Blog : Top 5 facts about Turkey

You probably did not know the real name of Turkey, you must have been confused about which city is the capital, and you probably thought that tulips came from the Netherlands. It turns out you were probably wrong. Turkey has much more than meets the eye - amidst the beaches, and bustling markets are a treasure trove of interesting history filled with a multitude of religious and literary figures, civil war, and languages.

The official name is the Republic of Turkey - The country known as the Republic of Turkey was now part of the Ottoman Empire until the empire was broken after World War I. The republic came with the Turkish War after independence and then in 1923 with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as the first president.

Leonardo da Vinci once designed a bridge - In 1503, Leonardo da Vinci presented plans for a bridge across the Golden Horn - the inlet of the Bosphorus that divides the city of Istanbul then known as Constantinople. The bridge was never built, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo announced years ago that work was underway on a volunteer project to realize Da Vinci plans.

The first-ever Christian church was located in Antioch, Turkey - The Grotto of St. Peter outside Antioch now known as Antyaka is believed to have been built by Simon Peter, a disciple of Jesus. This makes it the oldest place of Christian worship in the world. You can still visit the church and see traces of ancient decorations today.

Holland has Turkey to thank for Tulipomania - Tulip was first cultivated in the Ottoman Empire. The seeds of Holland love for tulips were sown when the Dutch ambassador to the 16th-century Sauliman Manganese of Turkey returned to Amsterdam with a group of tulip bulbs.

Istanbul spans two continents Europe and Asia - A city divided into two by the mighty Bosphorus River, the west coast of Istanbul lies on the European continent while the eastern bank is in Asia. You can walk between the two on the Galata Bridge. Only 3% of Turkey is in Europe, with the majority of the country on the Asian continent.