A SPECIAL PLACE AMONG THE TURKS
Located at the village of Çömlekçiler in Daday, one of the oldest townships of Kastamonu province, the Atli Turizm Merkezi (Center for Horseback Riding Tourism) was born of the Turks’ love of horses. The horse continues to occupy a special place in Turkish culture. In Anatolia, for example, young men go on horseback to ask for a girl’s hand, new brides are paraded around on horseback as a central part of village wedding festivities, and boys about to be circumcised are similarly strutted around as a prelude to this momentous event on the road to manhood. In difficult terrain, the horse is both beast of burden and companion on the journey.
But love of horses is of course not the exclusive province of the Turks, as is evidenced by the fact that the Center for Horseback Riding has hosted horse-lovers from around 50 countries. The center, which quickly made a name for itself thanks to a natural setting perfect for riding, opened 15 years ago when the late Nedim Biyikli,