Turkey Thrace April 14-15, 2018
Currency: 1 € – 6.35 TL (Turkish Lira)
Observations.
1. Surprisingly about half the young women did not wear hajibs but had attractive hair fully displayed. I asked one and she said it was a personal choice.
2. Highways. Outside of Edirne, the roads were very nice 4-lane divided highways with a 130km/hour speed limit. Unusually, about every 5kms, there is a roundabout in the median (that doesn’t slow you down like other roundabouts, even though it has reduced speed suggestions of 70 and 50km/hr). They make U-turns very easy, nice if you happen to make a wrong turn.
The drivers are very sane: no tailgating or out of control speeds in the left lane.
Entering Turkey was not painless, at least on the Greek side. I always find it interesting when immigration officers from the country you are leaving make life difficult (my worst was in Jordan on my way to Israel when it took an hour to persuade the Jordanian jerk that having a lot of stamps in my passport from Central Asia, Lebanon and Turnisia did not mean that I was a terrorist). Here they refused to accept that I owned my VW California. The registration says that the owner is My California Rental Agency (done this way as I need a European address to register a vehicle) and does not have my name on it. My California had given me an official letter stating that I was the 100% owner of the vehicle (VIN and license plate were on the letter). After 30 minutes of heated discussion, they finally gave me a Greek exit stamp, but guaranteed that Turkey would not accept my letter, would make me wait for 2 hours and that I would then be back in Greece.
On arriving at the Turkey side, I needed €25 cash for the visa. As I was not going to be using Euros for almost 3 months, I hadn’t bothered getting money. So I had to return to Greece, withdraw money and return to Turkey customs. They looked at my registration and letter but seemed to have no issue. They were actually quite pleasant.
EDIRNE
Edirene is immediately across the border in northern Thrace, not far from the Bulgarian border. I made the 100km detour north away from Istanbul as I would not be returning this way on my way to Bulgaria, but would be following the Black Sea coast. I had put in all my Nomad Mania bookmarks for Bulgaria and knew the route I would be taking.
Sultan Bayezid II Complex: A Center of Medical Treatment. This Tentative WHS (13/04/2016) was founded in 1484, but appeared much newer. It consisted of a 30-bed hospital, mosque, madrassa (medical school) and all the rooms needed to function as a complete health facility: kitchen, pantry, laundry, ob/gyn rooms, surgeries, psych ward, pharmacy. The exhibits in the several small rooms went into detail about how sophisticated Ottoman medicine was in the 17th century but relied on herbal medications, bleeding, cupping and other archaic treatments (surprisingly still prevalent today despite their complete lack of efficacy and mainly placebo effect). Surgical techniques and a lot of new brass instruments were detailed (how to treat imperforate hymens, do abortions, use steam for retained placentas, operate on cysts, tonsillectomies, eye surgery, dentistry, nasal polyps etc., etc. and included an exhibit on a female surgeon who repaired inguinal hernias). No mention is made of anaesthetics. I found it all idealistic and kind of hokey, but the locals (all 20-somethings) seemed very impressed.
Its income dwindled, services were reduced and after the nearby river flooded, there were only a few psychiatric patients left in 1860 and it was called the Edirne Lunatic Asylum. The buildings were then used as a hostel and prison, were restored in 1966 and opened as a museum in 1996.
The mosque is a gem with a great courtyard and a huge dome with all the requisite geometric designs. It is actively used. 10 lira
Edirne Museum. This is a typical city museum with history from prehistory (fossils and some great mastodon teeth) through Greeks and Romans. There are the requisite zillion pots, jewelry, and lots of grave material. 120 lira
Between it and the mosque is a unique Ottoman gravestone collection with hundreds of Islamic tombstones – generally round or square cylinders with turbans on top and lots of Arabic writing.
Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex. A World Heritage Site, this is one helluva mosque. Enter the large courtyard with red/white stone arches and 24 domes. The four minarets are very tall. The mosque is square with a gigantic dome supported by eight enormous pillars. As in all mosques, much Arabic writing and geometrics is covering the inside. Four concentric metal rings of lights lie over a central tiny fountain covered by a wonderful wood canopy painted in intricate designs. The place was packed. Free
Uzunköprü Bridge (Long Bridge) is a 15th-century Ottoman bridge, which gave its name to the town of Uzunköprü. The bridge was built between 1426 and 1443 by head architect Muslihiddin on the orders of Ottoman Sultan Murad II. The ancient stone-built bridge with 174 arches, is 1,392 m (4,567 ft) long and up to 6.80 m (22.3 ft) wide. Some of the arches are pointed and some are round. When it was first completed, the structure was the longest bridge in the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey, a title that it held for 530 years until 1973, when it was surpassed by the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. However, Uzunköprü is still the longest stone bridge in Turkey.
The bridge was made to cross the Ergene River, which was a natural barrier for advances into the Balkans for the Ottoman Empire; its old name was Ergene Bridge. It is so long in order to cross a low-lying marshy area, now simply a large field. The bridge was restored in 1963. The Edirne –Izmir highway still passes over the bridge. It was inducted in the WHS in 2015 in the cultural category.
The east end is in the city of Erdine.
I decided to camp next to the bridge in the town (I was only 250kms from Istanbul and would have no trouble being at the airport to pick up Anna at 13:50). There was a pack of 15 large dogs hanging around, that were docile and appeared well fed.
After Istanbul, we returned to Gallipoli and Thrace on April 22.
CANAKKALE/GALLIPOLI (Gelibolu): Çanakkale (Dardanelles) and Gelibolu (Gallipoli) Battles Zones in the First World War are together a tentative WHS (15/04/2014). The Gallipoli Peninsula is both a NM “Sight” and in the “XL” series. Ataturk rose as a military leader during these campaigns.
The Allies wanted to capture Istanbul and Turkey for several reasons in WW I. They wanted to eliminate Turkey as an ally to Germany; they wanted ice-free access to Russia and they wanted another front on which to fight Germany and Austro-Hungary. The only way to capture Istanbul was via the Dardanelles.
This was a 9-month battle fought between the British-led forces (including many Commonwealth countries, especially New Zealanders and Australians) and the Ottoman Empire allied with Germany in WW I. The first offence occurred between the British Navy and the land-based defence of the Ottomans on both sides of the Dardanelles on March 18, 2015. The second attack started on April 25 when the Allies attacked via land on the north shore of the Gallipoli Peninsula. The third major offensive started on August 8 with another land attack. The fourth phase was the evacuation of the peninsula in December 2015.
In the nine months from March to December 1915, the death tolls were: 34,072 British, 9,798 French, 8,709 Australian, 2,721 New Zealanders, 1,358 Indians, 49 Newfoundlanders, and 56,643 Ottoman Empire soldiers died. Missing or POW were 7,654 British and 11,178 Ottomans,
Wounded totals were Allies 123,598 and Ottomans 97,007.
The Dardanelles have always been key to protecting Istanbul and access to the Black Sea, especially for the last 600 years since 1453. In 1461-2, two fortresses were built on either side of the Dardanelles at the narrowest part – Kilitbehir on the European side and Kale-e Sultanye on the Asian side both fortified with cannons. Made ineffective by pirates and the 1650-57 Venetian attacks, 2 more fortresses were built in 1660. All were updated in the 1800’s. The British managed to get through due to strong winds in 1807 and the forts were reinforced again. In 1907, the telegraph improved defences through better communication and 35 land batteries and ramparts were added. Gelibolu Fortress in Canakkale was the centre of the defence.
CANAKKALE
On the Asian side of the Dardanelles, it has a wide, attractive promenade along the shore, full of people out walking on a Sunday.
Truva Heykeli (Trojan Statue). In the NM “Modern Architecture: Buildings and Monuments” series, this is a replica of the Trojan Horse, a great wooden structure on the promenade. The legs are held together with rope lashing.
As narrated in the Iliad by Homer, the Achaens who had failed to capture the wealthy city of Troy after 10 years of war, made a wooden horse, hid warriors in it, left it in front of the gates of the city and sailed away. The Troy citizens brought the horse into the town. Waiting until dark, the Greek warriors opened the gates and set Troy on fire.
This model horse was used in the 2004 Warner Bros production starring Brad Pitt as Achilles and has been on display in Canakkale since September 2004.
Canakkale City Museum. The usual city museum but this one focuses more on the battle of 1915 and the fortresses lining the shore. 10 TL
Military Marine Museum and Gelibolu Fortress, Canakkale. Mostly an open-air museum with artillery, canons, torpedoes and water mines, there is also a German submarine that hit a mine, which was recovered and placed on the grounds.
Tour the TCG Nusret ship museum moored in the harbour. It is famous as the boat that laid most of the sea mines crucial in the Turkish defences of WWI. Inside watch an hour-by-hour recreation of the March 15, 1915 battle between the British Navy and the land defences at Canakkale, where the British eventually had to retreat after heavy losses. See the kitchen, crew’s, captain’s and petty officer’s quarters, wardroom and sick bay, all nicely restored.
Fortress: It is 150 X 100m with 5-7m thick walls and 9 bastions. Enter the fortress where there are photographs of heavy shell damage to the mosque and corner of the inner fortress. An unexploded shell fired by the Queen Elizabeth warship is embedded in the wall. March 18 is a national holiday in Turkey – “Battleship Day”, one of immense pride to Turks after defeating the British Navy.
Inside the central fort is 2-stories of displays detailing the New Zealand/Australian (ANZAC) attack on the north shore of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
We took the ferry across the Dardanelles to the Gallipoli Peninsula. It departs from Lapseki, about 35 km north of Canakkale (55 TL, every 30 minutes). Google Maps showed a crossing from the city of Canakkale but there isn’t so we had to retrace our steps back.
GALLIPOLI
Two 30,000-strong Allied divisions landed on the north Gallipoli coast from April 25 to May 16.
Akbas Sehitliga (Akbas Martyrs Monument). Shortly after getting off the ferry, we passed this Turkish cemetery/monument from WWI. Akbas was a hospital complex active in the war. 1,213 soldiers died in the hospital and are buried here – 459 have gravestones and 754 are memorialized on a big wall at the back of the cemetery. Almost all are dated 1915 but some from 1916.
Lone Pine Cemetery, Gallipoli. In the NM “The Dark Side” series, this is the largest Australian cemetery on Gallipoli – 1,160 servicemen (500 unidentified) have gravestones. A memorial wall commemorates 5,000 Australian and New Zealand men with no known grave who died mostly between April 25 to evacuation in December 2015 and most of those during the major offensive that started on August 8. On August 6, the British Navy artillery pounded Ottoman trenches (where Lone Pine is). The attack was intended to divert Ottoman forces from the major offensive at Sari Bay farther north. It was a brutal battle involving hand-to-hand combat in the trenches with revolvers, rifles and bayonets. 2000 Australians and 7000 Ottomans died in the next 7 months, but Lone Pine was held until the evacuation in December.
The one-way road snakes along the ridgeline, the control of which was the objective of the land-based attack. The road is littered with smaller cemeteries and signs naming specific locations. Many trenches are still easily visible along the road.
Çanakkale Martyrs’ Memorial. On the very south tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula, this is the major Turkish memorial to WW I. First, pass several rows of gravestones – marble rectangles surrounding a red clear plastic centre with 36 names. Enter a large square with a huge flagpole and a wonderful bas-relief memorial on the east side. The monument itself is a massive 70m high stone structure on a high point of land. A Turkey flag is on the bottom of the roof. It is lit at night and must be visible for miles in all directions.
April 25 is ANZAC day and all the cemeteries were being set up for the celebrations when 3000 New Zealanders and Australians arrived for the memorial. Bandstands, large sound systems and posters were all over this memorial and others.
We parked for the night next to the memorial on the edge of the cliff for a 180° panorama of city lights across the east and south horizon.
On the way to Kilitbahir, we passed at least 50 vans full of police. Every intersection was controlled. Then there were a lot of buses. At the ferry, hundreds of foot passengers disembarked. I asked some policemen what was happening. As nobody spoke English, they translated on their phone “There is a ceremony” – in fact, it was the Memorial Holiday the next day.
Kilitbahir Castle. On the European side of the Dardanelles opposite Canakkale, this is a tremendous fortress of three huge, round lobes and a tall central “keep”. Gun batteries line the shore facing west. 10 TL
Just after Kilitbahir, I noticed a ferry – and it went directly to Canakkale, saving 70kms of driving. We had asked some police in Canakkale about the ferry crossing to Gallipoli and he had only mentioned the one at Lapseki. Crazy. 55 TL
