Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey has enormously diverse scenery, with rolling central plains, soaring mountains, desert and orchards, white sand beaches and towering sea cliffs. The Hittites, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Selçuks, Ottomans, Armenians and a host of smaller civilizations have all added intricate layers of architecture, art and culture, creating a mosaic as rich as any of the gilded Byzantine glories.
Today, Turkey's thousands of kilometers of magnificent coast, sunshine and fine food have turned it into a major tourist destination. Much more than that, it is still fascinating
culturally - a modern, westernised country, with a largely Muslim population, cautiously spanning the divide between religions and cultures.
