Turkey - 2013

OK, so I'm not an olive sort of person, but even I was impressed by this shop.

Clinging to the cliff, Sumela Monastery near Trabzon also boasts some beautiful frescoes. However, it is the setting which is an undeniable highlight.

A vertical panorama inside the former Church of the Divine Wisdom, now the Aya Sofya Museum, in Trabzon, showing the floor mosaic work as well as the light and spacious dome.

Ani was once the capital of Armenia. After changing hands a few times, it was abandoned and fell in to ruins after 1319. This cathedral was built between 987 and 1010. It fluctuated between being a church and a mosque, depending on the ruling powers of the time. The remains of the city are spread over a large area, which now is predominantly grassy rolling mounds with more than a dozen significant ruins dotting the landscape.

The sign marking the military zone was rusting, and had turned around to an angle meaning we did not see it when we walked past. It was only on our return that we realised we were in a no-go zone. I do think if they were serious about it, they should put up a fence, or at least some obvious signage!

This is near Doğubayazıt, nick-named “doggie biscuit”, close to the border of Iran. The sky cleared up for about twenty minutes between downpours, allowing some outdoor viewing and photography.

A cloud mimics the shape of the island below it. The church of Akdamar is visible on the island.

These beautiful reliefs dating from the 10th century, adorn the outside of the church of Akdamar, on an island on Lake Van, Turkey.

Turkish Van cats often have different coloured eyes. For this breed of cats, having white fur or even white markings against other colours is genetically linked to them possibly having one or both eyes blue (blue eyes in cats have received no colour pigmentation). White cats with two blue eyes are also deaf, but these, where the one eye remains blue and the other attains a colour (yellow or green seemed common) are not. They generally appeared to be curious and social, and like most cats, thrive on attention and affection.

Notice that this cat's blue eye is her right eye, while the previous photo showed a cat with the left eye blue.

The importance that Hasankeyf once held can be gauged by the size this bridge must have had, dating from a period before Ottoman rule. Strategically, with the extremely sheer cliffs and fortifications thereon, and the easily defended cave city (not visible in this photo), it was surely a city in a place to control, or at a minimum monitor, the flow of traffic up and down the Tigris River. A precariously positioned watch tower can be seen, looking ready to topple off the cliff top.

A view to the caves of Hasankeyf.

Whoever placed the first stones of the walls must have had nerves of steel, particularly given the age of the building and the probable entire lack of safety measures that would have been in place back then. A fantastic example of some fine engineering skills, considering the entire walls would have been built from the inside.

At over six kilometres, the city walls of Diyarbakır are said to be the second in extent in the world, only beaten by the Great Wall of China. They are made from basalt, and are certainly impressive.

From Mardin, looking over the plains of Mesopotamia to Syria. Sitting out and taking çay seems to be the most significant pass-time here.

It is said that anyone who should harm one of the fish swimming in the pools of Gölbaşı, Şanlıurfa, will go blind. They swim, they get fed, they grow fat, and they breed. Tough life.

The Mevlid-i Halil mosque in the area known as Dergah dominates in the foreground. Looking over the pleasant older areas of Şanlıurfa. Next to the mosque is the cave where it is believed that Abraham (or İbrahim) was born. Job also spent time here.