About 1800 years ago, when Denia was called Dianium and Bodrum (Turkey) was called Halicarnassus, a traveller from the Marina Alta to the Turkish Carian Coast might have travelled by sea. He would have taken passage on any of the many vessels which plied the Roman Empire’s Mediterranean trade routes. The ships would have stayed close to shore because in those days sailors had to see the land to know where they were.
They would have sailed only by day and only in the summer months when the weather was predictable, and it would have taken many months to make the 3000 km journey, hopping along the coasts of what are now Spain, France and Italy, before making a short dash across the Adriatic to Greece, and then skipping from island to island to reach the Turkish shore.
What languages would our traveller have used on his journey ? Probably Greek and Latin. What would he use for money? Probably the gold and silver coins (aureii and denarii) of the Roman Empire, which spanned the countries he traveled through. How would he keep in contact with his family back home? With great difficulty.
These days the cheapest, and probably the quickest way to make the journey is to fly north and follow tourist routes used by northern Europeans shuttling backwards and forwards in search of the sun. We took a busy low-cost flight from Alicante to Gatwick, London. From Gatwick we joined a chartered “Package Tour” flight to Bodrum. These charters usually have seats available for people who are not part of the tour, and the flight is cheap, but they pack you into the plane like sardines… No, worse than sardines, like sardinellas. But after only one stop and 6.5 hours flying time we arrived at our destination.
What languages did we use on our journey? Not Latin! The Roman Empire is long gone and through an accident of history the modern lingua franca is not even a Mediterranean language. It is English. I learned to say “hello” in Turkish (merhabah) and “goodbye” (gule gule) …however “thank you” is a bit complicated (teşekkürler). Many people in tourist areas speak some English, and restaurant menus are mostly in two languages – Turkish and English.
What did we use for money? – plastic credit cards and PIN numbers. We could buy Turkish Lira from ATM machines, but businesses in the tourist areas are very happy to receive the modern European currency, the Euro. Note: some ATM machines have only two language options…You guessed it: Turkish and English.
How did we communicate with our family back home? Very easily. A Spanish mobile phone automatically links up with Turkcell and provides instant contact. Even small towns have broadband Internet Cafes (though beware of the Turkish keyboard. The “L” a looks like a capital “I” ).
Perhaps in 200 AD, our traveller might have seen a drama at the new 6000 seater amphitheatre in Saguntum (Sagunto) before he left, and, upon his arrival, seen another production in the 13.000 seater in Halicarnassus. In 2007 AD we watched the Rugby World Cup finals broadcast from the UK via satellite in an “English Pub” in Bodrum ..…just as we could have done in Xábia.
The histories of Spain and Turkey follow opposite paths, but in a strange symmetry. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Turkey became the centre of the Christian Byzantine Empire. While Spain was ruled by the Islamic Moors, Turkey was ruled by Christian Emperors. When Spain turned to Christianity in the 15th Century, the Islamic Ottoman Empire took control of Turkey.
In Cordoba we have a Christian church in the middle of a magnificent Islamic mosque, in Bodrum we have an Islamic mosque in the middle of the Castle of St Peter. This was built by the Knights of Rhodes, Christian crusaders. The castle even has a Spanish tower. The arms of Antoni de San Marti, a Spanish Castle Commander (1510-12) can be seen over one of the castle’s seven gates.
Like Spain, Turkey is a young democracy. The Republic was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Everywhere there are statues of him mounted on a horse and posters of him smiling benevolently. Huge Turkish flags fly from major vantage points.
Although Turkey is constitutionally a secular state, there are mosques in every town and village and you are woken by the call to prayer at dawn. You do not, however see women wearing religeous head-coverings or burkhas because it is prohibited by law, and European visitors feel comfortable as a result.
Recently Turkey has loosened the controls on foreigners owning property, and many northern Europeans (particularly Germans and English) have bought homes on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. In this respect Turkey is in now competition with Spain. Property is cheaper there and much of the coastline remains wild, unspoilt and beautiful. As far as yachting/sailing holidays go, the Aegean sea is a paradise. Perhaps our seafaring traveller from Dianium, also found it so, and never returned….
by Chris Betterton-Jones
