Discovering Kayseri: Skiing at Erciyes Mountain

One of the biggest attractions of Kayseri, attracting both people from different parts of Turkey and from abroad, is its skiing centre at Erciyes Mountain. For me, as a Czech, it also has a deeper meaning because our skier/snowboarder Ester Ledecká won a Snowboard World Cup there in February 2016! So this was one of the places I wanted to visit for sure.Mount Erciyes is located 25 km to the south of Kayseri, with its summit reaching 3,916 m. You can perform a large variety of winter sports activities there, such as alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snow kiting, snow tubing, snowboarding etc. In the summer, it is a great spot for hiking, trekking, Nordic walking, paragliding, climbing…For skiing, there are 31 slopes (the highest one reaches the altitude of 3,360 m) of three different difficulty levels (blue, red and black) and 13 lifts. On winter weekends, a special shuttle bus organized by Kayseri municipality picks up the passionate skiers from Kayseri city centre and takes them right to the area. There are also parking areas, and hotels for those who wish to stay longer.

Discovering Talas: Yaman Dede Church/Mosque

Last time we explored the Talas American College together. Today, we will look at another unmissable Talas feature: Yaman Dede Church Mosque (also called Greek Panaya Church or Talas New Mosque).
First of all you are probably asking: how can a church be a mosque, and vice versa? Hopefully the following lines will give you a clue…

The structure was built during the era of Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1886 as a Greek church. Its original name was Panaya and the city quarter was called Tablakaya back then. At that time, many Armenians and other Christians inhabited the area. In 1925, after the population exchange when Turkey lost most of its Christian inhabitants, it was altered to a mosque. There were also years when the building was closed due to lack of care, left empty and ruined. Today, after a renovation, it serves as a place or worship again.

By the way, Yaman Dede, after whom the mosque is named, was a famous Kayseri citizen. Born probably in 1887, he was son of a trader, studied in Istanbul and became a lawyer. Although brought up as an Orthodox Christian, he adopted Islam in 1942 at the age of 55, and changed his name. After that, he was forced to leave his house and family. Later on, he became famous for writing poems. He died in 1962.

Discovering Kayseri: Science Center & Kayseri Zoo

Today we are going to discover a place a bit further away from the Kayseri city centre, anyway still well reachable by public transport. Just take the tram in the direction of İldem, and get off at Harikalar Diyarı stop. On your left, an amusement park will catch your eye immediately. Cross the road and enter the wonderland.

The complex consists of several buildings and areas. The most noticeable, as I already mentioned, is the amusement park – Mazakaland. Opened in 2013, it was the first theme park in Anatolia. It is named by Mazaka, the first city established on the skirts of Mt Erciyes in ancient times. It has four main sections inspired by civilisations. In the Anatolian Civilisation section, you can find a Trojan horse, in the Ancient Roman Civilisation you can see the Roman Colosseum for example. The other civilisations are African and Far Eastern. Of course, there is also a roller coaster and other attractions!

Anyway the park seemed closed now in the winter (at least the outdoor area), so we explored further. We passed an indoor ice-skating rink, different sports facilities and a laser game building, and decided to visit the Kayseri Science Center (Kayseri Bilim Merkezi). This comprehensive center was opened just on the last day of 2016, and therefore is still fresh and new! It cost 52 million Turkish lira to build it.

Discovering Talas: American College building

Talas municipality is definitely a popular place for Kayseri citizens. With its small historical houses and narrow streets, it creates a somewhat romantic atmosphere and therefore is popular specially with newlyweds – every weekend you can run into a couple of brides and grooms taking photos in this picturesque neighbourhood! Although most of the old houses have been already demolished and had to give ground to the modern development, and the remaining ones are not in a very good condition, spirit of the place remains.

Today I would like to talk about an outstanding Talas building which is clearly distinct from the rest and have a special history on its own. It is the Talas American College (Talas Amerikan Ortaokulu or Talas Amerikan Koleji in Turkish).

First, where is it located? You cannot miss it – it is a huge brown building just on the top of a hill, probably the uppermost building in Talas. Alright, but what was an American school doing here, and what purpose does the building serve today?

Discovering Kayseri: Trip to Ali Mountain

Kayseri is a city completely surrounded by mountains. Luckily for me, a mountain lover! The majestic Mount Erciyes is just 25 km away, and serves as a popular skiing resort in the winter. I am hopefully going to further explore this later on, and write a report on that! Anyway, there are also less demanding, but similarly rewarding mountains which you can choose for a hike.

From whichever direction you arrive to IYACA, you will probably notice the two peaks overlooking the Talas municipality (unless it is very, very foggy). This is the Ali Mountain, or Ali Dağı as they say in Turkish. About 2000 metres high and of volcanic origin. It is a popular place for weekend trips, picnics, barbecue, and also a popular paragliding spot (even World Cup tournaments took place here in 2004 and 2007). I also found on the internet that Ali Dağı is a record site: the longest flight from this take off was 157 km made by Yurdaer Etike in 2008 and also in 2010 a Turkish pilot Durali Karaca made an altitude record of 4900 m there.