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Turkey is the only country that has nine kinds of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites.
Cappadocia
The Cappadocian region is a place where nature and history come together with the most beautiful scenery in the world. While geographic events formed peribacaları (fairy chimneys) during the historical period, humans used the signs of thousand-years-old civilizations by carving houses and churches within these earth pillars and decorating them with friezes.Traditional Cappadocian houses and dovecotes carved into the stone show the uniqueness of the region. These houses are constructed at the foot of the mountain using rocks or cut stone.
Pamukkale
Pamukkale was formed when a spring with a high content of dissolved calcium bicarbonate cascaded over the edge of the cliff, which cooled and hardened leaving calcium deposits. This formed into natural pools, shelves and ridges, which tourists could plunge and splash in the warm water. Hotels were springing up from the 1970s to cater for the large influx of tourists, and shortly afterwards UNESCO declared it a World Heritage site.
Nemrut Dag Archaeological Site
At the junction of the East and West civilizations, Nemrut Dagi (Mount Nemrut) is one of the most astounding sites in Turkey: A collection of colossal statues on a remote mountain 2,150m high, adorning the temple and tomb of King Antiochus. Unknown until 1881 when an Ottoman geologist discovered these 10 meter-high stone heads, archaeological work began in 1953 to uncover their history. Nemrut Daı has since been a significant attraction, with thousands sunrise and sunset visitors to see the stones in the best possible light.
City of Safranbolu
Safranbolu is a town boasting a glorious collection of old Ottoman houses, with a rich collection of pieces of art, which represents traditional Turkish life and culture. Its rich history and success in preserving it earned the town an inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The best known for its old Turkish houses, the town is attracting more attention especially as these 19th century homes are gradually disappearing from other areas of Turkey.
Istanbul
The god and human, nature and art are together in there, they have created such a perfect place that it is valuable to see. Lamartine's famous poetic line reveals his love for Istanbul, describing the embracing of two continents, with one arm reaching out to Asia and the other to Europe. Istanbul, once known as the capital of capital cities, has many unique features. It is the only city in the world to straddle two continents, and the only one to have been a capital during two consecutive empires _ Christian and Islamic.
Archaeological Site of Troy (1998)
Troy, with its 4,000 years of history, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. The first excavations at the site were undertaken by the famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1870. In scientific terms, its extensive remains are the most significant demonstration of the first contact between the civilizations of Anatolia and the Mediterranean world. Moreover, the siege of Troy by Spartan and Achaean warriors from Greece in the 13th or 12th century B.C., immortalized by Homer in the Iliad, has inspired great creative artists throughout the world ever since.
Hattusha (1986)
The archaeological site of Hattusha, former capital of the Hittite Empire, is notable for its urban organization, the types of construction that have been preserved (temples, royal residences, fortifications), the rich ornamentation of the Lions' Gate and the Royal Gate, and the ensemble of rock art at Yazilikaya. The city enjoyed considerable influence in Anatolia and northern Syria in the 2nd millennium B.C. In the rock sanctuary of Yazilikaya, near Bogazkale, is a remarkable series of reliefs cut into rock. The reliefs depict two long processions of gods and goddesses advancing toward each other.
Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrii (1985)
It is an Ottoman monument. Great Mosque was constructed as a wooden mosque between 1381 and 1389 by Yıldırım Beyazıt and completed in 1411 during the period of Mehmet Celebi I. Restoreted by Mimar Sinan during the period of Kanuni, Great Mosque's present building was constructed by amlı Hamdi Paa and completed in 1893 by Ahmet Fuat Paa. There is a holy pulpit sat on four marble columns and also one fountain in the middle part of the mosque. The top and the side parts of that dome are separated by a partition for women and men. It has also got two domes, six semi domes and five regions for the last congregations.
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