Turkey Facts

Mount Agri is the highest peak (5,166m) in Turkey.

Lake Van is Turkey's largest lake.

Mount Agri, also known as Mount Ararat, is the place where it is said that Noah's Ark came to rest.

Catalhoyuk is a city founded in Turkey around 7000 BC. The site was first excavated in the early 1960s.

The Kerkenes Mountain is the location of very large pre-Hellenistic site.

The Anatolian city of Troy was first excavated in 1871. The siege of Troy by the Greek armies, led by Agamemnon of Mycenae and Menelaus of Sparta, inspired Homer's "Iliad" (the story of the Trojan War) and "The Odyssey" (the story of the legendary travels of Odysseus after the Trojan War).

Turkey (Asia Minor or Anatolia) was settled by Greeks from Attica (Ionians) and is the home of the Classical Greek Ionic column.

The Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was built at Ephesus which was part of the Greek Empire.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, built around 353 BC, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Zeugma 2000, an archaeological project in Turkey, is investigating the Roman frontier city of Zeugma on the Euphrates river.

The Ancient Greek Temple of Apollo was built in Didyma near Miletus.

St Paul (Saul) was born in Tarsus, east of Mersin.

Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, was an important capital city for many hundreds of years. Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire (founded when the capital of the Roman Empire was transferred to Constantinople in 324) and the Ottoman Empire (from 1453).

The Ottoman Empire expanded in the early sixteenth century under Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) but the greatest expansion of the Empire took place during the rule of Sultan Suleyman (1520-1566).

The Ottoman Empire ended in 1922 and the Republic of Turkey was founded. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk became the President of the Republic.

The use of surnames became a legal requirement in Turkey in 1935.

The Turkish carpet has been made in Turkey for centuries and is one of its most well known art forms.

Early Greek and Roman baths were the inspiration for the hammam or "Turkish bath". The smaller Turkish hammam became popular in the seventh century.

Turkey has a history of earthquakes. In 1999 earthquakes left eighteen thousand people dead and thousands homeless.

Mount Agri is the highest peak (5,166m) in Turkey.

Lake Van is Turkey's largest lake.

Mount Agri, also known as Mount Ararat, is the place where it is said that Noah's Ark came to rest.

Catalhoyuk is a city founded in Turkey around 7000 BC. The site was first excavated in the early 1960s.

The Kerkenes Mountain is the location of very large pre-Hellenistic site.

The Anatolian city of Troy was first excavated in 1871. The siege of Troy by the Greek armies, led by Agamemnon of Mycenae and Menelaus of Sparta, inspired Homer's "Iliad" (the story of the Trojan War) and "The Odyssey" (the story of the legendary travels of Odysseus after the Trojan War).

Turkey (Asia Minor or Anatolia) was settled by Greeks from Attica (Ionians) and is the home of the Classical Greek Ionic column.

The Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was built at Ephesus which was part of the Greek Empire.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, built around 353 BC, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Zeugma 2000, an archaeological project in Turkey, is investigating the Roman frontier city of Zeugma on the Euphrates river.

The Ancient Greek Temple of Apollo was built in Didyma near Miletus.

St Paul (Saul) was born in Tarsus, east of Mersin.

Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, was an important capital city for many hundreds of years. Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire (founded when the capital of the Roman Empire was transferred to Constantinople in 324) and the Ottoman Empire (from 1453).

The Ottoman Empire expanded in the early sixteenth century under Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) but the greatest expansion of the Empire took place during the rule of Sultan Suleyman (1520-1566).

The Ottoman Empire ended in 1922 and the Republic of Turkey was founded. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk became the President of the Republic.

The use of surnames became a legal requirement in Turkey in 1935.

The Turkish carpet has been made in Turkey for centuries and is one of its most well known art forms.

Early Greek and Roman baths were the inspiration for the hammam or "Turkish bath". The smaller Turkish hammam became popular in the seventh century.

Turkey has a history of earthquakes. In 1999 earthquakes left eighteen thousand people dead and thousands homeless.