Eastern Marmara - Marmara orientale

Eastern Marmara (Doğu Marmara) is a region of the Turkey.

To know

Geographical notes

Located east of the Sea of ​​Marmara, the region is projected inland, from vast industrial wastelands interrupted by boundless skyscraper suburbs to pristine wild mountains dotted with graceful ancient Ottoman cities.

More or less corresponding to the ancient Bithynia, the region borders the province of Istanbul to the north-west, la Western Black Sea region to the east, theCentral Anatolia to the south and the Marmara region south to west.

The lush mountain landscape is everywhere, with the intermediate valley floors supplying much of Turkey's fruit and olive.

The sword-like Gulf of Izmit cuts through the region deeply, and wide beaches line the long Black Sea coast to the north. Lake Sapanca and turquoise Lake İznik are among the largest in the country and favored by middle-class Turkish families who prefer a milder climate and a more 'tame' vacation than the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, without all the partying which take place at Bodrum. Along with its beautiful gorge, the Sakarya River is a major feature to the east. Add in the floodplain forests filled with water lilies near the river mouth, hot springs and waterfalls here and there.

The landscape is dotted with ancient cities throughout the region - some in much better condition than others - except perhaps the industrial suburbs along the northern coast of the Gulf of Izmit (but even there you will find that many cities have retained their historical core intact). These cities lie at the roots ofOttoman Empire which began in the late 13th century as a small semi-nomadic kingdom in the area.

Territories and tourist destinations

Urban centers

Other destinations

How to get

By plane

There is an airport about 10km west of Yenişehir, which mainly serves Bursa, which means that regional cities may have to retrace their steps from there to use public transport.

By car

Coupled with the uniformly well-maintained roads going up and down these ranges, driving through the region is a very pleasant experience. The O-4 / E80 motorway, which connects Istanbul with Ankara, provides another easy connection in the region, as does the D-650 highway that connects with Eskişehir is Antalya South.

On boat

There are fast ferries and "sea buses" (catamaran-type passenger-only ferries) from various ports on either side of the Bosphorus to Istanbul, Yalova it is an easy entry point into the region, with direct connections to various cities.

On the train

The high-speed rail between Istanbul and Ankara passes through the region, making stops in major cities along its route.

By bus

Major cities in the region have bus connections to other parts of the country. Bursa is the hub for smaller towns in the southwest of the region thanks to extensive minibus connections, while Eskişehir plays a similar role for those in the Southeast.

How to get around

By car

All major roads throughout the region are well-maintained, but not without sharp curves in some areas.

On boat

Sea buses connect a number of towns along the southern edge of the gulf with İzmit. There is also a ferry line that connects Yalova (or rather the port of Topçular 15 km east of the city) with Eskihisar on both sides of the gulf, in direct competition with (and cheaper) than the Osmangazi bridge, which spans the gulf.

On the train

A railway line arriving from Istanbul, is located on the west-east axis along the northern shore of the Gulf of İzmit and the southern shore of Lake Sapanca and runs through İzmit is Adapazarı, where it turns south and continues along the bottom of the impressive rocky and wooded Sakarya Valley towards Eskişehir. This is part of the Istanbul-Ankara railway line, so a high frequency of passenger trains on any route in the country, at least once every two hours from 8:30 am to midnight, with the section of the line between Istanbul and Adapazarı there are still departures more frequent, starting even earlier, around 6:30 am.

By bus

Frequent buses and minibuses connect regional cities with each other. If you can't find a direct service to your destination, choose one that goes somewhere in between (such as Yenişehir when traveling from İnegöl to İznik), from where you can quickly transfer to another minibus to where you are going.

On foot

To commemorate Evliya Çelebi, a 17th century Ottoman traveler, the Evliya Çelebi trail is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail that heads inland from the village of Hersek, on the Gulf of Izmit east of Yalova, passing through İznik and a series of historic villages along the northeastern slopes of the Mount Olympus of Misia before crossing the Domaniç mountains in theCentral Anatolia, finally reaching Kütahya, Afyon, Uşak is Simav.

What see

If you need to choose one of the regional cities, İznik it is the most interesting due to its large and rather underrated Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman heritage and the ease of getting there. The city is almost completely enclosed by Byzantine walls, with the St. Sophia Cathedral restructured which is its fulcrum. The rest of the city is abundantly dotted with Seljuk and Early Ottoman tombs and mosques, some of which are decorated with local colorful tiles, a tradition that dates back centuries.

South of İznik, Yenişehir it has a historic bazaar which is accessed by a gate that extends over a path of stone slabs. Unlike its counterparts of Istanbul or Bursa, this is by no means a tourist spot and is completely devoted to traditional occupations. One end of the bazaar is marked by an Ottoman clock tower and a beautiful city council building, while at the other is the Şeki House, an Ottoman palace converted into a museum.

Further south there is İnegöl, with a historic house converted into a city museum, which pleasantly recreates scenes of the streets and crafts of past centuries.

Travelers in search of the Ottoman heritage will want to head east from here, through the Hamzabey / Ermeni Derbendi pass gorge, an ancient route that connects the Anatolian plateau with ports on the Sea of ​​Marmara, to Söğüt, the first Ottoman capital. At the end of the 13th century, after migrating west from their homeland in Turkmenistan, the Kayı tribe of the Oghuz Turks settled semi-nomadically in Söğüt and declared their independence during the reign of Osman I (1299–1324), appointing a state and a ruler. Söğüt presents the Ertuğrul tomb, the father of Osman I and under whose rule the Kayı came to Söğüt, as well as a small mosque built by himself.

The neighbor Bilecik it also features a couple of Ottoman buildings in a beautiful setting overlooking a ravine: the tomb of Sheikh Edebali, an influential Sufi of the early Ottoman Empire, and a mosque built by Orhan (1324-1362), the second Ottoman ruler and son of Osman I. The rest of the old city, however, was badly damaged during the Greek war- turkish from 1919-1922 and has since been abandoned.

North of Bilecik, clinging to a hill in the Sakarya River Valley there is Osmaneli, a mixture of the old city, made up of perfectly restored ancient buildings and those in serious neglect, sometimes side by side. The local hill is dominated by the ruins of a massive Greek Orthodox church that has been abandoned since the 1920s. Now that the new motorway route bypasses the city, it receives hardly any visitors.

Further north, the river valley widens into one of the largest plains in the country. In the countryside just south of the modern city of Adapazarı is located the Sangarius bridge, an impressive marble bridge built by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I (527-565), so that his army could cross the often dangerous waters of the Sakarya / Sangarius River easily while campaigning against harassing neighbors to the east. Due to the changes in the course of the river in the meantime, its flow is now on a narrow stream.

Beyond the river to the southeast, the city of Taraklı tucked away in the wooded hills it underwent a beautiful renovation in the first decade of the 2000s, and is now a pretty old town of traditional whitewashed houses. Taraklı can be considered part of the country's "old city belt" in northwestern Turkey, extending to Safranbolu.

To the west, İzmit, the largest city in the region, has a sort of hilly old town, with steep cobbled streets lined with wooden houses. Near the coast below there is an archaeological museum, which exhibits the remains of an era when the city was one of the capitals of theRoman Empire and was known as Nicomedia. Nearby is also a palace that served as a hunting lodge for the Ottoman sultans.

On the northern edge of the Gulf of Izmit, Hereke was an important center of carpet weaving, its imperial factory is now a museum, being the place of origin of the carpets that covered the Ottoman palaces. Nearby is the seaside palace built just in time for the German Kaiser Wilhelm's visit to the factory in 1884.

Further west, Gebze it's the unexpected site of a beautiful Ottoman mosque complex, complete with a repurposed poorhouse and school surrounding the mosque, all engulfed by modern development.

The nearby promenade Eskihisar it is graced by the wooden villa of Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910), the founder of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum and one of the first modern Turkish painters.

On the southern coast of the Gulf, Karamürsel, named after an early Ottoman admiral, is the site of his namesake's open-air marble tomb, while Yalova to the west it is quite known for its republican heritage as it was the favorite refuge of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk.

What to do

The narrow Ballıkayalar valley, east of Gebze, is popular with fans of climbing on rock and of hiking. The offerings of the Harmankaya Canyon, cut by a stream deep into the marble rock, and its immediate surroundings east of Bilecik they go further and also include a good business of canyoning. There are also established hiking routes in the Sakarya Valley, particularly around the village of Doğançay south of Adapazarı, which lead to some remote waterfalls in the mountains. Although detailed descriptions of some routes can be collected online, none of them are reported.

And then there is the Evliya Çelebi trail (partially) reported, mentioned above. A side-to-side hike along the EÇW, attempted by a few people, reportedly takes just over 20 days.

The hot springs they come from numerous locations in the region; the three most popular developed sources are a Yalova, Oylat is Taraklı - in that order.

The only regional ski resort is on the aptly named mountain mount Kartepe (in Turkish "snowy hill"), just east of İzmit.

At the table

Generally speaking, Turks are big meat lovers and the Eastern Marmara area is no exception. Although the recipes rarely differ, many towns in the region are famous for theirs meatballs (köfte), with İnegöl which has some degree of national fame for its favorite delicacy.

With so much water incorporated into the regional geography, the fish it is also easy to fish. Fish sandwiches are often quick meals in seaside villages. Inland, freshwater fish is more popular: the trout farms in the village of Maşukiye on Lake Sapanca, for example, attract large numbers of hikers from nearby towns.

İzmit is famous for its pişmaniye, a dessert made up of rounded strands of butter and sugar, and is likened to cotton candy. Along the highways around the city there are a number of small shops advertising theirs pişmaniye with big signs: the current rate can go as low as 10 TL for five packages, and they double nicely as gifts from the region to take back to friends back home.

As this is one of Turkey's major fruit-producing regions, if you happen to wander the countryside in the fall, expect plenty of fruit to be in abundance, particularly apples, pears, quinces and dogwoods in the south, and hazelnuts and kiwis in the south. north.

Drinks

The region can be considered a bit conservative by Western Turkish standards, if grabbing a couple of bottles of beer from the nearest shop is never too difficult, don't expect anything special when it comes to local alcoholic beverages.

Safety

Although well maintained, steep inclines of up to 10% are often associated with hairpin bends, these are not uncommon on regional roads, so drive safely.