AyasİsosTravels AİT5001: Cultural Turkey Tour 9 Days: Full Tour of Cappadocia and the Hittites: Erosion Makes History, Full Board (4*/5*/ boutiques hotels)
- Full board
- Visit to the little-known archaeological sites of Alaça Hüyük and Hattusas
- The enchanting landscape of all of Cappadocia
- The Levitical Hacibektas
- (optional hot air balloon ride).
- Accommodation in 4*-5* hotels and boutique hotels, full board
B: Breakfast L: Lunch D: Dinner.
Content
AyasİsosTravels AİT5001: Cultural Turkey Tour 9 Days: Full Tour of Cappadocia and the Hittites: Erosion Makes History, Full Board (4*/5*/ boutiques hotels) .................................................................. 1
Day 1: Brussels - Istanbul – Nevsehir (Kayseri) - Urgüp ………………………………………………….. 2
Day 2: Göreme - Ortahisar - Zelve - Urgüp ............................................................................................ 2
Day 3: Soganli Valley - Nigde - Urgüp .................................................................................................... 3
Day 4: Saratli - Ihlara - Urgüp ................................................................................................................. 3
Day 5: Hacibektas - Avanos - Urgüp ....................................................................................................... 4
Day 6: Ürgüp-Kayseri - Kültepe - Yozgat ................................................................................................ 4
Day 7: Yozgat(Çorum)-Alaça Hüyük - Hattusas - Yazilikaya - Ankara .................................................... 5
Day 8: Ankara ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Day 9: Ankara - Europe ......................................................................................................................... 6
Prices...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Comments............................................................................................................................................... 7
Optional excursions ................................................................................................................................ 7
Including ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Not included ........................................................................................................................................... 8
AyasİsosTravels: Multilingual Cultural Tour Provider and Operator........................................................ 8
Day 1: Brussels - Istanbul - Nevsehir (Kayseri) - Urgüp
Meeting at the airport for the flight to Nevsehir. Transfer to Urgüp, our base for the next five days.
Dinner and overnight in our hotel 4* or 5* charm boutique.
Day 2: Göreme - Ortahisar - Zelve - Urgüp
Through an enchanting landscape, the bus takes us from one valley to the other. Each time we take a short walk through the whimsical erosion landscape. Until the 1950s, Muslims and Greek Orthodox lived side by side in the valley of Zelve. Politics and earthquakes have put an end to that peaceful society. In the valley of Göreme rock churches and cave monasteries with their refectories, kitchens and cemeteries are arranged in horseshoe shape. In the Karanlik Kilise (the dark church) the frescoes are magnificently preserved.
Dinner and overnight in our hotel 4* or 5* charm boutique.
Day 3: Soganli Valley - Nigde - Urgüp
Far from the tourist violence, the almost deserted Soganli valley shows us the still authentic Cappadocia. In Nigde, we visit the Eski Gümüs Monastery with its special frescoes. This monastery is also carved into the tuff rocks and hidden from the eyes of any looters. In the walled courtyard we recognize monk cells, cemeteries and a church with some beautifully preserved frescoes.
Day 4: Saratli - Ihlara - Urgüp
There are more than 40 underground cities in Cappadocia. They were used as a depot and shelter during the raids of Persians and Arabs. Each city contains several tunnels, a ventilation shaft for air exchange, several rooms, storage areas, cisterns... . The entrances were closed with a millstone. Today we visit the underground city of Saratli. Continue to the Ihlara canyon for a peaceful walk in a gorge along an idyllic babbling brook.
Dinner and overnight in hotel 4* or 5* charm boutique.
Day 5: Hacibektas - Avanos - Urgüp
After breakfast we enjoy time to walk in Pasabag and visit Avanos. Excavations show that Avanos, located on the Kizilirmak River, has a long history dating back to the Bronze Age. Avanos has been known as a pottery region since the time of the Hittites.
Then we drive to the Levitical pilgrimage site of Hacibektas. The city is named after the 13th century mystic Haci Bektas Veli, who is considered the founder of the Bektashi order. Levite, Bektashism and Sufism see Ali as the doorway to the mystical knowledge and esoteric interpretation of Islam, as carried to him by Muhammad: Esedullah-Asadullah (Lion of God). About a quarter of the Turkish population is Alevi. Levitism is a branch of Shiite Islam. The emphasis is much less on laws and regulations, but all the more on respect for other people regardless of religion, race, origin and gender. We tour the mausoleum, visit and the museum and get to know the soft side of Islam at the Mausoleum of Haci Bektaşi Veli.
10 de Muharrem, Day of Ashura: Huseyn bin Ali, Grand Son of Mohamet, was killed in Kerbela.
Dinner and overnight in hotel 4* or 5* charm boutique.
Day 6: Ürgüp-Kayseri - Kültepe - Yozgat
To Kayseri, formerly Caesarea. We visit the city and the ruined hill of Kültepe (or Kanes) where the clay tablets have been found which are the archaeological evidence of the flourishing trade between Assyrian merchants and the Hittites.
Kültepe (Turkish: Asheuvel) is a modern village located near the ruins of the city of Kaneš or Kanesh (Hittite: Neša, later also Anisa), in the Kayseri province of Turkey. The nearest town is Kayseri, about 20 km to the southwest. Kültepe is located in the plain of Kayseri, which is bounded to the south by the volcanic massif Erciyes Dağı. The excavations are located near the hamlet of Karahöyük and around 20 km south of the river Kızılırmak.
Figures of a two-headed deity from the Early Bronze Age
Bronze dagger of Anitta found in the upper town of Kültepe with enlargement of the cuneiform script and Golden objects from the kārum.
Continue to Yozgat or Corum.
Dinner and overnight in hotel 4* or 5* charm boutique.
Day 7: Yozgat(Çorum)-Alaça Hüyük - Hattusas - Yazilikaya - Ankara
In Alacahöyük we visit the royal tombs of the Hatti.
Continue to Hattusas, the ruins of the old Hittite capital at the time of King Hattusili and the oldest known walled city. The excavations in Hattusas conjured up, in addition to a wealth of information, some archaeological gems, including the royal archive of some 10,000 tablets in Akkadian cuneiform. The most impressive remains, however, are the defenses with the city gates. A 3 km long processional road connected Hattusas with the beautifully decorated rock sanctuary of Yazilkaya.
Then we are in Alacahöyük.
Alacahöyük is an important archeological site in Central Turkey that has seen habitation from 5500 to 600 BC. shows. The ruin mound is located 36 km north of Bogazkale and 52 km south of Çorum. The most moving finds are housed in the museum in Ankara, but the place itself also has a small museum. It was an important city under the Hattians and then their successors the Hittites. Dinner and overnight in hotel 4* or 5* charm boutique in Ankara.
Day 8: Ankara
We spend the whole morning in The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.
It offers a sample of the many civilizations that once flourished on the land bridge between Europe and Asia. Our special attention goes to the unique Hittite department. Everything was excavated after 1923, the foundation of the Turkish Republic. Nothing ended up in Paris, London or Berlin. Walk in the narrow medieval-looking streets of the walled citadel.
Anatolian Civilizations Museum, Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi, Ankara, Turkey.
Afterwards visit to the monumental mausoleum of Atatürk, the father of the fatherland and to the temple of Augustus and Rome.
Dinner and overnight in hotel 4* or 5* charm boutique.
Day 9: Ankara - Europe
Transfer to Ankara airport and return flight to Europe.
Along the way, taste baklava and say goodbye to another AyasİsosTravels cultural tour.
Prices
• • Tour Price List from AyasİsosTravels: Travel Products (Tours, Tours, Group Tours, Vacations) from AyasİsosTravels in Turkey
• • Or please send an e-mail for the special conditions and prices.(partners@ayasisostravels.com)
Comments
• Departure date can be adjusted for private groups
• There is a special price for closed groups of more than 23 people, for members of cultural associations, for students, teachers, people with disabilities and their companions.
Optional trips
• Discovery of Cappadocia in a Hot Air Balloon • Spinning Dervish Dancing.
Including
• 9 days 8 nights full board in 4* (or 5*) charming hotels, according to the cities.
• Dinner the first evening and breakfast on the last day.
• Lunches in the restaurants with specialties 7 days.
• Transport in Turkey.
• Entrance fee of museums visited on the program.
• Dinner with folkloric show in Cappadocia.
• Service of a Dutch-speaking tour guide, university-trained guide.
Not included
• Drinks in hotels and restaurants, • Optional excursions, drinking money
• Transport in Europe,
• Return flight tickets Europe/Turkey, • Airport tax,
• Insurances.
Departure days can be organized (according to the demand of the special groups).
AyasİsosTravels: Multilingual Cultural Tour Provider and Operator.
