Travel S Helper

Rams Park – officially the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi – is a modern all-seater football stadium in Istanbul. Owned and operated by Galatasaray S.K., it opened in January 2011 as the club’s new home. It immediately replaced the old Ali Sami Yen Stadium, which by the late 2000s had only about 24,354 seats after […]

Situated on a windswept plateau near Turkey’s border with Armenia, Ani today lies silent and magnificent amid ruins and wild grasses. Rising abruptly from the Arpaçay gorge, this legendary medieval capital was long known as “the City of 1001 Churches,” a nickname reflecting its once prodigious number of religious buildings. In reality, scholars today count […]

Beneath the famed façades of Ephesus – the Celsus Library and the vast theatre – lie the Terrace Houses, an extraordinary complex of Roman residences built into the hillside. These so-called “Slope Houses” (Yamaç Evleri) were the private villas of Ephesus’s wealthiest citizens. They stand on the northern slope of Bülbüldağı (Mount Nightingale), above Curetes […]

Nestled among the olive-clad hills of western Turkey, the ruins of Pergamon command a sweeping view of the Aegean plain. From this lofty vantage the ancient city unfolds: terraced stairways lead to temples and theaters carved into the rock. UNESCO has praised Pergamon’s acropolis as “the capital of the Hellenistic Attalid dynasty, a major centre […]

Bağdat Avenue (Bağdat Caddesi) remains Istanbul’s preeminent Asian-side boulevard, a 14-kilometre ribbon of commerce, culture and daily life. Running east–west from Maltepe to Kadıköy, it is the longest street in the city. Often considered the Anatolian counterpart to İstiklal Avenue on the European side, Bağdat Caddesi is lined with stately plane trees, global flagship stores […]

Beşiktaş strikes the visitor as a place where the past and present convene along the glistening edge of the Bosphorus. The morning scene is alive with the honk of ferries shuttling commuters across the strait and the sweet, smoky aroma of roasted chestnuts wafting from street carts. This is a district famed for its mix […]

Fethiye Limanı (Fethiye Harbour) rises from the eastern arm of a long Gulf on Turkey’s famed Turquoise Coast. At dawn the harbour stirs: fishing boats rock gently alongside wooden gulets and sleek yachts, gulls wheel overhead, and the scent of sea salt and pine drifts from the surrounding hills. Framed by the sheer Lycian rock […]

An Introduction to the Heart of Orthodox Christianity Why is the Church of St. George So Important? Nestled in the narrow lanes of Istanbul’s Fener district, the modest Patriarchal Church of St. George belies its immense significance. Though its façade is simple and unassuming, the church serves as the spiritual headquarters of Eastern Orthodoxy worldwide. […]

Belek’s central mosque stands as a tranquil counterpoint to the resort town’s liveliness. In the heart of Belek’s shopping boulevards and fountains, a single elegant minaret rises against the sky. A subtle ezan (call to prayer) rings out over the modern streets at midmorning and dusk, reminding locals and travelers alike of the mosque’s daily […]

Marmaris Castle stands sentinel above the town’s harbor, its stone ramparts and watchtowers offering panoramic vistas of turquoise sea and red-tiled rooftops. From its heights, visitors gaze over a tranquil Mediterranean bay, the sun glinting on azure waters and yachts below. This venerable fortress, rebuilt by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522, traces its lineage back […]

Beneath the bustling streets of Istanbul’s Old City lies a subterranean marvel where antiquity and modernity converge. The Şerefiye Cistern – also known as the Theodosius Cistern – invites visitors to descend into an underground chamber built some 1,600 years ago. Dim light from lanterns and modern projections softens against ancient brick vaults and marble […]

The Süleymaniye Hamamı, completed in 1557, forms an integral component of the Süleymaniye Mosque complex—built at the zenith of Ottoman architectural achievement under the aegis of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent and Mimar Sinan. As one of the oldest and best-preserved Ottoman hamams in Istanbul, it embodies both the ritualistic essence of Turkish bathing culture and […]