Alaçatı in Turkey

21 December 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  9 minutes

© panoramio.com - Nihat1988/cc-by-3.0

© panoramio.com – Nihat1988/cc-by-3.0

Alaçatı is a part of İzmir on the Western coast of Turkey, often noted for its architecture, vineyards, windmills, and sea. Alaçatı is one of the most traditional towns in Turkey, with stone houses, narrow streets, boutique hotels and restaurants with tables on the streets. The area is also home to the Alaçatı yacht marina and the famous Port Alaçatı development, created by the French architect Francois Spoerry and his son, Yves Spoerry.   read more…

Andros in Greece

9 May 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Batsi © flickr.com - linmtheu/cc-by-2.0

Batsi © flickr.com – linmtheu/cc-by-2.0

Andros is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Euboea, and about 3 km (2 mi) north of Tinos. It is nearly 40 km (25 mi) long, and its greatest breadth is 16 km (10 mi). It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys. The municipality, which includes the island Andros and several small, uninhabited islands, has an area of 380 km² (146.719 sq mi). The largest towns are Andros (town), Gavrio, Batsi, and Ormos Korthiou.   read more…

Antiparos in the Cyclades

8 February 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Castro architecture © Dimorsitanos/cc-by-sa-3.0

Castro architecture © Dimorsitanos/cc-by-sa-3.0

Antiparos is a small island in the southern Aegean, at the heart of the Cyclades, which is less than one nautical mile (1.9 km) from Paros, the port to which it is connected with a local ferry. Saliagos island is the most ancient settlement in the Cyclades, and Despotiko, an uninhabited island in the southwest of Antiparos, is a place of great archaeological importance.   read more…

Theme Week Turkey

18 April 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  2 minutes

Levent business district in Istanbul © Derrick Brutel/cc-by-sa-4.0

Levent business district in Istanbul © Derrick Brutel/cc-by-sa-4.0

Turkey is a transcontinental Eurasian country located mainly on the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeastern Europe. East Thrace, the part of Turkey in Europe, is separated from Anatolia by the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles (collectively called the Turkish Straits). Istanbul, which straddles Europe and Asia, is the largest city in the country, while Ankara is the capital. Turkey is bordered on its northwest by Greece and Bulgaria; north by the Black Sea; northeast by Georgia; east by Armenia, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran; southeast by Iraq; south by Syria and the Mediterranean Sea; and west by the Aegean Sea. Approximately 70 to 80 percent of the country’s citizens identify as Turkish, while Kurds are the largest minority, at between 15 to 20 percent of the population.   read more…

Corinth Canal in Greece

20 September 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

© Nicholas Hartmann/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Nicholas Hartmann/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Corinth Canal is a canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland, arguably making the peninsula an island. The builders dug the canal through the Isthmus at sea level; no locks are employed. It is 6.4 kilometres (4 mi) in length and only 21.4 metres (70 ft) wide at its base, making it impassable for most modern ships. It now has little economic importance. The canal was initially proposed in classical times and a failed effort was made to build it in the 1st century CE. Construction started in 1881 but was hampered by geological and financial problems that bankrupted the original builders. It was completed in 1893 but, due to the canal’s narrowness, navigational problems and periodic closures to repair landslides from its steep walls, it failed to attract the level of traffic expected by its operators. It is now used mainly for tourist traffic.   read more…

Theme Week Turkish Riviera

25 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

Harbour in Kalkan © Kitkatcrazy

Harbour in Kalkan © Kitkatcrazy

The Turkish Riviera (also known popularly as the Turquoise Coast) is an area of southwest Turkey encompassing the provinces of Antalya and Muğla, and to a lesser extent Aydın, southern İzmir and western Mersin. The combination of a favorable climate, warm sea, mountainous scenery, fine beaches along more than a thousand kilometers of shoreline along the Aegean and Mediterranean waters, and abundant natural and archeological points of interest makes this stretch of Turkey’s coastline a popular national and international tourist destination. Many cities, towns and villages in the area are internationally known, such as Alanya, Antalya, Bodrum, Çeşme, Fethiye, Kalkan, Kaş, Kemer, Kuşadası, Marmaris and Side.   read more…

Theme Week Turkish Riviera – Antalya

31 August 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Erencet/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Erencet/cc-by-sa-3.0

Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. It is Turkey’s biggest international sea resort, located on the Turkish Riviera. In 2011 the city had a population of 964,886 and the metropolitan municipality 1,041,972. The Turkish Riviera is also the home for the internationally known Blue Voyage, which allows participants to enjoy a week-long trip on the locally built gulet type schooners to ancient cities, harbors, tombs, mausolea and intimate beaches in the numerous small coves, lush forests and streams that lace the Turquoise Coast.   read more…

Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon

9 July 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Cape Sounion with Temple of Poseidon © Kuno Lechner/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cape Sounion with Temple of Poseidon © Kuno Lechner/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cape Sounion is a promontory located 69 kilometres (43 mi) south-southeast of Athens, at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula in Greece. Apart from a world-renowned archaeological site, Sounion is an upscale summer home location for Athenians. Construction flourished between the 1960s and 1970s, with massive yet minimal villas and condos erected. Sounion is one of the most expensive areas in Greece, with the value of some homes exceeding twenty million euros.   read more…

The Greek island of Hydra

28 April 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Herbert Ortner

© Herbert Ortner

Hydra is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea between the Saronic Gulf and the Argolic Gulf. It is separated from the Peloponnese by narrow strip of water. In ancient times, the island was known as Hydrea (derived from the Greek word for “water”), which was a reference to the springs on the island. The municipality Hydra consists of the islands Hydra (area 50 km2), Dokos (pop. 13, area 12.5 km2) and a few uninhabited islets.   read more…

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