Romans conquer Anatolia. Julius Caesar writes his famous "Veni, vidi, vici" after a quick battle in Central Anatolia. He meets Cleopatra in Antioch south of Anatolia.
After the birth of Jesus Christ, Christian Saints make Anatolia their destination:
- St Paul and St. Barnabas visit many cities in Anatolia.
- Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) is born in the southern provinces.
- Virgin Mary resides and dies in Ephesus.
The first Christians who have fled Romans and Arabs find refuge in the underground cities of Cappadocia, where they carve churches in the lunar-like landscape of the region.
The splitting into two of the Roman Empire will give birth to a new Roman Empire in the East: Byzantine Empire.
Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to the ancient city of Byzance, naming it Constantinople. Hence the empire took the name of Byzantine Empire. Roman Empire had been divided into two: "West" and "East". For two centuries the Caesars of this "East" Roman Empire considered themselves as the sole possessor of Rome and Italy.
Byzantine Empire turned itself towards the Orient for the centuries to follow. Justinianus, the last Caesar of the Roman Empire, conquers North Africa and Spain making Mediterranean Sea a Roman lake again. The church, St. Sophia, he had it built, stands as the greatest Christian church on earth. The empire held possession of Anatolia until, a new generation of migration came from the steppes of Asia: The Turks.
The Seljuks, descendents of a Central Asian tribe, migrate into Anatolia. Another tribe from Central Asia running away from Mongol invasions headed by Genghis Khan settles in this peninsula. During Mongol invasion small Turkish states bearing the name of their founder lived on the periphery of Anatolia.
The Ottoman Empire is founded as a small Turkish state.
After conquering Constantinople in 1453 and ending Byzantine Empire, Ottomans put an end to the Byzantine empire and rename the city as Istanbul, making it their capital. Mehmet the Conqueror, Suleiman the Magnificent and successor sultans wage wars in many fronts invading the Balkans, North Africa, the Arabian peninsula in the south, Crimea in the north, Hungary in the west.
Meanwhile, Mimar Sinan, the great architect, builds mosques which, today, are the greatest work of art of Islam. Ottoman art included calligraphy, tile making in addition to architecture.
The Ottoman fleet in The Mediterranean becomes the strongest navy force and sets up bases in France and North Africa. By the 16th century the Ottoman Empire had become one of biggest empires in human history.
Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 by Atatürk, the commander who fought the Gallipoli wars as well as others. He brought Turkey all the laws and the institutions which made Turkey a parliamentary, secular state. He became the only leader in history to change alphabet to Latin characters to increase literacy. His revolutions gave Turkish women election and parliamentary representation rights as well as divorce rights, some of them long before countries like Italy and France. By pointing at the flaws of Ottoman Empire, he put on the development track a country which was lagging centuries behind western technologies. Today Turkey is a moderately developed country.
I hope you've enjoyed your travel. You can find more info about:
- Trojan Treasures
- Seljuk and Ottoman Caravanserais, hotels inhabited by traders, soldiers and travellers such as Marco Polo, during 700 years.
- Lunar-like landscape of Cappadocia and its underground cities and churches
- Home of two of the Seven Wonders of the World
- King Road, the route Great Alexander took to conquer Persia
- Virgin Mary, Apostle John, St. Nicholas (Santa Claus), St. Paul
- King Midas
And many more in the ...
Jewels of Anatolian History
Back to Time Travel In History Page
Turkey, a Travel at Warp Speeds
References for this travel
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