Original subtitles

I'm in Anatolia

exploring the stories and histories

of this otherworldly place.

The first seasonal snows have just arrived,

so I pull off the road to warm up -

Turkish style.

One of the things I love so much about travelling

is being introduced to local treats.

And in this region, in the winter, they drink something called salep.

Oh, I wish you could smell it.

It's so good.

So, this is made of powdered orchid roots

and hot milk, and sugar and cinnamon.

Mm.

Oh, and it was meant to be good for all kinds of things.

People said it was really good for your digestion,

and boosted your immune system,

and gave you a spring in your step.

And it's certainly making me really, really happy.

I mean, look...

I can't actually imagine anything more beautiful than this.

A landscape full of clues to how our lives

were shaped from the ideas of antiquity and the medieval world.

Across the globe...

...archaeologists are uncovering secrets...

It's remarkable!

...in the most stunning places...

We have a very, very lively history here.

...revealing fascinating connections between past and present.

So these are fresh out of the earth?

Yeah, they are fresh out of the earth.

I'm crossing between continents and travelling through time

on an epic adventure to unearth our ancient origins...

Hello.

Well, that's a pretty timeless experience.

...and rediscover long lost stories that still impact our lives today.

I've got access to the very latest discoveries

to piece together the truth of lost worlds.

You just stepped back to the time of King Midas.

It's just so beautiful.

Anatolia -

ancient Asia Minor -

has left its mark on every era of human history,

from antiquity to the modern world.

I'm setting out to investigate how cultures connected here,

changing history and laying the foundations of today.

Now I'm heading west to one of the greatest sites in Turkiye.

It's the ancient city of Ephesus.

Ephesus is just inland from Turkiye's western coast,

with roots 6,000 years deep...

...a magnet for travellers of all kinds

and a creative hub for millennia.

Ancient authors heaped their praise on this place.

They described it as the greatest market

this side of the Taurus Mountains,

and somebody said this place was the light of Asia.

But I'm on a mission to discover

what that meant to the people who actually lived here.

A multicultural metropolis.

To understand how Ephesus became such a major city,

I'm exploring right at the edge of the site.

When you come up here,

you get a sense of how massive this city was.

At its height, between 200,000 and 300,000 people lived here.

But the big surprise about this place

is that main street down there is called Harbour Street.

And that really is the secret to Ephesus' success,

because that led down to a massive commercial port here.

And you can't see it now,

because back in antiquity,

the sea came right up here.

Archaeologists have found evidence of warehouses

lining this commercial port

and the shoreline,

gradually moving over three miles west

as the ancient estuary silted up.

In its glory days, at the time of the Roman Empire,

money flooded into Ephesus.

Wealth that helped spark an awe-inspiring cultural flourishing.

If you know where to look,

there's evidence of the arts not just for public

but private enjoyment...

...in Ephesus' incredibly preserved homes.

These are the houses that belonged to people

who were doing really, really well in life.

And what's fascinating is that they cover their walls

with images of arts, and music and culture.

And I just had... I had to show you this.

I just think it's completely adorable.

So, this is a hugely magnified image

that was found on a tiny, tiny ring right here.

And it shows a little mouse playing a flute.

Just divine.

Frescoes of the muses in this house

are a clue to one of Ephesus' passions,

music.

Here, rare evidence is emerging

about what the people of antiquity actually listened to.

There's been an astonishing discovery close to here as well,

about 30 miles away.

It's inscribed on marble,

and it's the world's oldest

complete musical composition,

with notation, and melody and lyrics.

The musical fragment has been reconstructed

by archaeologists of sound,

giving us a rare opportunity to travel through time

to experience the same sounds in the same places as the ancients.

So we know what the people who were living here

would've been listening as they went about their daily lives.

And I've got it on here,

so I'm just going to have a listen as I walk around.

STRINGED INSTRUMENT PLUCKS

SINGING IN OTHER LANGUAGE

I should just explain what the lyrics are.

So, they're really poignant.

So, the words are saying,

"While you're in this world, shine brightly.

"Make your mark. Don't be full of sorrow.

"Because our time is limited,

"and death will take its due."

SINGING CONTINUES

And on my travels here,

I'm lucky enough to stay with a very musical family.

I've just found out that the son of the house

where I'm staying is actually inspired

by that music and the musical instruments

that were used thousands of years ago

to compose his own music.

And that's what you're listening to now.

WOODWIND PLAYS

A son of Ephesus, who grew up right by this enchanting city,

inspired by the ancients before him.

Next morning,

it's time to hit the road again,

heading due east to the magical region of Cappadocia.

I want to find how the incredible landscape

fostered connections between different cultures,

even in extreme environments.

This region's always been a borderland,

and although this incredible, unique,

beautiful, otherworldly landscape

can seem a little austere...

...in fact, for centuries,

it's provided people with refuge and abundance.

Humans arrived here back in prehistoric times.

For the last 3,000 years,

locals have literally carved out an existence.

Citadels high in the rock

and subterranean cities.

There's really fascinating recent research

that suggests that the name Cappadocia

actually comes from that really ancient Hittite language,

and the word "Katapeda",

which literally means, "the place below".

Which makes total sense

when you see there are just caves everywhere here.

And my exploration is taking me underground

to find buried secrets that lie hidden in these rocks.

Throughout history,

travellers have come to Cappadocia to take refuge

from the temptations of the worldly realm,

like hermits living isolated in their hermitages.

Today, these amazing rock formations

are often called fairy chimneys.

And you can just imagine, can't you,

how over the centuries, they gave a kind of mystical,

spiritual inspiration to all those hermits and ascetics here.

Hi. Hi.

SHE SPEAKS TURKISH

Is it OK to...?

SHE SPEAKS TURKISH

SHE SPEAKS TURKISH

This rock,

which sits in an ancient vineyard,

hides a secret.

Nicknamed, fittingly,

the Grape Church.

The colours here are just astonishing, aren't they?

Look here.

Those are the grapes up there on the top...

...as well as these kind of official figures.

Because some of these are a bit time worn

you've got to scan.

It will make it much easier to read.

The scans reveal secrets of the Grape Church.

Like these carvings.

It's very, very naughty, obviously,

because this is graffiti.

But these little images and the names have been left

by all the pilgrims who've come here over the centuries.

The carvings are a clue to the many generations of pilgrims

who came here to pay their respects

to one man who worshipped in this tiny church...

...Saint Niketas,

who lived somewhere slightly unexpected.

So, the church is carved out of this single rock.

And Saint Niketas actually lived in a cell

that was hollowed out right at the top there

for all of his life.

So he was one of the very first hermits in his hermitage.

I noticed the outside steps have been badly eroded

over the centuries,

so now it's almost impossible to access.

However, we have a drone team, and they are going to help us out.

Our research drone has special permission

to become the first visitor to the hermit's house in a very long time.

Anyway you can tilt up?

Because you see the cross on the roof.

It was a transcendent but tough existence

for the 10th century hermit.

There's a light dusting of snow today,

but it can get really cold here in the winter.

Imagine living inside there.

That shows endurance. SHE CHUCKLES

And then my team and I spot a flash of evidence

connecting us directly to Niketas.

I think I saw a bit of painting.

It's more of a drawing than a painting,

but if you just pan left.

Pan left. Pan left.

You see it now? Oh, yeah. Yeah. There, there, there.

The red drawing is mysterious.

Maybe we're the first to witness it in centuries.

Perhaps the remains of a religious symbol

inspired by the spiritual experience of living on this rock.

But it wasn't just lone monks in Cappadocia's unique landscape.

I'm heading 30 miles south to the remote village of Gumusluk,

where the ascetic life could have been a communal experience.

In 1962, an even more impressive hidden gem

was rediscovered deep in the bedrock.

Originally built in the 10th century,

this remarkable place has long been believed to be a monastery.

It's honeycombed with caves,

presumably cells for a whole congregation of monks.

Incredibly, this square courtyard

was carved 15m deep

in a volcanic, rocky outcrop.

Hidden inside the complex is a chapel,

covered in sacred imagery.

It's just astonishing, isn't it?

This was all created sometime in the 11th century.

So it's almost all 1,000 years old.

Up until the 1960s,

this was covered in soot black

because of all the lamps that had been burnt here down the centuries.

And bit by bit,

these beautiful paintings are being restored.

So you can see up at the top, that's Mary,

the Virgin Mary in the middle.

And then that's Saint Basil.

And Saint Basil was really crucial in promoting the idea of monasticism

as something that lots of people could do together.

Many of these paintings are of locals

who had a big impact on the wider medieval world...

...including one much beloved saint.

I've just got to show you the man on my right,

with this lovely red cloak,

with a white trim and a long white beard.

He's Saint Nicholas,

who, of course, is also known as Santa Claus or Father Christmas.

I discover the complex is covered in art.

There's something really surprising up here.

I've been told there's evidence that points

to a very different interpretation of this rock cut building.

This could change everything,

because what you're looking at here aren't religious paintings.

They're actually an illustration of Aesop's fables.

Aesop was that very famous ancient author,

who lived around 2,600 years ago,

whose morality tales are still really popular today.

So, for instance, you've got a lion who goes hunting with an ass.

And the moral of that story is, never go hunting with a lion,

because the lion will always get the lion's share.

There's a goat up here just

starting to nibble at vine leaves,

grapes again, featuring, obviously.

And the vine speaks and says,

"I will get my revenge when you are sacrificed

"and wine is drunk at the time that you are eaten!"

And then just over here, it's very eroded,

but it could be that it's telling the story of the fox and the grapes.

So, a fox was reaching up to eat a lovely plump bunch of grapes

and couldn't quite get it and goes,

"I don't want to have those anyway."

And that is where we get the phrase "sour grapes" from.

I love the fact that grapes appear again.

They seem to play such an important role in the Cappadocian imagination.

What are they -

and these secular story frescoes -

doing here in a monastery?

Some have begun to wonder if this may not be a home for monks at all.

So there's a chance that this is actually one massive,

wealthy merchant's house,

and he stood here at his balcony checking out on his business

going on down below.

Archaeology often teaches us

that the most obvious conclusion may not be right.

A little more digging can reveal a whole new story.

To fully immerse in Cappadocia,

I'm staying in a cave myself,

but this one, a charming hotel.

Meeting up with local friends to explore

how this region has evolved hand in hand with nature

and impacted the wider world.

Lovely.

That is a welcoming. That is really delicious.

Cos they've been producing and

trading wine from here for centuries.

Probably more than 3,000 years.

Even our word, "wine",

can be traced back to "wiyana",

a word used by the Bronze Age rulers of Anatolia, the Hittites.

They record wine in their tablets,

and there are lovely pictures of them,

of the kings and the queens drinking wine, aren't there?

Common saying among locals is that

the harder that the vine roots try to reach for water

under the poorest volcanic soil,

the tastier the grapes get.

Ah-ha!

We have the grape, which doesn't require that much water,

and we have people who don't really need more than what they have.

That's a lesson we've got to remember.

Jan here told me that I'd like you and your place.

It's so beautiful. Thank you. Thank you.

It's time to leave Cappadocia

and travel 500 miles across this vast country.

Now we're heading out to the very eastern edge of Anatolia,

right across the country, to Kars province,

which has some astonishing revelations.

Here, geography has shaped history,

where the mountains of the Caucasus meet the high plateau of Anatolia.

In winter, the temperature can plunge to -40.

Lake Cildir sits almost 2,000m above sea level.

One of the great high altitude lakes of Anatolia.

This lake's completely frozen in the winter,

and these guys are going to help me get across it.

It's the safest and fastest way.

Its local people, and their treasured horses,

have thrived for centuries on the icy shores of Cildir...

...making a living helping traders and travellers cross each year.

I've never been on a frozen lake before.

It's so exciting to do it with these guys,

with their horses,

cos this is how it's been happening for not just centuries,

but thousands of years here.

It's thrilling to find they're still at it,

running visitors to the far shore.

SHE SPEAKS TURKISH

I'm Bettany. Bettany. How are you? My name is Barratt. Barratt!

Lovely to meet you. What's the name of your horse?

Niko. Niko. Beautiful.

Is it OK to get in?

OK. OK.

For me? Yes.

He's right as well.

Beautiful. Not warm today.

OK.

SHE SPEAKS TURKISH

OK, here? Thank you.

Horses have always been a part of Anatolian culture,

and Turkic tribes came here by horse from the steppes,

and then used the horses to trade goods, and actually, to sell them.

Using them both as transport and as highly prized trade goods...

...they've been long loved.

Travellers from Central Asia were some of the very first

to domesticate the ancestors of all modern horses in around 2000 BCE.

They believed these glorious creatures

were descended from the sky.

They could be buried with the highest honours,

sometimes alongside their owners.

Lake Cildir is about 12 miles at its widest...

...a chilling 42m deep,

and in winter, the ice is half a metre thick.

When it's frozen, it takes a quarter of the time to cross

than it does in the summer.

A vital passage for the technology,

knowledge, raw materials and luxuries

transported on the Silk Roads.

People have been trading across here

for at least 1,000 years,

just like this.

And you know what?

Travelling in conditions like this gives me massive respect for them.

My destination is a very special city on those ancient silk roads.

A place packed with hidden secrets.

About 50 miles south of Lake Cildir,

on a volcanic plateau is the beautiful,

desolate city of Ani, a rich tapestry of cultures.

It's just incredible to think of all the people

who've been here since prehistory.

So, Alexander the Great's soldiers came here,

and invaders from the Far East, including the Mongols.

This ancient city, first mentioned in the fifth century,

flowered under the Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia.

150 years later,

an influx of new people would change the course of Anatolian history.

The Seljuks, the first Turkic populations

to arrive here from Central Asia.

They brought their art and culture.

At its height,

there could have been as many as 100,000 people in this city.

And where I'm walking right now is just one of the many bazaars.

This is the Seljuk Bazaar.

Isn't it a buzz imagining them coming here on their camels,

bringing goods from all points of the compass,

trading beautiful things and beautiful ideas?

A thousand years ago,

Ani had a privileged position on the world's trading superhighway.

We're in Anatolia now.

This is where the Caucasus and Central Asia met Anatolia.

Ancient trade in silk from China and ceramics

and gemstones from Central Asia pass through here

bound for the markets of Persia and the Mediterranean.

Because of that, this was one of the richest cities at the time.

And it's this ghost town now, but it's seen so much history,

so much wealth and so much interchange

of people and ideas.

So it's lovely coming here

and listening to the voices of the past talking to us here.

The merchants of Ani grew rich from the Silk Roads trade,

and the evidence still litters the landscape.

You can just imagine the wealth that originally built this place.

It would have been like a jewel box of colours.

Tigran Honents was a 13th century Georgian merchant

who spent part of his fortune on this incredible building.

And I love the fact that the man who's given his name

to this is actually here. He's in the church up at the top.

He's giving a little miniature of the building

that he sponsored to the bishop.

Nobody lives here now,

but you've got all these people who had these flourishing lives

and were incredibly proud of what they've achieved.

I love it when they leave us these little clues to their lives,

like dropping breadcrumbs from the past for us to follow.

There's not just churches in Ani, but many mosques.

Even the remains of a Zoroastrian fire temple

have recently been found.

At its very best, this was a place

where cultures came together and collaborated.

Traders and travellers.

Art and architecture.

Literature and ideas met and mingled here.

Ani thrived despite many challenges.

This exposed plateau of ancient pumice and ash

offered little respite from baking summers,

freezing winters and invading armies.

But one local is keen to show me secrets of the site...

Hello!

...revealing ways the people here survived over the centuries.

Thank you.

It's OK. Yes. Yeah, I'd love it. I'll follow you.

I'll follow you. You know the way. Yes, yes.

I've just been told to hari, hari, go, go,

with my new friend, Kinan, who's taking us

to some new archaeological discoveries.

Oh, it's so unspoilt here. So stunning.

And then a reminder that he's not the only one who knows these wilds.

What are these tracks here? Big tracks.

A wolf? Big wolf? Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Delighted I'm with someone who's been living here all his life.

That's cool though, wolf.

Eventually we see signs of what Kinan wants to show me.

These ones with the little holes? Pigeons?

You keep on seeing these little kind of rock dovecots.

Well, I think they kept pigeons.

Kinan was actually born in one of these caves.

His family lived here for over 500 years

until as recently as 1957.

Sharing the knowledge of secret locations

one generation to another.

He even shows me the tomb

of our church building friend, Tigran Honents.

But the place Kinan's most excited about is something unexpected.

I've never seen anything quite like it.

Aha! So there were camels in there?

You can see all these caves there.

So what you've got up there

is places where the merchants would come and stay.

They'd bring their huge, huge, huge camel trains

with all their goods, all their merchandise,

and the camels would be kept in the middle in the courtyard,

and the merchants would sleep on top.

So awesome!

So below the monumental city of Ani

is a whole other huge metropolis deep underground,

a shadow city where the people of Ani

and visiting merchants and their animals could take refuge.

Because it's all volcanic around here,

you've got this pumice falling away.

So that's why we keep on finding these new,

astonishing archaeological discoveries.

They're literally revealing themselves in the rock.

The ruins at Ani,

once the richest city in the region, speak to its turbulent history.

Devastated by a Mongol invasion in 1236,

rocked by a series of earthquakes.

But despite the challenges, it remained a beacon of the value

of cultural coexistence right up until the 18th century.

Now a ghost town

that holds rich clues to the lost worlds of the past.

I'm on the move again, leaving the wonders of Ani behind.

Following the Silk Road trail,

in the footsteps of generations of merchants.

And a chance to take one of the most stunning train journeys

in the world.

It's just so beautiful.

The Dogu Express takes me across the epic snowy steppe.

This journey's really making me imagine all those travellers

and traders who did this exact route thousands of years ago

on the ancient silk roads, on horseback and camel.

It passes through some of the most historic towns,

cities and landscapes of central Anatolia.

Eight hours into our journey

and we enter Sivas province in central eastern Turkiye,

famous for its high sided cliffs and deep valleys.

Bearing witness to the magnificence of the Seljuk Turks.

What a way to explore the rich past of this amazing land.

The other thing I love about long rail journeys

is making friends with fellow passengers

and rail staff.

The most beautiful thing has just happened.

I was sitting here and talking about how I love Turkish cheese

and Turkish honey,

and the guards heard and they've ordered ahead.

Is this it?

That is beautiful.

That is service.

So they've just brought this in from one of the local stations.

Honey's called bal in Turkish.

And if somebody's bali, it means that they're lucky.

They're kind of literally with honey.

So it's a really beautiful gift to give.

Isn't that amazing hospitality on this extraordinary journey?

There's nothing quite like the spontaneous sense of community

as the miles roll by.

Even a surprise boogie in the buffet.

Nestled in the mountains of Sivas province

is the historic town of Divrigi.

The remains of a 13th century castle dominate the skyline,

overlooked by a craggy ridge packed with hidden caves.

This area is known for iron ore deposits,

first mined by the Hittites,

who ruled a mighty Anatolian empire over three millennia ago.

Hello, beauty. Hello, beautiful.

You're lovely!

Round here, there's this special breed of dog called Kangal,

named after the village they come from.

Oh, is that nice? Is that nice, lady?

Adult Kangals can reach well over 60kg.

They're bred to protect flocks from wolves and can be scary,

but this girl is super friendly.

Kangals have actually become incredibly popular

all around the world now, but this is where they come from.

Yeah, darling.

My new young friend is most likely a mixed breed.

Thankfully a more manageable size than a full Kangal.

At the town's heart is the Great Mosque.

The first building in Turkiye to attain

Unesco World Heritage status in 1985.

Built back in the 13th century to celebrate

the pivotal Seljuk victory at the Battle of Manzikert

150 years before,

securing their presence in Anatolia.

Constructed from local sandstone, tinged pink

by traces of iron ore,

its four monumental doorways covered in exquisite carvings,

incredibly featuring no repeating motifs

or direct symmetry.

One of the guardians of the mosque has invited me

to take a look around.

Mustafa. Mustafa Bey. Bettany. Thank you.

It's so beautiful in here.

The interior is adorned with this stunning,

delicately carved stone, mihrab,

indicating the direction of Mecca.

And the dome, decorated with vibrant red paint.

From the mountains all around here.

This is a unique architectural achievement,

considered by some, the greatest masterpiece of Seljuk art,

a synthesis of styles from across Asia

that would go on to influence later Islamic and Ottoman culture.

The Great Mosque of Divrigi is spectacular,

and I'm so glad of the chance finally to visit.

But there's more than meets the eye.

I must admit, there's a secret reason

that I wanted to come here.

It's a hidden gem, and the clue to the story

is up there in this writing, this inscription.

It tells us that this was built

as a house of healing by a woman called Turan Malik.

And what's inside here is really, really, really special.

I'm exploring a medieval jewel

nestled in the mountains of central Anatolia.

I'm listening to this music because this is a hospital

from the 13th century that records reveal treated both physical

and mental illness with music therapy.

That was so beautiful. Thank you.

That was so beautiful. Amazing.

It's transported me.

It's absolutely spiritual and haunting

and I've never heard anything like that before.

It's just extraordinary.

The reason that was so exquisitely beautiful

is because where I'm standing

is basically a massive acoustic sound stage,

brilliantly engineered, so that the bass

and the treble are modulated and kind of bounce off one another.

The asymmetric carved patterns

on the vaulted ceiling reflect different

sound frequencies at different rates,

creating these incredible reverberations.

Turan Malik was one of a number of leading women

who founded astounding homes of healing like this,

where each room had a different acoustic

depending on the needs of your condition.

The idea was that the music, the singing,

and the sound from a fountain that ran through the middle

of the building would heal people in different ways.

And that is just so brilliantly progressive,

because it's only now that we're realising

that art does heal us,

that harmony physically helps us.

And that was happening here 800 years ago.

It's amazing to find such a priceless treasure

hidden in these hills.

I'll be sad to leave it.

I'm taking with me the sense that these wonders,

far from being on the fringes,

pulse with the lifeblood of our shared heritage.

It's been the most incredible journey so far,

but now it's time for me to leave central

and eastern Anatolia and head all the way west

here to Istanbul, to the city that was once

the imperial capital of the Ottoman Empire.

It seems I've brought the snow with me.

A rare sight in this part of Turkey.

Istanbul became the capital of

the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century.

At the heart of the city,

geographically and psychologically, are the waterways.

One ancient author described the city

as being garlanded by waters,

and the very best way #to discover its historic secrets

is to travel by boat.

Around 50% of these buildings

were actually funded by Ottoman women,

and like the House of Healing in Divrigi,

many were focused on serving the public good,

mosques, baths, schools and hospitals.

Throughout history,

the Bosphorus has been one of the world's busiest waterways,

ferries crisscrossing between Asia and Europe,

and commercial shipping coming and going between the Black Sea,

the Mediterranean and beyond.

The waterfront of the Bosphorus is home to

some of the prime real estate in Istanbul,

and I'm lucky enough to get access to

one of the greatest imperial palaces of Istanbul.

Ciragan Palace was built in the 1860s for the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz,

serving as a waterside royal residence

into the early 20th century.

It was transformed in 1991 into a historic

hotel with unforgettable views of

the Bosphorus, which once inspired a famous author.

I love the fact that Byron talked about it

as being a thwarted kiss between two continents.

Because I'm here in Europe and over there is Asia,

and the only thing that connects us is this gorgeous, gorgeous waterway.

From these grand palaces of the Bosphorus,

the Ottoman elite administered their

vast imperial territories in comfort and splendour.

But pleasure wasn't the preserve of the elite.

There's a lovely concept of Kaif,

which means savouring life slowly, whatever the weather.

Perfect for a warming cup of the local favourite...

Thank you. ..hot, sweet salep.

What an astonishing voyage of discovery this has been.

And I think that's because this beautiful place

doesn't just offer us a gateway through time.

It directly connects the past to our present.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media