September 24th
Our first 24 hours in and around Mardin, the most captivating city in Turkey’s southeast region. Dara is an ancient city founded by an Eastern Roman Empire as a fortress town.
A land where east melts into west, Turkey’s Turquoise Coastline…
This is where cultures of the Middle East and West melts into a whole new lifestyle. Discover the ancient world of Lycians, Carians and Romans around the turquoise coasts of Turkey. We’ll trace the life of a Roman merchant in the lagoons of Caunos and the greatest city of the Romans, Ephesus the sacred port city dedicated to fertility for many ages. Experience the daily life of the eastern Aegean villages while comparing the grapes of ancient vineyards where wine was first fermented and traded all around the old world from Greece to Egypt.
Then there’s the 6th century Roman Kilise sarniç or ‘church cistern’ that was discovered under a barn in a little village with more sheep and people. It’s more than 60 feet deep.
And to top it off, we have wine with a view over the Mesopotamia plain stretching out in front of us.
September 25th
Day four of our SE Turkey tour takes us to the city of Midyat with a large Syriac (Arab Christian) population for some jewelery and wine shopping, not to mention some gorgeous architecture.
We stopped by an Orthodox monastery, Deyrüzzaferân, and a riverside restaurant for grilled fish and kebabs. We even managed to get a few colourful headscarves.
