Dr Richard Bayliss
After a degree in archaeology Richard lived in Turkey working at the British Institute in Ankara as a resident archaeologist. He has travelled widely around the country over many years, surveying and excavating many celebrated sites, from a church with its mosaics falling into the sea at Sinop, to the hidden rock-cut villages of Cappadocia and the Byzantine palaces, fortifications and aqueducts of Constantinople.
His PhD. focused on the rise of Christianity in the Roman cities of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). After lecturing at Newcastle University, Richard has gone on to work in building design and heritage conservation. An experienced tour leader, he has led a wide range of groups on our tours in Turkey. Noted for his knowledge and enthusiasm we are thrilled to have him as one of our specialist guides.
What previous guests have to say about Richard:
"Richard was fascinating & entertaining. He shared his knowledge of Greek, Roman and Byzantine era's as well as modern Turkey in an interesting and informative way." Graham Blunn
"Over and above the professional excellence, Richard was entertaining, engaging and relaxed - great fun to be with. This was a flawless trip for us - a rare travelling experience. Wonderful scenery, a well judged itinerary and excellent guiding, food and accommodation." Matthew Taylor
"Richard’s brilliant guiding. Richard made this trip so interesting. We are not widely cultured in antiquity and there were much more cultured people in the group but Richard knew how to address us all and keep everyone’s interest up." Beatrice Philpott
"We felt incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from someone so accomplished in his field. Being complete novices, we had no idea that Archaic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman ruins could be so fascinating! This was all down to Richard's interesting and entertaining approach. We had a lot of fun debating historical conundrums with Richard, which only added to our pleasure during the site visits; the debates often continued when we were back onboard the gulet!" John Williams
"an experienced historian and archaeologist who guided us throughout with expertise and charm. I can say that this was one of the most interesting and enjoyable holidays I have experienced. I recommend unreservedly!" David Willoughby de Broke
