The narrow 61km strait linking the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara and access to Istanbul and the Black Sea coast countries Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia. If the Turks ever get tetchy again about access i would imagine it will cause quite a kerfuffle.
Somewhat of a mandatory pilgrimmage for Australians and New Zealanders visiting Turkey.
The ages shown on most memorial markers at Anzac Cove is a sobering reminder of how it's young blokes who get to do the fighting on behalf of the old bastards who sent them there. Anzac Cove and Lone Pine War Memorial are reminders of Australian and New Zealand involvement. The Turks, Brits, Ghurkas, French and Indians also suffered huge losses here. The Turks have memorials at the high points where some remnant trenches remain. The whole site is well maintained and covered with pine trees, where some bones will still be scattered - a lot of bodies never having been recovered. A modern visitors complex has been built discretely amongst the pines in the hills showing filmed re-enactments of the campaign. Although these are from the Turkish perspective with undertones of understandable nationalism, the narrative is not so different from our own. Except for a jarring inclusion at the end of the story - a mother's letter to her Turkish soldier son is quoted, writing of the defence of Islam from invading infidels and dying for the cause of a competing deity rather than in defence of a country. OK, that may well have been her own point of view, and it was exploited by the Turkish authorities as propoganda at the time, but the true context of the Turks siding with Germany, the billigerant antogonists of the whole affair, and the Allies' need to supply the Eastern Front wasn't mentioned.
A pleasant waterfront town and over-night stop on the Dardanelles oppposite the Gallipoli peninsular.
The Aussie and Kiwi tourist influence in the town can sometimes be obvious - the vibe at a nearby eatery was pure suburban RSL club minus the pokies.
Scattered remnants in a field, most of what's left is still buried in multiple layers of multiple versions of the city. To excavate to earlier levels means digging through the later structures, so it's been mostly left as it is. The Dardanelles which lapped up against the city in its heyday has retreated back several kilometres. It's worth a visit - the highway passes nearby.
Pergamon, aka Pergamum, is an ancient Greek city that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period 281-133 BC, clear evidence that the Greeks at some point in history possessed a work ethic. Set on a mountain top, reachable by chairlift and overlooking modern Bergama, a large town that from the bus looked like it had its charms. If we hadn't had such a long drive in front of us we would've stopped for a poke arond the town.
