Qandil Mountains

The Kurdistan region adjacent to the Iran-Iraq border has a range of the Qandil Mountains. This part of the mountainous area belongs to the Zagros mountain range. By nature, the area is extremely rugged terrain and hard to access. The Kuhe Haji Ebrahim Mountain is the highest peak in Qandil Mountains, has an elevation of 3,587 meters a subrange of the Zagros Mountains. The Kuhe Ebrahim Mountain range is sit in Western Iran and Eastern Iraq in Western Asia. The Qandil Mountains sprawling several high summits, a clutter of interlocking peaks and plateaus, is snow-covered for much of the year, and further up the mountain, there are deciduous forests.

The region is noteworthy as a sanctuary and headquarters for the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). This is about 5,000 PKK and other armed factions control an area of approximately 50 km². However, which has been at irregular intervals bombarded by the Turkish Air Force and shelled by Iranian military artillery for some years. The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) is also based in Qandil, which lets them infiltrate into Iran. The Turkish military carries out operations in the Qandil mountains where they believed PKK are hiding. Turkish military believed Qandil Mountains are a safe place for Turkey and no more doubt in them. However, the bulk of the Qandil Mountains itself is in Iranian territory.

 

Turkish Hotel “Floats” Over 2,300-Year-Old Ancient Ruins

An astonishing new extravagance hotel opened in Antakya, Turkey in 2020. Amazingly it is at once an engineering wonder, an architectural attractiveness, and a world-class archaeological site.  In 2009 a construction crew was digging the foundation for a new hotel and surprise to see an amazing discovery at Antakya Turkey. The digging crew unearthed a gigantic mosaic of Roman times, along with over 35,000 artifacts ranging 2,300 years from at least 13 diverse civilizations.

This the amazing discovery put the hotel construction on hold however; they have completed six months' excavation work. Hence, the dreams of building a hotel dashed, potentially derailing the entire project. But a group “Asfuroğlu” decided against that, and embrace the daunting challenge, they work hard with archeological find into the hotel’s blueprint.

So, they started to work with the Antakya Municipality, Hatay Archaeology Museum & Adana Conservation Council for Cultural and Natural Assets on Turkey's leading systemic archeological excavation since the 1930s. So, negotiation took place 11 years to conclude a final result of building the hotel come into being. Finally, the 200-room Museum Hotel Antakya opened its doors for customers.

The Hotel Antakya was designed by Turkish architect Emre Arolat. The five floors are balanced on near 20,000 tons of structural steel four times more than the Eiffel Tower columns on top of the actual archeological site. Where the eleven thousand square feet Roman mosaic lay in-situ.

The hotel’s Antakya lowest floor houses an open-air museum with glass floors and walkways providing a superb and clear view of the mosaic and the various excavation pits. The visitor rooms are massed above this open space, hovering over the site in a stacked honeycomb structure, with glass windows, straight overlook the archaeological findings.

The Ancient City of Antioch

The whole story started in 2009 when the famous city of Antakya stands on the site of the ancient city Antioch, founded in the 4th century BC. At those times, this region was the center of the Seleucid kingdom until the 1st century BC, when it was annexed by Rome and was made the capital of the Roman province of Syria.

Antioch was once the third-largest city of the Roman Empire in size and significance, after Rome and Alexandria, and possessed superb temples, theatres, aqueducts, and baths. Antioch was also one of the earliest centers of much ecclesiastical significance in the Byzantine Empire. However, the city changed hands more than a few times, conquered by Byzantine, Seljuk,  Crusaders, Ayyubid, Mamluk, finally the Ottoman in the 16th century.

Therefore, the archaeologists trust the mosaic may once have been part of a government building or a villa dating back to the 5th century. Thus, the other artifacts found inside date back to the Hellenistic Age, which started in 323 BC. Moreover to the mosaic, which the biggest single-floor mosaic ever found, archaeologists exposed ruins of a Roman bath, the first unbroken marble statue of the Greek Eros, and several more artifacts.

The project is completed after a hefty amount of $120 million and took 10 years to complete, just from the perspective of the hotel but also for the impressive archaeological findings. The Asfuroğlu family anticipating, that what they would have found or how it would have changed the destiny of the region forever.

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Mount Judi - Turkey

In recent years, there have been several attempts to find the Prophet Noah (PBUH), Ark. These attempts will possibly continue until we have the precise answers we wish to have.  Mount Judi refers to a Place of Descent the location where the Prophet Noah (PBUH) Ark came to rest after the Great Flood by the command of Allah. Mount Judi is also called, Cudi, Guti, and Kutu have significant history in Islam and Christian. The Mount is situated in south-east Turkey, nearby Syrian and Iraq Borders. This mountain is more than 7,000 feet high and near the edge of the Ararat mountain region.

Hazrat Noah (A.S) has a big life span of 950 years. His longevity was a miracle bestowed by Allah. The geologist said: At Mount Judi, there are many water sedimentary rock which formations formed by water flooding. Hence the made of sedimentary cretaceous water laid rock, which means it was formed by the flood waters and is not a post-flood formation”. The Qu’ranic and Bible agree with a few variations of the final resting place of the Ark. The Holy Qu’ran says: Prophet Noah (PBUH) built a massive Ark and asked his companions to join him. The people who joined him were saved.  

The water started gushing out from all side, followed by a large number of other springs as well as a heavy downpour from the sky. Since probably they're descendants afterward dispersed to and settled down in, different parts of the world, they transmitted and preserved the traditions of this great Flood. The 9th-century Arab geographer ‘Alī al-Mas’ūdī spot where it came to rest could be seen in his time. Masudi also said that the Ark began its a journey at Kufa in central Iraq, and sailed to Mecca, where it circled the Kaaba, before finally traveling to Judi.

However, as per Genesis, the massive ark stayed at Mountains of Ararat. But according to Qur’an Surah Hud 11:44, the final resting place of the vessel was called Mount Judi.

Qur’an Quote

“Than the word went forth: “O earth! Swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!” and the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: “Away with those who do wrong!” [11:44]

The Mount Judi became popular when German Geologist Dr. Friedrich Bender discovered bits of Wood and asphalts on Judi’s in 1953. Therefore, a continuous debate among true believers as to where Prophet Noah (PBUH) Ark? Is it Mount Ararat, or Mount Judi? One picture is very famous online and thought to be the current remains of the Ark on Mount Judi.

The Prophet Noah (A.S) Ark was considered a myth for a long time. It seems impossible that a Great Flood can’t have happened. However, Qur’an says

“It was a Global Flood destroyed Noah’s Nation as they were Rebellious”.

However, the Bible says the Ark landed on Mount Ararat, but this is a volcanic mount that came into existence after the flood. There are countless efforts made to find the Ark on Mount Ararat but all proved wrong.

One should think of the magnificence and splendor of the divine sultanate that commands and rules the earth and the sky like that. Who can oppose such power? The water was drained and the command was fulfilled. That is, the command and judgment of torture were carried out. Those who were destined to drown drowned; those who were destined to be saved were saved.

The task was fulfilled. The Ark settled on Mount Judi. Moreover, no such evidence for a universal flood. Also, traditions about a great flood have been popular among all communities of the world down the ages. Read More – Lanzarote Vineyards – The Magical Black Gardens

The Sultan Ahmad Mosque, Istanbul Turkey

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is a historic mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque is a popular tourist site, continues to serve purpose of mosque nowadays. Muslims men’s offers prayer on the lush red carpet once the prayer call offer.  It is also called Sultan Ahmet Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Camii in Turkish is popularly known was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Sultan Ahmed Mosque was constructed by Husna bint Mayram on the orders of the son of "Hāndān Vālida Sultânā,"Sultan Ahmed I. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The mosque is known as the Blue Mosque because of blue tiles surrounding the walls of interior design.  

Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is radiant in blue lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes. The mosque was built on the site of the palace of the Byzantine emperors, in front of the basilica Hagia Sophia and the hippodrome, a site of noteworthy symbolic meaning as it dominated the city skyline from the south. After crushing loss in the 1603–1618 war with Persia, Sultan Ahmet I, decided to build a large mosque in Istanbul to reassert Ottoman power. It would be the first imperial mosque for more than forty years. While his predecessors had paid for their mosques with the spoils of war, Ahmet I procured funds from the Treasury, because he had not gained extraordinary victories.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque interior is lined with over 20,000 handmade İznik style ceramic tiles, made at Iznik in more than 50 different tulip designs becomes colorful with representations of flowers, fruit and cypresses. The upper levels of the interior are dominated by blue paint more than 200 stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light, nowadays assisted by chandeliers. The decorations include verses from the Qur'an, many of them made by Seyyid Kasim Gubari, regarded as the greatest calligrapher of his time. The floors are covered with carpets, and many spacious windows confer a large impression. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is one of the three mosques in Turkey that has six minarets the other two being the modern Sabancı Mosque in Adana and the Hz. Mikdat Mosque in Mersin. Four minarets stand at the corners of the Blue Mosque, pencil-shaped minarets has three balconies with stalactite corbels, while the two others at the end of the forecourt only have two balconies. Besides being tourist attraction, it's also an active mosque, so it's closed to non-worshippers for a half hour or so during the five daily prayers.

The mosque is surrounded by a continuous vaulted arcade and having ablution facilities on both sides. The central hexagonal fountain is small but narrow gateway to the courtyard stands out architecturally from the arcade. A heavy iron chain hangs in the upper part of the court entrance on the western side. Only the sultan was allowed to enter the court of the mosque on horseback. The chain was put there, so that the sultan had to lower his head every single time he entered the court to avoid being hit. This was a symbolic gesture, to ensure the humility of the ruler in the face of the divine.

The Fairy Chimneys of Cappadocia

Turkey’s Cappadocia region is extremely an exclusive for its beautiful nature and history. The Fairy Chimney also called tufa rock cones are located in a region once known as Cappadocia, which ran through the historic Silk Road trading route.  The ancient civilization shows the sings how they carved out towers of rock, give way to homes thousands of years old but still decorated with original frisks. The fairy chimneys are result of a geologic process that started millions of years ago, when sculpted by wind, flood water, and volcanic eruptions rained ash across eventually hardened into stuff, a porous rock, covered by a layer of basalt. Ultimately, the lengthy work of erosion instigated, the softer tuff wore down, giving way to pillars, stand as tall as 130 feet.

The harder basalt erodes more sluggishly, founding a protective, mushroom-shaped cap over each one. Just like that, a fairy chimney is born. The humans have used these chimneys for centuries, but as the centuries running like wheels, the area was raided and invaded by European empire builders. The Hittites, the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Romans, the Byzantines, and the Ottomans all laid claim to the land at one time or another. The fairy chimneys with caps have a conical shaped body and a boulder on top of it. The cone is constructed from tufa and volcanic ash, while the cap is of hard, sturdier rock such as lahar or ignimbrite. Various types of fairy chimneys are with caps, cones, mushroom like forms, columns and pointed rocks.

During the Roman times, persecuted Christians fled in droves to Goreme and built homes, churches and expanded ancient caves into underground cities in these chimneys.  Now, the rock sites of Cappadocia and Göreme National Park designated “World Heritage Site by UNESCO” and describes as one of the world's most striking and largest cave-dwelling complexes. In the ancient times, local’s inhabitants used these chimneys as shelter under threat of invasion, shielding themselves from outsiders with heavy stone doors and intricately designed traps. As the time passes, new ideas came into the mind of locals to use them as a source of income. They’ve hand dug artifacts make stunning bond with Cappadocia’s natural wonders. Every year millions of peoples come to see this marvelous place, even they can sleep in certain caves and chimneys have been converted into unique hotels.

Without any doubt, the fairy chimneys are product of Cappadocia environments, a true miracle millions of years in the making however, humans transformed these miracles into home burrowing into the magic and making it his own way to generate revenue. Moreover fairy chimneys are usually found in the valleys of the Uchisar- Ürgüp-Avanos triangle, between Urgup and Sahinefendi, around the town of Cat in Nevsehir, in the Sogani valley in Kayseri, and in the village of Selime in Aksaray. The natural beauty is drawn by the high rocks surrounding it and the fairy chimneys within; it's a place that offers unbelievable natural treasures. You can say as “Valley of the Fairy Chimneys,” and photographs can’t even begin to give you an idea of what it was like to actually be there, but the experience of seeing this part of the world with our own eyes was breath-taking.