ARCHSOC 2020 TOUR TO ANATOLIA, THE BLACK SEA AND GEORGIA REINSTATED
ArchSoc’s international tour to Turkey and Georgia originally set for departure in mid-2020 had to be postponed twice because of Covid-19. It is a pleasure to let you know that the tour has now been reinstated to depart on 11 June 2022, returning to South Africa on 30 June. Twenty ArchSoc members who were booked on the original tour have reconfirmed their participation in this year’s tour. This leaves six tour places available, giving the opportunity to other members to join.
The tour will visit Turkey’s capital Ankara, the ancient Hittite and Phrygian regions in Anatolia; a wildly beautiful section of the largely undiscovered mountainous Turkish Black Sea region; and the Republic of Georgia based on the spectacular Caucasus mountains. The 20-day tour will provide a wonderful mix of archaeology, ancient cultures, historic churches and monasteries, and great scenery.
Arriving in Ankara by train from Istanbul, our tour will take us to the remains of the Medieval Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, the archaeological highlights of the Hittite and Phrygian Kingdoms, superb scenery in the Çoruh Valley and lovely old towns. The Black Sea region is steeped in history, art and culture, and will charm us with churches and monasteries dating to as early as the 4th century. The archaeological sites we will visit in Anatolia include Gordion, the political and cultural capital of the Phrygians; Kalehöyük that hosts four main cultural periods; the Iron Age site of Pteria; Hattuşa where a royal cuneiform archive comprising 30 000 clay tablets was discovered; and the Hittite sanctuary of Yazilikaya and the Şapinuva Hittitite centre. This part of the tour encompasses 4 500 years of history.
After 11 days in Turkey, we will spend the next seven days in scenic Georgia, the former Soviet state of high mountains, famous ancient Eastern Orthodox churches, and a fascinating archaeological and cultural heritage. We will be delighted by medieval mountain villages protected by defensive khoski in the upper Svaneti region; the Vani multi-layered archaeological site dating to the ancient Colchis Kingdom, the palaeontological Dmanisi site where five 1,8-million-year-old hominid skulls with diverse physical traits have been found, the incredible thousands-of-years-old dwellings of Uplistikhe Cave, the Stalin Museum and the capital Tbilisi with its diverse architecture and Old Town cobblestone streets.
BOOKING FORM ITINERARY
The programme enclosed sets out the full itinerary. The tour price is exchange-rate dependent but could be in the region of R80 000 all-inclusive except for lunches. The price will be finalised in the next month.
To secure your place, please return the completed attached booking form together with proof of your R10 000 deposit payment. All participants will need to be fully vaccinated, have had a booster shot and be able to present a negative PCR test. Should you have questions, kindly call or email me.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Reinoud Boers
082 566 6295