The Marmara Region - Turkey with Your Family: From Bustling Bazaars to Historic Sites - page 95

enormity of its size and the bril-
liance of its interior. The mosque
is well worth a visit, even if you
have already visited a few others
during your stay in Turkey. It is
said that the historic Edirne is
rather like a living museum and as
you stroll around its streets gazing
at building after building dating
from the Ottoman period, it is
easy to see why. There are bazaars,
it seems, around every corner,
numerous palaces, hot spring
baths, bridges, especially those
over the Tunca and Meriç rivers,
and several mosques in addition
to the great Selimiye Mosque,
including the 15th-century Eski
Mosque , the oldest in Edirne. A
starkly beautiful structure, it is
made from white marble in part
combined with intricately carved
stone facades. Such buildings tes-
tify to the city's importance in
centuries past as a traders' route
from Europe to Asia, usually via
Istanbul, and beyond. Today, its
Kaleiçi district , or old quarter, is

quiet with few cars and its tiny,
narrow streets are full of cosy
restaurants and specialist shops.
As well as the Selimiye Mosque
there are other attractions: to look
out for including the Koru
Mountain and Sögütlük forest
recreation areas, Edirne and
Enez castles, the Khrysopege
Church, the bazaar and its muse-
ums, the Archaeology and
Ethnography Museum (see
p. 107) and the Museum of
Turkish Islamic Arts (see p. 109).
Bizarrely, the city is also famed for
its Kirkpinar Greased Wrestling
Contests held every year in June,
but whether you consider this to
be family entertainment is open to
question, fun though it may be.

Iznik

The town of Iznik has a number
of claims to fame, but probably
the one that will interest your
children the most is that it is the

Iznik tiles

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