CH4 - Ottoman Empire by Train with Alice Roberts (2024)

Professor Alice Roberts takes a train ride covering 600 years of the Ottoman Empire. Starting in south east Turkey going to through to Budapest. Her mission is to learn about this vast empire that started with a dream in the 14th century.

Chapter 1: The Whirling Dervishes
Alice starts her journey in Adana, near Syria. She visits a historic mosque and uncovers the origins of Turkish delight. Alice also catches a train across the Taurus Mountains to Konya, to learn about whirling dervishes and the Ottoman leaders' elaborately decorative tombs.

Chapter 2: A Tale of Two Cities
Alice is on the train to Ankara for the second installment of her Ottoman adventure. She visits the tomb of Kemal Ataturk, who saw out the end of the Ottoman Empire. She enters the historic citadel. And she also learns about the exceptional wool from a special breed of goats that made the Ottomans a small fortune. Next, a train to Bursa brings Alice to the tomb of Osman, the empire's founder.

Chapter 3: Ships in the Night
After a week in deepest Turkey, Alice arrives in Istanbul, where east meets west. Here she examines the creative tactics employed by the Ottomans to wrestle the supposedly impregnable city from the Romans and takes a boat ride on the Bosphorus to experience how the city was conquered. She also learns about the prolific architect Sinamand haggles with a rug seller in one of the world's largest bazaars.

Chapter 4: Controlling Europe
Entering the Balkans by sleeper train, Alice makes her way through four countries as she follows in the footsteps of the Ottoman march across Europe. In Bulgaria's capital Sofia, she learns how the empire was controlled from Istanbul and how today the city's landscape is almost entirely Soviet. In Serbia, Alice encounters the shocking Skull Tower, once used as a grim warning for anyone who was thinking of rebelling.

Chapter 5: Choosing the Wrong Side
In the final leg of her expedition, Alice takes a train to Budapest, the westernmost point of the empire, and learns how close the Ottomans came to conquering all of Europe. The western terrain was perfect for the Ottomans, with vast green fields for growing food and keeping cattle, as well as Budapest's ample supply of natural springs. In Timisoara, Romania, Alice undertakes a forensic pursuit after Ottoman remnants.