Itinerary:

10.00am Arrival and coffee/tea

10.30am Lecture 1 

11.30am-11.45am Comfort Break

11.45am-12.45pm Lecture 2

12.45pm-2.00pm Professionally catered two-course meal

2.00pm-3.00pm Lecture 3

Lecture Descriptions:

Lecture 1: The Greco-Roman Period

There is a profusion of magnificent archaeological sites along the Aegean coast, including Troy, where Alexander the Great celebrated his landfall in Asia in 334 BC. This prehistoric site was famously excavated in the late 19th century by Heinrich Schliemann, who was convinced that here was a historical basis for the legendary Trojan War and Homer's Iliad. Other sites from the Classical period on this coast include Pergamum, where fabulous wealth from Alexander's conquests was spent on beautifying the city; Ephesus, the leading city of Ionia, where there are spectacular and extensive remains, perhaps only second in extent after Pompeii from Roman imperial times; and Halicarnassus, where the local dynast, Mausolus, had a colossal tomb built for himself - which gives us the word 'Mausoleum' for this type of structure.

Lectures 2 and 3: Istanbul

An ideal strategic site for a capital of two consecutive empires, superbly situated on the waters that divide Europe from Asia. Formerly the Greek colony of Byzantium, it was re-founded as Constantinople by the Roman Emperor, Constantine, in 330 AD. It became the hugely busy, prosperous and fascinating city that it is today, Istanbul, full of its 1800 years' history.

As Constantinople, it was the capital of the Eastern Roman / Byzantine Empire for over a thousand years until its capture by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. From this period there remain Justinian's great Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom, Ayia Sophia, and the Church of St Saviour in Chora, the Kariye Cami, each with outstanding mediaeval mosaics, and the Hippodrome. As rulers of the Ottoman Empire, the Sultans inhabited the extraordinary Topkapi Palace for 400 years and built imposing mosques along the city's skyline, including the great complexes of the Sulemaniye and the Blue Mosque of Sultan Ahmet.

Some 20th century history is then touched on: the most obvious moment when British and Turkish interests collided was at Gallipoli, in the First World War, when the chaotic Allied landings were stymied by heroic Turkish defence. Mention will be made of Kemal Ataturk and his extraordinary achievement in creating the modern Turkish state.