If there’s one thing we love more than apps, it’s different cultures.  We have a tonne of language games helping people learn languages from all over the world.  In this series, we look at some of the locations that fascinated us so much that we created language games for them.  They are helpful for students, teachers, and travellers.  This week, let’s take a look at  Turkey.

Turkey has a diverse cultural heritage and offers different kinds of destinations for travellers. Here are some of the famous tourist’s spots in Turkey which you might consider on the list of your holiday destinations.

• Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia was a Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal basilica, later became an imperial mosque and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed in 537 AD. The church contained a large collection of Christian holy relics but then removed in 1453 when it was converted into a mosque and then Islamic features were added. It was closed to the public then reopened as a museum in 1935 by the Republic of Turkey.  It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is known to have changed the history of architecture.

 

• Göreme Fairy Chimneys

The town of Göreme in Cappadocia showcases strange natural rock formations called “fairy chimneys” which were formed as a result of wind and water erosion of 2 different volcanic layers. Over the centuries, the fairy chimneys have been hollowed out to create houses, churches and other facilities.

 

• Library of Celsus

The Library of Celsus is an ancient Roman building  which was built in honour of the Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus and was completed in 135 AD by Celsus’ son. It was built to store 12,000 scrolls and as a mausoleum for Celsus buried in a crypt beneath the library.

 

• Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is a historic mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1616 and contains Ahmed’s tomb, madrasah and a hospice. It is called the blue mosque because of the hand-painted blue tiles that adorn the interior walls and the blue lights at night that frame the mosque’s 5 main domes, 6 minarets and 8 secondary domes.

 

• Pamukkale

Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish, is famous for its white terraces which are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by water with a very high mineral content from the hot springs. The ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was built on top of the hot springs by the kings of Pergamon. The ruins of the baths, temples and other Greek monuments can be seen at the site. People have bathed in its pools for thousands of years but when it was declared as a World Heritage Site, wearing shoes in the water when bathing was prohibited, Hotels and roads were removed and replaced by artificial pools.