Almost 100 years ago today marks an infamous day in history for our Australian and Kiwi friends. Today is ANZAC day, which is commemorated on the day that the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps found themselves on a beach far from home, fighting for the freedom of their colonies with the hopes of an independent future.

ANZAC is commemorated on the 25th of April which marks the morning that the troops arrived at the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey during WWI. This day is now honoured each year by  between 5000 and 20000 Australians and Kiwis who see the day as a sort of pilgrimage, a way to show their appreciation for the thousands of soldiers who died for their countries not only at this site, but through all wars and battles  through their history.

This year marks the 97th anniversary, which means that 2015 marks the centenary and is expecting to draw crowds of well over 20,000 people! If you would like to be part of this 100th anniversary, we recommend that you start planning soon as tours are already filling up.

If you want to avoid the huge crowds of Anzac day and want to pay your respects in your own time, all of our Turkey tours visit the Gallipoli   Peninsula, where you can visit the memorials and museums at any time of year.

In 1934, Kemal Atatürk delivered the following words to the first Australians, New Zealanders and British to visit the Gallipoli battlefields. This was later inscribed on a monolith at ANZAC Beach.

“Those heroes that shed their blood
And lost their lives.
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side
Here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers,
Who sent their sons from far away countries
Wipe away your tears,
Your sons are now lying in our bosom
And are in peace
After having lost their lives on this land they have
Become our sons as well.”

Istanbul - The Blue Mosque - Visit with Encounters Travel on our Turkey Tours

Warning: Blue Wow-factor Inside!

Istanbul began as the city of Byzantium in 667 BC under the ancient Greeks. Later called Constantinople, it became the imperial seat of the Roman Empire. Then, for over 1,000 years, it was the capital of the Greek-speaking Roman-operated Byzantine Empire.

Constantinople was captured by the Ottoman Turks, and became the Ottoman Empire’s capital from 1453 until 1922. Following the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, it took 7 more years for the city to be renamed Istanbul.

After losing all his wars with Persia, Sultan Ahmed-the-1st wanted to boost everybody’s morale by building an imperial Mosque. Earlier rulers had paid for their mosques with the loot of war, but Sultan Ahmed had never been victorious, so he took his money out of the treasury. This caused anger among lawyers and other highflyers in his Empire.

Teenage Sultan Ahmed wanted to build a grander and more beautiful Mosque than any in Constantinople, so he had some plans drawn up by his architect. Construction began in 1609, and his Mosque was fully built by 1616.

So keen was Sultan Ahmed to finish his dream Mosque, it is said that he got as muddy as his builders when he sometimes stepped in to speed things up. But, aged just 27, he died just 1 year after his Mosque was completed. He is buried in these sacred grounds.

The Mosque has 6 lovely minarets, but Sultan Ahmed’s 12 spires were a big problem. The world’s largest and holiest Mosque — the Masjid al-Ḥarām in Mecca — also had Islam’s maximum-of-6, so craftsmen were urgently sent to Arabia to add a 7th!

To get the full impact of The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, enter through the middle of the Hippodrome. Once inside the courtyard, you’ll be struck by its vastness, by its amazing dome-work and the hundreds of fine stained glass windows.

The Mosque’s alternative ‘Blue Mosque’ name is puzzling when you view it from the exterior, but inside, the Wow-factor is the over 20,000 patterned and hand-carved Iznik tiles — many in different shades of blue. Some of the tiles have abstract patterning; others are decorated with flowers and trees. It’s no wonder that this interior is thought to be the most beautiful in present-day Istanbul.

Explore Turkey with one of our Turkey Tours and see the Blue Mosque for yourself. More details here:

http://www.encounterstravel.com/turkey.html

Never been to Turkey? Come with us this winter. http://www.encounterstravel.com/turkey.html