Description
The spring-time magnificence of Eastern Türkiye is less well known to tourists than it should be. Largely agricultural, the fields and mountain slopes are covered with flowers as far as the eye can see — tulips, cyclamen, snow-drops, irises, euphorbias, salvias and poppies — all familiar to home gardeners everywhere.
Participating in The University of Melbourne’s archaeological missions to the region in the early 1990s, under the direction of the late Professor Antonio Sagona, the author became aware of the connections between this floral paradise and the beautiful decorative low-relief stone carving found on buildings of the Saljuq era from the early 11th to the late 13th centuries. This exquisite sculptural ornamentation combines geometric intricacy with a vast variety of floral motifs and is featured throughout the book.
Close to 300 photographs are used to illustrate the archaeological work and cultural sites, the day to day life of the citizens whether working in the fields or the sumptuous market places — and, in particular, Eastern Türkiye’s significant architectural heritage. Other photographs capture the mountainous terrain, the deep river valleys with stone bridges of Saljuq times and views of Mount Ararat and Lake Van.
Important contributers to the book — David Glenn, Fitzroy Boulting and Francisco Martinez Dalmases — all traversed the highlands of Anatolia in their youth and developed life-long passions for the poetry of Rumi and the Sufi Way; for the wondrously crafted carpets, ceramics and other florally inspired art forms found in the caravanserais and local markets and — of course — Eastern Türkiye’s endemic field flowers that now flourish throughout the world.
