listen

The Street Musicians in İstanbul

From traditional Turkish folk music to modern rock to experimental bands, you’ll find everything on the streets of İstanbul. The city is colorful and musical, and everywhere you go you’ll be accompanied by music.

In metro stations, around Galata Tower, on İstiklal Avenue, in the ferries across the Bosphorus, in Kadıköy and Beşiktaş’s narrow streets; you can listen the songs of the street musicians.

The Story of Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival in Edirne

The Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival is an annual tournament held in Edirne. Wrestling competitions last for seven days and are generally held at the end of June each year and feature local food, dances, wares, and music.

The Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival holds the Guinness Book of Records title for the longest consecutively held sporting event in the world. In 2010 the festival was also added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Story of The Battle of Gallipoli in Çanakkale

The Gallipoli Campaign of 1915-16, also known as the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles Campaign, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I. In January 1916, after eight months' fighting, with approximately 250,000 casualties on each side, the land campaign was abandoned, and the invasion force withdrawn. 

Gallipoli Peninsula Historical National Park that was built to honour the fallen of the Gallipoli wars. This park contains several memorials, monuments, and cemeteries, which are nestled in the beautiful and serene surrounding of Green Hills, Tuzla Gölü (Lake), Arıbunru Cliffs and sandy beaches.

Authentic Cumalıkızık Village in Bursa

Bursa, one of the early capitals of the Ottoman Empire, reflects the early period of Ottoman Culture. Cumalıkızık is a village from that period, a place where time seems to have stopped.

The village is notable for its houses, which are excellent examples of the civil architecture of the Ottoman period, also for its friendly inhabitants that revel in the traditional setting. It is a "living Ottoman village" with the historical ambiance, cultural values and natural surroundings where you step into a time capsule of wooden houses, narrow streets and monumental trees.

The Legends About Kaz Mountains (Mount Ida) in Balikesir

You can feel the aesthetics of nature with mythological stories in Kaz Mountain (Mount Ida) National Park with its magnificent views, relaxing forests, and many hot springs.

In mythology, it is believed that the World's First Beauty Contest between Aphrodite, Hera and Athena was held in Kaz Mountains. According to the story, when the gods gathered for the wedding of Thetis and Peleus; Eris, who was not invited to the wedding, throws a golden apple where Athena, Hera and Aphrodite are located. "The most beautiful" is written on the apple. The discussion of "I am the most beautiful" begins between the three goddesses.

Come and listen the continuation of this story in Balıkesir!

Folk Songs in Kocaeli

Kocaeli folk songs have tunes that reflect the characteristics, history, traditions, and customs of the local people in the best way. The instruments used in local folk music, which includes all human emotions, are generally drums, clarion, saz, ud, cümbüş, darbuka, dümbek, spoons, zil, clarinet, gırnata, kemençe, bağlama.

Cittaslow Tarakli in Sakarya

Taraklı district of Sakarya city is one of the 18 cittaslow cities of Türkiye. Twenty percent of the district is covered in agricultural land, 60% is covered by forests and heathland, and 10% is meadows and pastures. Therefore, you can enjoy the silence and calmness in this beautiful town!

Taraklı was established in a narrow valley, surrounded by high mountains and hills, and it is famous for its protected 19th-century homes.

The Karagöl Plateau is in the mountains, 21 km northeast of Taraklı. It stands at 1,200 meters above sea level, and is surrounded by pines, beeches, firs, and oaks. The oxygen here is plentiful and there many natural springs.

“Trakya Karşilamasi” (Greeting Dance) in Tekirdağ

The dances of Trakya (Thrace), the European part of Türkiye are sometimes called “karşılama” dances. One of the special characteristics of this region is the use of two drums (davul) and two pipes (zurna). Karşılama is a word meaning “greeting or welcoming” in Turkish. The dance starts with a slow rhythm, but it gradually become faster and faster. The steps and movements of the male dancers is very interesting, and the music is catchy. The dances are much stylised, and the male and female dancers make their own movements independently of each other.

The Formation Story of Dupnisa Cave in Kirklareli

Dupnisa Cave, located in a region with rich natural beauty, where the Istranca Mountains are joined by deep valleys, is a large two-storey underground system with a total length of 2,720 meters consisting of three caves - Kuru Cave, Kız Cave and Sulu Cave. The hydrological features, developmental periods, fauna density, meteorology, and dripstone formations inside the cave are extremely different from each other. It is very interesting that there are three contrasting caves on top of each other. The Kuru Cave at the top is extremely rich in dripstone accumulation. The galleries with stalactites, stalagmites and columns in Kuru Cave are extremely magnificent. Sulu Cave, which is the lowest part of the cave, is 345 meters above sea level and offers a completely different visual richness with its underground streams and lakes, wall and curtain dripstones descending over the lakes. Additionally, about 60,000 bats of 16 species live in the section called Kız Cave.

Waterfalls in Yalova

Yalova is home to Erikli and Sudüşen waterfalls.

Erikli Waterfall is established on a 33-decares of land within the forest and serves as a tent camp and recreation area on the shores of the waterfall and the river. The most important feature of the hiking trail, which is full of chestnut, elm, fir, and apple trees, is that there are many waterfalls along the Erikli River, which you follow.

Sudüşen Waterfall is located in Termal district. Termal offers a magnificent festival to nature lovers with Sudüşen Waterfall and its surroundings. The road to the waterfall stands out as a natural walking trail. It is possible to encounter a unique dam lake, Marmara Sea view and a wide variety of forest fauna while climbing the waterfall.

“Mehter” Band in Bilecik

Mehter is one of the oldest military bands in the world. “Küre Mehter Team” represents traditional Ottoman Mehter features and it was established in 1992 in Bilecik. Renowned as Türkiye’s first official civil mehter team, it participates to weddings, special events, entertainments and performs Bilecik’s traditional Ottoman Mehter shows.