Travel guide Turkey

Hero and inspirer of the War of Independence, Atatürk, founder of the secular Republic of Turkey, saved the country from dismantling, created the foundations of a nation-state and set it on the road to modernization. His influence on Turkish political and social life is still very great. No disrespect to his person is tolerated.

The yoǧurt is the main ingredient of this very popular and thirst-quenching drink, it is beaten with water and salt. Try it with a kebab. In 2013, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, then Prime Minister, decreed ayran the national drink of Turks, which is not to everyone's taste, some considering that the title belongs to rakı instead.

The Bosphorus Strait(Boğaz) is the passage between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea, the southern boundary between Europe and Asia with the Dardanelles Strait. This magnificent blue channel crossing Istanbul gives the city an extraordinary character and separates it into two entities. Its traffic (50 000 ships per year) is one of the densest in the world.

"Mosque" in Turkish. Turkey is full of them, Istanbul would count about 3,000. Every town or village has minarets rising towards the sky, from which the prayer is sung five times a day. With its domes, the style of these mosques is unique to Turkey. The most famous are built by the famous Turkish architect Mimar Sinan.

Tea in Turkish, almost a symbol of the country, as it is found everywhere and at any time. Slightly more pungent than the tea drunk in Europe, it is drunk in very small glasses. If you want it less strong, you have to ask for it açık (clear). It is very common to come across Turks sitting on the street enjoying their tea with a few friends.

A must during a stay in Turkey. The hammam (Turkish bath) takes place in three stages: the "sweating" on the marble, the torpor which prepares the body for the scrub and the massage with soap. Many establishments are old. Men and women are separated: there are rooms reserved for each sex, at different times and days.

Culinary speciality of the country that has crossed the borders and that the traveller expects to taste when arriving in Turkey. Nevertheless, the kebab has multiple forms. This is the name of the dürüm, but also almost all the ways of preparing meat: şiş kebab (skewer), döner (on the spit), çop kebab (small pieces)..

This Ottoman Michelangelo built his first mosque at the age of 45 in Aleppo (Syria) and became chief architect at court. His masterpieces are the mosques of Süleymaniye and Şehzade, in Istanbul. The famous Blue Mosque is the work of one of his disciples. He made his final masterpiece in Edirne (Selimiye Mosque) at the age of 85.

The nazar (or nazar boncuk) is a fetish object used to protect from the evil eye. Handmade from glass paste, it is often tinted blue and its design represents the iris with its white dot in the center. It can be found everywhere: in his house, hanging from front doors, as a key ring, hanging from the rear-view mirror...

It's unofficially the national drink. Produced from the distillation of grapes, figs or plums, flavoured with aniseed, it belongs to the family of aniseed drinks from neighbouring countries: arak or ouzo. The rakı is eaten at parties, at mealtimes and traditionally accompanied by cheese, mezzés and fish. To be enjoyed pure or diluted.

For centuries, carpets have been part of the life of nomadic or sedentary Turks. Useful or decorative, carpets are divided into 2 categories: knotted carpets(halı) and woven carpets(kilim, zili, sumak or cicim) which are differentiated according to the technique used. They have different names depending on their size and use.

This game is one of the oldest in the world, the first are said to have originated in Mesopotamia. A real institution in Turkey, you will see the Turks, from morning to evening, in certain alleyways filled with small tables provided for this purpose, in the çay evi where men gather or on the corner of a table. A chance to learn.