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Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
The little restaurants scattered around the Azmak River are especially popular.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
1. Akyaka is a coastal town on the Aegean, in Turkey’s touristic southwestern province of Muğla.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Akyaka became Turkey’s second slow city in 2011, hoping the membership would also help preserving its unique architecture and environment.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Akyaka is also an ideal spot for foodies, with the delicious vegetarian and fish dishes it offers.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Akyaka
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Akyaka
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Akyaka
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Akyaka
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
2. Gökçeada became the world’s first and only “slow island” when it joined the Cittaslow movement in June 2011.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Gökçeada is located north of the entrance of Dardanelles. Also known as Imbros, it is Turkey’s largest island.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Apart from its beautiful nature and crystal clear waters, Gökçeada is an ideal spot for surfing, with numerous surf schools now operational.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Halfeti
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Halfeti
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Halfeti
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
It is famous for its beautiful canyons, delicious food, and endemic plants – including its famous black roses.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Three fifths of the town were left under water by the construction of the Birecik Dam in 2000.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
A half sunken minaret welcomes visitors to this village accessible by boat.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
3. Halfeti is a magical village, and not only because of its nature, food and history. It is a sunken district on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
4. Perşembe is a small and charming fishing town in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Ordu.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Perşembe
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
The town is very green, serves delicious fish, and has beaches of white sand where one can enjoy the sea.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Its must-see places include Jason Cape and Koçboynuzu.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
5. Şavşat, Turkey’s latest town to become a slow city, is located on the country’s Black Sea coast. A district of the Artvin province, Şavşat lies close to Turkey’s border with Georgia.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Şavşat has impressive nature and history, surrounded by high, green mountains and home to fortresses and churches. The Şavşat and Satlel fortresses are important touristic spots of the town.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
The Tibeti Church dates back to the 9th Century and became a religious center by the 11th Century. The Papart Valley and Arsiyan Highlands are other places that should be on the list while visiting Şavşat.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Karagöl Sahara is one of Turkey’s 37 national parks and includes Karagöl (“Black Lake” in Turkish) and the Sahara highland. It is a good place to spend a night and enjoy its beautiful nature. It is also possible to camp there.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
6. Taraklı is a beautiful little town only a two-hour drive from Istanbul.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
The town is famous for its wooden 19th century Ottoman houses, mostly renovated.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
It is currently trying to enter the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Taraklı
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Taraklı
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Taraklı
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
7. Vize is situated between Istanbul and the old Ottoman capital of Edirne, only 1.5 hours away from the former.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Its nature remains untouched and well-preserved.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Aside from the environment, the small town is famous for numerous ancient tumuli, and delicious honey produced from its old linden trees.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Vize
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Yalvaç is a district of Isparta, dubbed the ‘City of Roses’ as it pioneers Turkey’s 60 percent share of the world’s rose industry.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
8. Yalvaç is a beautiful town located in the country’s Mediterranean region.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Yalvaç is also important in terms of archaeology, as it is home the Psidian Antioch, an ancient city founded in 280 BC and a place of settlement since the Neolithic age.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
When visiting Yalvaç, make sure to taste the local güllaç, a traditional Turkish dessert made with milk and rosewater.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
The most important attraction of the town is the Sığacık port, with its beautifully preserved old houses, historical fortress and charming cafes.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
A famous bazaar is set up on Sundays, where locals sell a wide-range of homemade products including delicious pastries, desserts and trinkets.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Seferihisar
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
9. Seferihisar is a coastal Aegean town in the İzmir province, around twenty minutes from the city center.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Seferihisar
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
10. Yenipazar is little town of the Aydın neighboring İzmir in the country’s Aegean coast.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Yenipazar
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
The town hosts the home of Yörük Efe, one of Aegean region’s most celebrated guerilla leaders (zeybek or efe in Turkish)
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
His house was rebuilt after burning down in the 1980s and now serves as a small museum.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Yenipazar
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Yörük Efe fought during the Turkish War of Independence and was one of the last zeybeks in the country’s history.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
The first of the famous Akyaka houses was built by Turkish architect Nail Çakırhan. He modeled his home after the old Ottoman houses of Ula, the district where Akyaka is located, and received the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Many more houses followed suit.
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Ten secret escapes across Anatolia: Turkey’s Slow City movement
Turkey’s major cities are often described as convivial, energetic -- and chaotic. With a population nearing 80 million, with more than 70 percent living in cities, it is a challenge to escape from the burdens of everyday life – but it is possible. Enter the Cittaslow movement, which emerged as a reaction against the fast-paced life in cities and changes this new lifestyle brought about. Its initial idea was to encourage the Slow Food movement, advocating the preservation and sale of local, healthy and seasonal food, to whole towns. Slow cities promote a healthy lifestyle and defend adopting a different method of development. Member towns develop projects to preserve and support local producers, traditional crafts, the environment and quiet living Here is a guide to Turkey’s ten beautiful towns that are members of the Cittaslow (or the Slow City) movement.
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