Interesting facts about Turkey

• The land of ancient Asia Minor or Anatolia is where Turkey is located today.
• Many city names such as: Philadelphia, Paris, Troy and the continent of Europe were originated in Anatolia.
• Coins made of electrum were used by the Lydians in 640 BC for the first time in history.
• The earliest landscape painting showing the eruption of a volcano can be found in Catalhoyuk, Turkey and is approximately 8,000 years old. (Note: See one of the paintings from Catalhoyuk below)

• King Midas was from Anatolia.
• Alexander the Great cut the Gordian knot near Ankara. The double knot in Turkish carpets is called the Gordian knot. There is also a delicious dish named for Alexander the Great and is called "Iskender kebap".
• Two of the Seven Wonders of the World stood in Anatolia: the temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum at Halicarnasus (Bodrum).
• Julius Caesar pronounced the words: "I came, I saw, I conquered" near Ankara in 47 BC.
• Anatolia was the first major stronghold of Christianity. In the Book of Genesis, at the Garden of Eden you will find the Tigris and Euphrates. Rivers that are today called "Dicle" and "Firat" respectively. Both are located in eastern Turkey.
• The seven churches of the Apocalypse were situated in Anatolia: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum (Note: See picture below), Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.