(Al)Mighty Caves

Turkey sits at the crossroad between the West and the East, and the uniqueness that arose from its location is seen everywhere: it is a non-Arab secular democracy currently governed by a Muslim-oriented party; Islamic and Christian symbols are at times seen side by side; women in short skirts can be spotted next to women in traditional Islamic dresses; sheep can roam the streets next to BMWs.

Istanbul, the only city in the world built on two continents and the seat of three former empires (Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman), perhaps best reflects the contrasting nature of Turkey. A "Welcome To Asia" sign greets you when you cross a bridge; a belly dancing show and a whirling dervish ceremony may be found in the same block; women in headscarf sit next to youngsters wearing the latest fashion and carrying iPads. Interestingly, one of the starkest contrasts in Istanbul is smack in the middle of the Old City - its two grandest landmarks, the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Hagia Sophia, or Church of the Holy Wisdom, was built during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, converted to a mosque in 1453 and turned into a museum in 1935. The structure is massive: 250 feet (76 m) long, 220 feet (67 m) wide, with a dome 108-ft (33 m) in diameter that rises 180 feet (55 m) above the floor. Such a monumental dome was often compared to the vault of heaven and no wonder Hagia Sophia remained the world's largest cathedral for almost 1,000 years. Hagia Sophia is imposing, cavernous, and could almost be oppressive if its architects (in fact, one physicist and one mathematician) weren't wise enough to set 40 windows beneath the dome that filter sunlight in. Everything inside is grandiose, but the apse will draw your eyes not only for its size but also for an unexpected combination of elements: a mosaic of the Virgin and Child (ie, Jesus) hovers above the mihrab (a niche in a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca), flanked by panels inscribed with the names of Allah, Mohammed and other prominent Islamic figures. In a way, that sums up one impression that Hagia Sophia left me with - that some things there don't fit together. Metal detectors at the entrance remind more of an airport than a museum; peeling paint and cracks throughout the building belies its grandeur; and late in the day when tour buses are gone, the place feels almost ghostly.

The Blue Mosque feels very different. Sitting opposite Hagia Sophia at the other end of the main square, you could say it is the grey counterpart to the red Hagia Sophia since it was heavily influenced by it. I said grey, not blue; the popular name comes from the tiles inside, not the external color. The Blue Mosque has the largest courtyard of all Ottoman mosques, an area abuzz with dozens of worshippers and tourists, day or night, in a constant ebb and flow of people sans metal detector (there's a dress code patrol though). The Blue Mosque is almost as cavernous as Hagia Sophia but much brighter as 260 windows spread throughout the building let daylight flood in.

Commissioned in the 17th century by Sultan Ahmet (and officially named after him) to outshine Hagia Sophia, the mosque has two unusual and striking features: cascading domes in a heavenward flow and six minarets. Mosques usually have one, two or four minarets and one account for the six minarets states that they were a mistake, that the sultan ordered gold (altin) minarets, misunderstood as six (alti) minarets. I personally don't buy this. Still according to legend, the six minarets caused an outrage because they matched the number of minarets at the Haram Mosque in Mecca, the holiest in the world. Unfazed, the sultan solved the problem by simply sending his architect to Mecca to add a seventh minaret...

Next I went to a very unique place deep within Turkey. Set on a high, dry plateau in the middle of the country, and shaped by volcanic ash, wind and rain, Cappadocia is a fairyland of cones, pillars and chimneys in shades of red, pink and yellow. It is a colorful, otherworldly landscape. People discovered that these rocks were soft and could be easily carved so dwellings, underground cities (some housing thousands), churches and monasteries sprang up. Why live in a cave? The area was at the boundary of rival empires in pre-Christian times so residents needed places to hide. Later during early Christianity, Cappadocia became a religious refuge and numerous churches decorated with Byzantine frescoes were established. The most impressive cave churches are around Göreme (don't miss the Göreme Open Air Museum) where murals are in remarkably good shape despite some defacing. But impressive as the man-made structures are, they pale in comparison to the Cappadocian natural setting. So go out on some hikes and be rewarded with one of the most amazing scenery you'll ever see.