Project Introduction Document
UMAY — Türkiye'nin Tarihi ve Turistik Yapılar Haritası
What is the Project?
UMAY is a multilingual digital platform that allows you to explore castles, mosques, churches, ancient cities, palaces, and monuments spread across Turkey's 81 provinces on a single interactive map. When a user clicks on a province, they access a list of historical and touristic structures; for each structure, they can instantly access verified Wikipedia sources and Google Maps location data. The project is designed to appeal to both local visitors and foreign tourists visiting Turkey.
Why “Umay”?
Umay is the mother goddess in Turkic mythology who protects children, women, and lands; she is part of the common cultural heritage of Turkic peoples, dating back to the Orkhon Inscriptions. This name symbolizes the main goal of the project: to protect Turkey's thousands of years of cultural and historical heritage and to introduce it to future generations and the world.
Scope and Figures
The platform operates with real, verified historical structure data for the vast majority of Turkey's 81 provinces. Data is compiled from reliable sources such as Wikipedia, official cultural portals, and UNESCO lists. Supported languages: Turkish, English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, and Italian.
Approach
The project was developed with a principle that prioritizes data accuracy over visual appeal. The information and source link provided for each historical structure were individually verified before publication. The site is built with a fast, mobile-compatible, search engine friendly (SEO), and completely static architecture. Thus, there is no performance loss even during high traffic.
Vision
Data for the remaining provinces will continue to be added over time with the same meticulousness. The long-term goal is to become a reliable and continuously growing reference platform that delivers Turkey's cultural and historical heritage to visitors from all over the world.