Traveling across Türkiye is a practice of remembering. Stepping foot in the city of Izmir, just an hour-long flight from the capital of Istanbul, I was instantly immersed in history. A visit to the local Culture and Arts Factory, which once stood as a tobacco factory in the 19th century, lays out Türkiye’s rich history with displays of headless statues and intricate sarcophagi.

For breakfast, my companions and I were served with a sweet dish called Asure, and the chef told us it stems from the legend of Noah’s Ark — once the Ark landed safely, Noah and his family gathered the last remaining bits of food and cooked them together as a means of celebration.

And that was just the beginning.

Izmir City is the pearl of the Aegean coast, but there's more to be unearthed in its nearby towns and provinces — the journeys of Saint Paul, the mythology of the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, the city of the Gladiators. The best place to find these stories, of course, is in the well-preserved ruins of Türkiye’s ancient cities — starting with Hierapolis in the neighboring province of Denizli.

Hierapolis and Pamukkale, Denizli

White terraces and thermal waters paint a picture of Pamukkale.

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