Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Calis Beach Forum => Calis Beach Questions and Information => Topic started by: kanga on June 14, 2009, 14:10:37 PM
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Interesting Facts about Turkey
Turkey is officially known as the ‘Republic of Turkey'.
Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary and constitutional republic.
The Republic of Turkey was founded on October 29, 1923, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe (1949), NATO (1952), OECD (1961), OSCE (1973) and the G20 industrial nations (1999).
Turkey became an associate member of European Union 1963 and reached a customs union agreement in 1995.
The capital of Turkey is Ankara, while its largest city is Istanbul.
The major religion of Turkey is Islam, while its official language is Turkish. Kurdish, Dimli and Azeri are also spoken in the country.
The monetary unit of Turkey is New Turkish lira.
The part of Turkey in Europe is called ‘Thrace', while the part in Asia is called ‘Anatolia'.
The highest peak in Turkey is Mount Agri (5,166 m). It is also said to be the place where Noah's Ark came to rest.
The largest lake in Turkey is Lake Van.
Anatolia, the part of Turkey that is in Asia, was settled by Ionians (Greeks from Attica). It houses the Classical Greek Ionic column.
The Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was in Ephesus.
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, in southwestern Turkey, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
St Paul (Saul) was born in Tarsus, situated to the east of Mersin.
Istanbul, initially Constantinople, was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
St. Peter's Church, situated in Antioch (Antakya) - Turkey, is the first church built by man.
St. Nicholas was born in Demre, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
It were the Turks who introduced coffee to Europe.
Istanbul is the only city in the world that is spread over two continents.
Cherry was first introduced to Europe from Giresun (Northern Turkey).
All the ‘Seven Churches' of Apocalypse are situated in the Aegean region of Anatolia, namely Ephesus, Smyrna (Izmir), Pergamum, Thyatira (Nazilli), Sardis, Philadelphia (Alasehir) and Laodicea.
The oldest known human settlement is in Catalhoyuk, Turkey (dating back to 7th millennium BC).
It was in ancient Anatolia that writing was first used by people.
The oldest tin mine in the world has been found in Göltepe, 60 miles to the south of Tarsus.
Turkey is the only secular Muslim country amongst all the Muslim countries in the world.
Turkey is one of the few countries in the world that is agriculturally self-sufficient.
There are approximately 9,000 species of flowers in Turkey, out of which 3,000 are native.
;) :):D 8)
kanga
information from
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-turkey-1865.html
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St. Nicholas was born in Patara, not Demre as stated above. 8)
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And would you class St Peters church as being built, as it's actually a cave church. Alan
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Thanks kanga,like you sat,interesting.
:)
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History
This cave is widely believed to have been dug by the Apostle Peter himself as a place for the early Christian community of Antioch to meet, and thus to be the very first Christian church.
Whether or not this is so, St. Peter (and St. Paul) did preach in Antioch around 50 AD and a church had been established in Antioch by as early as 40 AD.
Antioch became a major center for planning and organizing the apostles' missionary efforts, and it was the base for Paul's earliest missionary journeys. Famously, it was the inhabitants of Antioch that first called Jesus' followers "Christians" (Acts 11:26).
The attractive stone façade of the church was built by Crusaders, who identified the grotto during their rule of Antioch from 1098 to 1268.
number 2 who dug the hole ,lol
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I think we have been back to the currency of " Turkish Lira " rather than " New Turkish Lira " since Jan 1st 2009. At least, that is what the new coins and notes say!
Farmer
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so its still yeni turkish lira if they are "new coins and notes"
kanga
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quote:
Originally posted by kanga
the church was built by Crusaders, who identified the grotto
So Turkey invented Father Christmas and the grotto, well done Mark I didn't know that :D
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I think you will find he was born in Demre Mike.
"The metamorphosis of Saint Nicholas into the more commercially lucrative Santa Claus, which took several centuries in Europe and America, has recently been re-enacted in the saint's home town: the city of Demre. This modern Turkish town is built near the ruins of ancient Myra. As St. Nicholas is a very popular Orthodox saint, the city attracts many Russian tourists. A solemn bronze statue of the Saint by the Russian sculptor Gregory Pototsky, donated by the Russian government in 2000, was given a prominent place on the square in front of the medieval church of St. Nicholas. In 2005, mayor Suleyman Topcu had the statue replaced by a red-suited plastic Santa Claus statue, because he wanted the central statue to be more recognizable to visitors from all over the world. Protests from the Russian government against this action were successful only to the extent that the Russian statue was returned, without its original high pedestal, to a corner near the church."
Quote from Wikipedia
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"Saint Nicholas, known throughout the world as Santa Claus, was born in the ancient Lycian city of Patara, an important city on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey". Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Turkey.
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Maybe he has two birthdays, like the Queen :D
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It would appear you are correct, apologies all round.
The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey.
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Did it move?
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The Wikipedia is a good starting point for knowledge but its accuracy is woefully limited.
It should come with a health warning, read with extreme caution ;)
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quote:
Originally posted by Scunner
Maybe he has two birthdays, like the Queen :D
He has, the second is when they argued about whether he was born in Demra or Patara, it's called boxing day, lol. Alan
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Edward the 8th and Wallis Simpson called in to visit Ataturk at the Dolma Bahche Palace in September 1936 during their holiday cruise on the yacht the Nalin. They drove through the streets of Istanbul in an open top car. A "Venetian Night" was held in which Turkish warships were used. And a regatta on the sea of Marmara. Both the Turkish flag and the British flag were flown in the streets.
They spoke in German and established friendly relations.
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maybe they are twins born @ different hossies
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Maybe there are two St Nic's on Facebook.
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Maybe Nick is his name and his nick, and people got confused
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Santa Claus was not born in Demre (then Myra) and isn't even buried there. His bones were dug up and thieved by a bunch of Italians some 700 years after he died. Allegedly.
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Where were these Italians though, they may have been in Turkey :D
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Disgusting.Bloody Italians.Pasta joke.!
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He's not dead anyway!
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Yes he is, he slipped off my roof and broke his neck in December.
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He's alive.Make no bones about it.Kids hopes and aspirations are depending on it.Not even the credit crunch can see him off.!!
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He's buried in my garden in the plot next to the tooth fairy,
but I have a feeling there has always been more than one,
how else can he get everything done in one night.
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There definitely is more than one. I saw one in the shopping centre and another in Debenhams.
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I saw a yo ho ho of Santi in Covent Garden one Christmas, about thirty of them
I called out in Greek and Latin but none of them understood me.
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Must be Turkish then
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Another miracle then, 800 years ahead of his time ;)
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He was from Santatolia
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I heard he's in deep financial trouble with Santanta
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In our history lessons at school we were told the Crusaders
sleighed him and the Turkish were Delighted.
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The tomb of St Nicholas in Demre raided by Italian Pirates.
(http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/8596/dscf00132.jpg)
The Two faces of St Nicholas. both statues in Demre
(http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1808/dscf0017m.jpg)
(http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/917/stnw.jpg)
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Looks like they got the Reindeers as well.
I'm glad their Pizza towers leaning.!
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No, the reindeer are still there. (Turkish ones)
photo taken outside the church.
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9906/dscf00051.jpg)
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Rudolfs nose looks wonky.I bet it's a copy.
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look at the kid nicking the pressies