One hundred years after the Battle of Gallipoli, a new Hollywood film starring and directed by Russell Crowe is poised to generate new interest in a region in Turkey where one of the darkest campaigns of the First World War was waged.
The Water Diviner is believed to be the first feature film to shoot scenes inside Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque, which gained its name from its blue tiles.
The film visits some of the key battleground areas as well as some of Turkey's beauty spots while telling a fictional tale that is built around the bloody campaign which lasted nearly a year.
From April 1915 to January 1916, a 70,000 strong Allied army stormed Turkey in an effort to open up a supply route to provide Russia with much-needed supplies.
The campaign, a major Allied failure, was seen as one of the greatest Ottoman victories.
In Turkey, it is widely regarded as a defining moment in the nation's history; a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled.
The Water Diviner, a historical fictional drama based on the book of the same name by Andrew Anastasios and Dr Meaghan Wilson-Anastasios, sees Crowe play the role of an Australian farmer who travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli.
Crowe's character has lost his three sons who fought for the ANZACS in the conflict, and has promised his late wife he will find them. Arriving in Istanbul, he falls in love with the beguiling Turkish hotelier and travels to the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Much of the film was shot on location in Istanbul, in the bustling markets and in the glorious Blue Mosque, and it was reportedly the first time a feature film has been given access to the building.
As well as filming in Istanbul and Gallipoli itself, several scenes from the movie were shot in the ‘ghost-village’ of Kayaköy, which lays partially abandoned as a result of the enforced population exchange between Turkish and Greek citizens in 1923.
Today, Gallipoli and its surrounding areas remain largely unspoilt, due to strict conservation orders on all development. Around it, untouched forests, scrub and farmland and sunflowers flourish.
With the film's anticipated release in the UK, tour operators in Turkey - a popular destination for British holidaymakers - are hoping to see an influx of visitors who are curious to visit the battleground and other key sites.
Turkey specialist, Exclusive Escapes, has introduced a brand new Gallipoli tour to tie-in with the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign and the release of The Water Diviner, in UK cinemas from April 3.
Guests can fly into Istanbul, and be escorted by a private driver and a guide to the key sites including the Anzac sector, Cape Helles, the main British section, and well as a side-trip to the Unesco heritage site at Troy.
Those wishing to extend the trip can also incorporate Ephesus, staying in nearby Alaçati at the boutique Alavya, the town’s newest luxury hotel.
