"A tale of three cities
Once, the Ottomans were Europe's dominant force. Today their dazzling artistic legacy lives on throughout Turkey. Jonathan Gregson explores the remains of an empire
22 January 2005
The New Year's first blockbuster exhibition, 'The Turks', opens at The Royal Academy today. Featuring treasures never previously allowed outside the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, it will be a real eye-opener for anyone who thinks Turkey's main attractions are its beach resorts.
The exhibition reveals the richness and diversity of Turkish culture. Spanning 1,000 years, from around AD600 when Turkic tribes roamed the steppes of Central Asia, it concludes with the glory days of the Ottoman Empire under Suleyman the Magnificent in the 16th century, when the Turks rivalled Spain as Europe's great power.
Turkey is much more than a museum piece, and many of its finest monuments are to be found in just three cities: the former capitals of the Ottomans - Bursa, Edirne and, greatest of them all, Istanbul."
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