A CITY WHERE TIME STANDS STILL

Only an hour away from the commotion of the capital, Beypazarı, a town in Ankara Province, relieves you of your everyday stress and allows you to travel back in time. With its wooden Ottoman houses, historical bazaars, and relaxed life tempo, it takes you back to a long-gone past.

Only an hour away from the commotion of the capital, Beypazarı, a town in Ankara Province, relieves you of your everyday stress and allows you to travel back in time. With its wooden Ottoman houses, historical bazaars, and relaxed life tempo, it takes you back to a long-gone past.

Truth be told, I was not really thrilled when my spouse told me, “Come, let me take you somewhere quite endearing this weekend, you’ll love Beypazarı.” Until then, I had only heard of the mineral water of Beypazarı. When I surfed the Internet, my curiosity grew.

The historical mansions which were dispersed among strangelooking, white rocks I saw in the photographs looked winsome. When my husband told me that he was planning to camp in the borough’s mountainside, on the shores of a lake and asked me to prepare our things, I started to count down the days.

Setting out from Istanbul, we got to Beypazarı on Friday evening following a five-hour drive. We decided to stay in one of those baywindowed mansions which serve as boutique hotels and after a good night’s sleep, we left the mansion to explore the center of Beypazarı. At the Tourism Information Office located in a historical wooden house on the side of the belt highway, we were served tea and informed of the sites worth seeing in the town: the first place we should visit was the Hıdırlık Hill where a huge Turkish flag is kept flying on a flagpole. We were told that the whole of Beypazarı, both its historical and modern zones, would be visible beneath our feet. Yet, since a new premises is being built and the hilltop’s landscaping is being changed, we were deprived of the chance to behold this splendid vista. However, the newly restored Suluhan, a few beautiful mosques, the famous Alaaddin (Aladdin) Street, the historical bazaar, four museums, and thousands of historical houses dating back to the Ottoman times were waiting for us to visit them!

Heading to the bazaar, we passed in front of a stately Ottoman mansion and reached Hanlarönü Square. From the sculpture of a carrot placed in the middle of the square, we derived that this vegetable is significant for Beypazarı. The historical bazaar starts in the

upper part of the square and can be explored by following the narrow paths.

Even though a section of the bazaar appeals mostly to tourists, the other section is where the masters of the crafts that are about to fade into oblivion still practice their art today. Saddlers, weavers, a few tailors, coppersmiths, and tinsmiths were all at work. A quilter, who continues the profession of his predecessors, invited us into his workshop. His customers were choosing a quilt pattern from an old notebook and the master would deliver the exclusively hand-stitched quilt in three days. In this age, in which we are used to fabricated products, I was moved seeing masters like him at work. Right as I was thinking, “Should I also order a quilt?”, an aroma wafting in the air literally pulled me out, towards the coffeehouse beside the workshop. You could see the traces of history on the walls of this somberly lit place. I tumbled onto the bench covered with a pillow.

The only thing I needed at that moment was mildly sweetened Turkish coffee brewed on embers! Saying that he always wore a suit to work, coffee-maker Salim has been serving the visitors of this market for the last 35 years. God bless your hand, Brother Salim, many happy returns...

After the bazaar, we went up Alaaddin Street, a popular tourist attraction. A silversmith caught my eye. I perused the products, and some reminded me of Mardin’s filigree work. The young woman who greeted us inside, told us that silversmithing dated back to the 13th century in Beypazarı.

We could not have passed without visiting the Bathhouse Museum down the street. The historical Rüstem Pasha Bathhouse was brought into service in 2010 in order to display the bathhouse culture, which is of great

significance in Turkish history, and the rituals related to it.

We learned that there were three more museums exhibiting the rich folkloric culture of Beypazarı and the traditions dating back to the Ottoman past: the Municipality’s Town History Museum, the

History and Culture Museum, and the Living Museum. All three of them were established in nicely restored mansions. However, we preferred to look at the museums from the outside as we were very hungry. It was time to try dishes of the traditional Beypazarı cuisine! From Alaaddin Street we descended back, down to the market and reached Demirciler Street where the eateries are located. Before the meal, I wanted to do myself a favor by having freshly squeezed carrot juice, full of vitamins. I learned from the stall owner why carrot juice was sold everywhere in Beypazarı. She said, “My girl, do you know that Beypazarı is the greatest carrot producer in Turkey?” Sixty percent of Turkey’s carrot demand is met by Beypazarı. We sat at a table in a traditional restaurant and tried the Beypazarı stew with rice, and the famous vine and cabbage leaf rolls. For dessert, we ordered the local specialty, the 80-layer, walnut-filled baklava. In truth, I am not sure that the baklava was made of 80 layers, but it was truly scrumptious! After lunch, we wanted to visit Suluhan Inn which features classical Ottoman architecture. On the ground floor of the newly restored inn, you can have tea, coffee, food, and find all sorts of souvenirs, and we learned that boarding services will soon be offered on the upper floor as was the case in the past. My husband was urging me on since he wanted to get to the camping in Eğriova Highland before sunset. Before we departed from the center, we bought a kilo of the Beypazarı “kuru” a twice-baked bread which smells blissfully of butter. Not going bad for months, this rusk would keep the Ottoman soldiers full. Nowadays, it fills up the field hands and campers like us.

Forty kilometers from Beypazarı, Eğriova is at an altitude that is almost 1,000 meters higher than the borough’s center. Leaving Karaşar village behind, we arrived at Eğriova Lagoon in about an hour’s time, passing through the

yellow pine forests. The forest warehouse, a few highland houses, the tents and picnic tables at Eğriova Nature Park… These structures aside, you are totally at one with nature. Presenting a relieving cool for those seeking refuge from the scorching heat of Central Anatolia in the summer, the highland was pretty cold but it greeted us in all its beauty. The yellow reeds surrounded the lagoon, as yellow-red oaks and poplars were visible among the dark green pines... The next morning, with the fog that lifted over the water with the rising of the sun, the surroundings assumed a fairy-tale atmosphere! When the enchanting mist dispersed, we gathered our tent. “Kuru” was a substantial food stuff but my mind was set on the prairie restaurants that we had seen in İnözü Valley as we passed through it. Both slopes of the canyon formed by the scouring of İnözü Brook are steep bluffs. We had breakfast just the way I imagined, at one of the gazebos set underneath the walnut trees on the river bank, to the accompaniment of birds’ chirping.

After breakfast, we wanted to see the places where those famous carrots of Beypazarı are grown. For that we headed towards the Kırbaşı area. The barren hills of the steppes we saw along the road did not seem to be very fertile; however, the trucks that were going down the road in the opposite direction, stacked with crates full to the brim were proof that we are on the right track. Just a few kilometers later, we came by vegetable fields that stretched as far as the eye can see on the upper side of the road and the plain of Kirmir Brook running below it! Even though carrots are predominantly grown in Beypazarı, all sorts of other vegetables are also grown here. Fields of light green-colored carrots, lettuce, iceberg and cabbage lettuce, radicchios, dark green spinach, scallions, and leeks form an eye-pleasing contrast. Immersed in these colors, I bid Beypazarı goodbye.