Walls of Constantinople (Θεοδοσιανά τείχη) protected the city for over 1,000 years. They run between the Zeytinburnu and Fatih districts of Istanbul.
The Temple of Artemis, or Artemision (Ἀρτεμίσιον / Artemis Tapınağı), was the most important temple in Ephesus. It’s located on the outskirts of the modern town of Selçuk, Turkey. The temple is included in the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Ephesus.
The Ihlara Valley (Ihlara Vadisi) is a canyon in the southwest part of Cappadocia in Turkey. It contains a wealth of rock-cut churches.
The Derinkuyu Underground City (Derinkuyu Yeraltı Şehri) is the largest multilevel underground city excavated in Turkey. It’s part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia.