The Venice of the Middle East: Iraq. Floating Houses and the Story of Treasure in the Marshes Region Ahvar in southern Iraq; Ahvar is the region where communities called Ma’dan and Swamp Arabs live. This region, which is said to date back 5 thousand years, is also known as the “Garden of Paradise”. The region, which is defined as the Venice of the Middle East, is the place referred to by some as the “Garden of Eden” in the Bible. The architectural wonders of the floating houses in the region are called “Mudhif”. However, the region has come to the point of extinction due to the political conflicts. Located at the meeting point of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Marshes Region is the largest in the Middle East. The floating houses, built on a platform without nails, boards and glass, are made of mud and reed. This construction technique, which has been used for thousands of years by the people living in the region, is on the verge of extinction today. The people in the region, which is in danger of extinction due to the drying policy, had to migrate.

📍Benin 17. yüzyılda kölelikten kaçanların su üzerinde kurduğu Ganvie köyü, bugün ülkenin turistler tarafından en çok ziyaret edilen yerlerin başında geliyor. Yaklaşık 30 bin kişinin yaşadığı, Nokoue Gölü üzerindeki köye, ülkenin en büyük şehri Kotonu'dan yaklaşık yarım saat süren sandal yolculuğuyla ulaşılabiliyor. "Afrika'nın Venedik'i" adıyla ünlenen köyde halk, geçiminin önemli kısmını balıkçılıkla sağlıyor. 🎣 Ganvie village, founded by escaped slaves in the 17th century on the water, is one of the most visited places in the country today. Home to approximately 30,000 people, this village on Lake Nokoue can be reached by about a half-hour boat ride from the country's largest city, Cotonou. Known as the "Venice of Africa," the people in the village largely rely on fishing for their livelihood. 🎣 📷 Yanick Folly #benin #veniceofafrica #lakenokoue #ganvie

The Mesopotamian Venice: The Lost Floating Homes of Iraq. More info:

Iconic Venetian canals dry up as Italy prepares for drought The famous canals in Venice, Italy, dry up during the winter due to the absence of rain and snow. Known for its canals, bridges, and water taxis, Venice experiences unusually low tide, making transportation difficult. Traditional gondola rides were also affected. "The phenomenon is not that uncommon," said Ca' Foscari, associate professor of oceanography and atmospheric physics at the University of Venice. (Epa, Reuters)

İtalya kuraklığa hazırlanırken ikonik Venedik kanalları kurudu İtalya'nın Venedik kentindeki ünlü kanallar, kış boyunca yağmur ve kar yağmaması nedeniyle kuruyor. Kanalları, köprüleri ve su taksileriyle tanınan Venedik'te alışılmadık derecede düşük gelgit yaşanıyor ve bu da ulaşımı zorlaştırıyor. Geleneksel gondol sürüşleri de etkilendi. Ca' Foscari Venedik Üniversitesi'nde okyanusografi ve atmosfer fiziği doçent profesörü, "Fenomen o kadar da nadir değil," dedi. (Epa, Reuters) #Venice #Drought #BBCNewsn.

The Ottoman navy invaded the Italian coastal city of Otranto on 28 July 1480. The city was finally captured after a 15 day siege. This set out a huge layer of panic throughout Italy and Europe as Rome was under threat. Emergency vacuation arrangements were even made in Rome for Pope Sixtus IV who called for a crusade to retake Otranto. After several failed attempts the Christians finally managed to take control of Otranto on 1 May 1481. Ottoman Sultan Fatih Mehmed II now fully planned to lead his forces to invade and liberate Italy but he passed away on 3 May 1481 before realizing this expedition. So, a three day celebration was ordered by the Pope who was over the moon that they were now safe from Sultan Mehmed II. The news was proclaimed in Venice : "La Grande Aquila è morta!" ('The Great Eagle is dead!') Due to a succession crisis between his sons Bayezid II and Cem Sultan, reinforcements could not be sent to Italy and so the Ottoman forces eventually retreated back to Istanbul. Sources: 1."The Grand Turk" : John Freely, p. 180, 2009 2.Creating East And West: Renaissance Humanists And the Ottoman Turks. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 158. #ottoman #italy #naples #domimation #mehmet #mehmed #fatih #osmanli #venice #pope #christianity #europe

The mind baffling legacy of Sultan Mehmet II Sultan Mehmet was a Hafiz e Quran at the age of 9, he fluently spoke 7 languages, he became the Sultan of the Ottoman state at 11 years of age & conquered Constantinople at the age of just 21despite 23 prior failed sieges. Sultan Mehmet also sent invading force to Italy which totally terrified European states. Sadly, he passed away before he could personally lead his forces against Italy, and in joy the Pope then announced a three day celebration. Church Bells were rung in Venice thus proclaiming: "La Grande Aquila è Morta" "The Great Eagle is dead" Source: "Grand Turk" by John Freely page 180

𝐎𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟖, 𝟏𝟓𝟑𝟖, 𝐎𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐳𝐚 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 ! In 1537, commanding a large Ottoman fleet, Hizir Hayreddin (Khizar Khayr ud Din) Barbarossa captured a number of Aegean and Ionian islands belonging to Republic of Venice, namely Syros, Aegina, Los, Paros, Tinos, Karpathos, Kasos, and Naxos, thus annexing the Duchy of Naxos to the Ottoman Empire. He then unsuccessfully besieged the Venetian stronghold of Corfu and ravaged Spanish-held Calabrian coast in Southern Italy.[1] Khayr ud Din (literally: "Good for Faith") was a sobriquet given to Hizir for his glorious service to Islam owing to his naval Jihad against infidels. But prior to becoming the Ottoman naval admiral, he was a Berber pirate who was famous for his raids on the merchant ships of European states which he began as a response to Christian pirates. He later paid allegiance to Yavuz Selim 1 the first Ottoman Caliph and became a governor. The contemporary Pope Paul III in February 1538 in assembled a ’’Holy League’’, comprising the Papal States, Hapsburg Spain, the Republic of Genoa, the Republic of Venice, and the Knights of Malta, to confront Ottoman fleet under Kapudan Pasha Hizir Hayreddin Barbarossa (red haired). [2] Barbarossa's fleet that summer numbered 122 galleys and galliots. That of the Holy League comprised of 300 galleys more than double than that of Ottomans and galleons (55 Venetian galleys, 61 Genoese-Papal, 10 sent by the Knights Hospitaller, and 50 by Spanish). Andrea Doria, the Genoese admiral in the service of Emperor Charles V was in overall command. [3] At the end of the battle day, Ottomans came out victorious as they sunk,destroyed or captured 128 ships and had taken about 3,000 prisoners. Ottomans did not lose any ships but suffered 400 dead and 800 wounded. [4] A peace treaty was signed between Venice and the Ottoman Caliphate in October 1540, under which Ottomans took control of the Venetian possessions in the Morea and in Dalmatia and of the formerly Venetian islands in the Aegean, Ionian, and eastern Adriatic Seas. Venice also had to pay a war indemnification of 300,000 ducats of gold to the Ottoman Caliphate. With the victory at Preveza and the subsequent victory in the Battle of Djerba in 1560, the Ottomans succeeded in repulsing the efforts of Venice and Spain, the two principal rival powers in the Mediterranean, to stop their drive for controlling the sea. The Ottoman supremacy in large-scale fleet battles in the Mediterranean Sea remained unchallenged until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Hizir Hayreddin's fame in Istanbul reached to unprecedented heights as he became the favorite Pasha of Ottoman Caliph Kanuni Suleyman 1 who used to personally receive Hizir in Topkapi Palace after naval conquests. Also, Hizir was the only Pasha who was offered a seat to sit in the Imperial Divaan of Caliph Suleyman. This was a indication of how much Suleyman loved and valued Hizir Reis for his services to Islam and the Ottoman state since he had broken the back of the European infidels. A Turkish poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı praised Hizir Hayreddin: "Whence on the sea's horizon comes that roar?Can it be Barbarossa now returning From Tunis or Algiers or from the Isles? Two hundred vessels ride upon the waves, Coming from lands the rising Crescent lights: O blessed ships, from what seas are ye come?" Outside Turkey, or the wider Islamic world, the prolific British historian of naval military history, Edward Keble Chatterton, considered him "the greatest pirate that has ever lived, and one of the cleverest naval tacticians and strategists the Mediterranean ever bore on its waters"; noting that "his death was received by Christian Europe with a sigh of the greatest relief." [5] May Allah pour his Nur on the grave of Hizir Hayreddin Pasha and grant him Jannah. 🤲 Fun fact:It should also be noted that name of Hector Barbossa, a fictional character in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, is a derivative of Hayreddin Barbarossa's. References: [1] Roger Crowley, Empires of the Sea, faber and faber 2008 pp.67-69 [2] Partridge, Loren (14 March 2015). Art of Renaissance Venice, 1400-1600 [3]projectavalon.net [4] Denizcilerin piri: Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa (The master of the sailors: Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha)". [5] E. Keble Chatterton, Pirates and Piracy, Courier Corporation, 2012, pp. 68-69 #Preveze #Preveza #Doria #ottoman #osmanli #Hizir #Barbarossa #Berber #Yavuz #Europe

Captain Barbarossa, was from a family that embraced the religion of Islām and he was the chief admiral of the Ottomans in the 16th century! His full name was Khidr Hayreddīn Paşa and was known as 'Captain Red Beard'. He was chosen to be the governor of Rhodes when captured it in 1522 and then chief admiral when he conquered Tunis in 1531. His popularity grew more and he rose to more prominent positions. He and his forces kept their advance by defeating the Spaniards and his activities brought him to a great battle against leading European countries such as; Malta, Portugal, Papal States, Genoa, Venice, and Spain. Hayreddīn Barbarossa, the great Muslim hero, died in the year 1546, and is today resting in Istanbul. For many years, it became a custom for Turkish ships to pay salute to this fearless and brave sailor’s grave.