Izmir is a large
metropolisA metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
in the western extremity of
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
. The metropolitan area in the entire
Izmir Provinceİzmir Province is a province of Turkey in western Anatolia on the Aegean coast, whose capital is the city of İzmir. On the west it is surrounded by the Aegean sea, and it encloses the Gulf of İzmir. Its area is 11,973 km.2, population 3.948.848 . The population was 3,370,866 in 2000...
had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city
third most populous in Turkey. Izmir metropolitan area extends along the outlying waters of the
Gulf of İzmirThe Gulf of İzmir , formerly known as the Gulf of Smyrna, is a gulf on the Aegean Sea, with its inlet between the peninsula of Karaburun and the mainland area of Foça...
and inland to the north across
Gediz River-Name:The ancient name of the river was Hermos or Hermus.The name of the river Gediz may be related to the Lydian proper name Cadys; Gediz is also the name of a town near the river's sources. The name "Gediz" may also be encountered as a male name in Turkey.-Ancient geography:The Hermos separated...
's
deltaA delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
, to the east along an
alluvial plainAn alluvial plain is a relatively flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms...
created by several small streams and to a slightly more rugged terrain in the south. The ancient city was known as
SmyrnaSmyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
, and the city was generally referred to as
Smyrna in English translation until about 1930.
The city of Izmir is composed of several metropolitan districts. Of these, Konak district corresponds to historical Izmir, this district's area having constituted the "Izmir Municipality" area until 1984, Konak until then having been a name for a central neighborhood around
Konak SquareKonak Square is a busy square at the southern end of Atatürk Caddesi in the Konak district of İzmir, Turkey. The square is the busiest part of the city, as Konak is the main place of İzmir.-Buildings in the Square:...
, still the core of the city. With the constitution of the "Greater Izmir Metropolitan Municipality" , the city of Izmir became a compound bringing together initially nine, and since recently eleven
metropolitan districtsA metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
, namely
BalçovaBalçova is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is one of the nine districts in the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, the smallest in terms of area. Balçova is a fully urbanized at the rate of 100,0 per cent and the center has no depending townships with own municipalities or villages...
,
BayraklıBayraklı is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey. It is one of the metropolitan districts of İzmir. Bayraklı was turned into a district by the Cabinet of Turkey in 6 March 2008.- References :...
,
BornovaBornova is a metropolitan district of İzmir in İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the third largest district in İzmir's Greater Metropolitan Area of and is almost fully urbanized at the rate of 98,6 per cent, with corresponding high levels of development in terms of industry and services...
,
BucaBuca is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey. It is one of the main districts of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.Buca was one of the preferred settlement areas of İzmir's community of Levantines...
,
ÇiğliÇiğli is a metropolitan district of the city of İzmir in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area covers the northern end of the boundaries of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. Çiğli district area neighbors that of Karşıyaka, another metropolitan district, to the south and the west, and that of İzmir's...
,
GaziemirGaziemir is a district of İzmir Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is one of the metropolitan districts of Greater İzmir and is situated to the south of central İzmir on the road to İzmir...
,
GüzelbahçeGüzelbahçe is a coastal district of İzmir Province in Turkey. Until 2009 Local Government Elections, Greater İzmir Municipality had 9 district municipalities and Güzelbahçe was one of the smallest district municipality in terms of land area and population...
,
KarabağlarKarabağlar is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey. It is one of the metropolitan districts of İzmir. Karabağlar was turned into a district by Cabinet of Turkey in 6 March 2008.- References :...
,
KarşıyakaKarşıyaka is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, in other words a metropolitan district, the second largest after Konak in terms of population, and it is almost entirely urbanized at the rate of 99,9 per cent, with corresponding high levels...
, Konak and
NarlıdereNarlıdere is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is one of the nine districts in the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, one of the smallest in terms both of population and area, and is fully urbanized at the rate of 100,0 per cent. The district center has no depending township with own...
. Almost each of these settlements are former district centers or neighborhoods which stood on their own and with their own distinct features and temperament. In an ongoing processus, the Mayor of Izmir was also vested with authority over the areas of additional districts reaching from
AliağaAliaga can refer to:* Aliaga, Aragon, Spain* Aliağa, Turkey* the Filipino municipality of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija on Luzon* a family name, as in the case of the Peruvian writer Felipe Pardo y Aliaga...
in the north to
SelçukSelçuk is the central town of Selçuk district, İzmir Province in Turkey, 2 km northeast of Ephesus.Its original Greek name, Agios Theológos referred to John the Theologian. Under the Ottoman Empire, it was known as Ayasoluk...
in the south, bringing the number of districts to be considered as being part of Izmir to twenty-one under the new arrangements, two of these having been administratively included in Izmir only partially.
Main features
İzmir has almost 3,500 years of recorded urban history (see
Timeline of İzmirBelow is a sequence of some of the events that affected the history of the city of İzmir ;İzmir in 19th century European artImages of cosmopolitan 19th century İzmir...
) and possibly even longer as an advanced human settlement. Lying on an advantageous location at the head of a gulf running down in a deep indentation midway on the western Anatolian coast, the city has been one of the principal mercantile cities of the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
for much of its history. Its port is Turkey's primary port for exports in terms of the freight handled and its
free zoneFree Zone may refer to:*A free economic zone or free port, an area with relaxed customs, immigration, visa, and/or taxation jurisdiction with respect to the country of location...
, a Turkish-U.S. joint-venture established in 1990, is the leader among the twenty in Turkey. Its workforce, and particularly its rising class of young professionals, concentrated either in the city or in its immediate vicinity (such as in
ManisaManisa is a large city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province.Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port city and the regional metropolitan center of İzmir and by its fertile hinterland rich in...
and
TurgutluTurgutlu is a very large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2009 census, population of the district is 140,753 of which 115930 live in the city of Turgutlu.The district covers an area of and the city lies at an elevation of...
), and under either larger companies or SMEs, affirm their name in an increasingly wider global scale and intensity. İzmir is widely regarded as one of the most progressive Turkish cities in terms of its values, lifestyle, dynamism and gender roles. Politically, it is considered a stronghold of the
Republican People's PartyThe Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...
.
The city hosts an international arts festival during June and July, and the
İzmir International Fairİzmir International Fair is the oldest tradeshow in Turkey, considered the cradle of Turkey's fairs and expositions industry, and is also notable for hosting a series of simultaneous festival activities. The fair and the festival are held in the compound of İzmir's vast inner city park named...
, one of the city's many fair and exhibition events centered around but not limited to Kültürpark, is held in the beginning of September every year. İzmir is served by national and international flights through the Adnan Menderes International Airport and there is a modern
metro lineİzmir Metro is a subway network in İzmir, Turkey that is constantly being extended with new stations being put in service. The network, consisting of one line, starts from Üçyol station in Hatay in the southern portion of the metropolitan area and runs towards northeast to end in Bornova...
running from the southwest to the northeast. İzmir hosted the
Mediterranean GamesThe Mediterranean Games are a multi-sport games held every four years, mainly for nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea, where Europe, Africa and Asia meet. The idea was proposed at the 1948 Summer Olympics by Muhammed Taher Pasha, chairman of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, and they were first...
in 1971 and the World University Games (
UniversiadeThe Universiade is an International multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation . The name is a combination of the words "University" and "olympiad"...
) in 2005. It had a running bid submitted to the BIE to host the Universal Expo
2015Expo 2015 is the next scheduled Universal Exposition after Expo 2010, and will be hosted by Milan, Italy. On November 23, 2010, the event was officially announced by the Bureau of International Expositions, after that the BIE assembly in Paris had decided in favour of the Milanese candidature on...
, in March, 2008, that was lost to
MilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. Modern İzmir also incorporates the nearby ancient cities of
EphesusEphesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
,
PergamonPergamon , or Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC...
,
SardisSardis or Sardes was an ancient city at the location of modern Sart in Turkey's Manisa Province...
and Klazomenai, and centers of international tourism such as
KuşadasıKuşadası is a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast and the center of the seaside district of the same name in Aydın Province. Kuşadası lies at a distance of to the south from the region's largest metropolitan center of İzmir, and from the provincial seat of Aydın situated inland. Its primary...
,
ÇeşmeÇeşme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula...
,
MordoğanMordoğan is a sea-side township with own municipality in Karaburun district in Turkey's İzmir Province. The town is situated on the eastern shoreline of Karaburun Peninsula within the Gulf of İzmir at about twenty kilometers to the south of the district center of Karaburun...
and
FoçaFoça is town and district in Turkey's İzmir Province.The town of Foça is situated at about north by northwest of İzmir city center. The district also has a township with own municipality named Yenifoça , also along the shore and at a distance of from Foça proper...
.
Despite its heritage, İzmir has suffered until recently, as one author puts it, from "sketchy understanding" in the eyes of outsiders. When the
OttomansThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
took over İzmir in the 15th century, they did not inherit compelling historical memories, unlike the two other keys of the trade network, namely Istanbul and
AleppoAleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
. Its emergence as a major international port as of the 17th century was largely a result of the attraction it exercised over foreigners, and the city's European orientation. Very different people found İzmir attractive over the ages and the city has always been governed by fresh inspirations which stemmed from the location of its center and the readiness of its citizens to adopt novelties and new projects.
Names and etymology
The modern name "İzmir" probably derives from the former Greek name "Smyrna", through the first two syllables of the phrase "εις Σμύρνην" , which means "to Smyrna" in Greek. A similar etymology also applies for other Turkish cities with former Greek names, such as
İznikİznik is a city in Turkey which is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea, the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Church, the Nicene Creed, and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea...
(from the phrase "is Nikaean", meaning "to Nicaea"),
IstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
(from the phrase "is tan Polin" or "to the City") or even for the Greek island of
KosKos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...
, called "İstanköy" in Turkish.
In ancient Anatolia, the name of a locality called Ti-smurna is mentioned in some of the Level II tablets from the
AssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n colony in
KültepeKültepe is a modern village near the ancient city of Kaneš or Kanesh , located in the Kayseri Province of Turkey's Central Anatolia Region...
(first half of the 2nd millennium BC), with the prefix
ti- identifying a proper name, although it is not established with certainty that this name refers to modern day İzmir.
The region of İzmir was situated on the southern fringes of the "Yortan culture" in Anatolia's prehistory, the knowledge of which is almost entirely drawn from its cemeteries, and in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, in the western end of the extension of the yet largely obscure
ArzawaArzawa in the second half of the second millennium BC was the name of a region and a political entity in Western Anatolia, the core area of which was centered on the Hermos and Maeander river valleys, corresponding with the Late Bronze Age kingdoms of the...
Kingdom, an offshoot and usually a dependency of the
HittitesThe Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
, who themselves spread their direct rule as far as the coast during their Great Kingdom. That the realm of the 13th century BC local Luwian ruler who is depicted in
KemalpaşaKemalpaşa is a large town and the center of the district of the same name in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its district area extends immediately to the east of İzmir's eastern-most metropolitan district, Bornova, and Kemalpaşa town being at a distance of only from the historical and traditional center...
Karabel rock carving at a distance of only 50 km (31 mi) from İzmir was called the
Kingdom of Myra may also leave ground for association with the city's name.
The newest rendering in
GreekGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
of the city's name we know is the
Aeolic GreekAeolic Greek is a linguistic term used to describe a set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia , Thessaly, and in the Aegean island of Lesbos and the Greek colonies of Asia Minor ....
Mýrrha, corresponding to the later
IonianIonic Greek was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek .-History:Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century...
and
AtticAttic Greek is the prestige dialect of Ancient Greek that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek, and is the standard form of the language studied in courses of "Ancient Greek". It is sometimes included in Ionic.- Origin and range...
Σμύρνα (
Smýrna) or Σμύρνη (
Smýrnē), both presumably descendants of a
Proto-GreekThe Proto-Greek language is the assumed last common ancestor of all known varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean, the classical Greek dialects , and ultimately Koine, Byzantine and modern Greek...
form
*Smúrnā. Some would see in the city's name a reference to the name of an
AmazonThe Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
called Smyrna who would have seduced
TheseusFor other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
, leading him to name the city in her honor. Others link the name to the
Myrrha commifera shrub, a plant that produces the aromatic resin called
myrrhMyrrh is the aromatic oleoresin of a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora, which grow in dry, stony soil. An oleoresin is a natural blend of an essential oil and a resin. Myrrh resin is a natural gum....
and is indigenous to the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and northeastern
AfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. The
RomansThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
took this name over as
Smyrna which is the name that is still used in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
when referring to the city in pre-Turkish periods.
As shown above, the name İzmir (
Ottoman TurkishThe Ottoman Turkish language or Ottoman language is the variety of the Turkish language that was used for administrative and literary purposes in the Ottoman Empire. It borrows extensively from Arabic and Persian, and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
: إزمير
İzmir) is the modern
TurkishTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
version of the name Smyrna/ Smyrni. In
GreekGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
it is Σμύρνη (
Smýrni), Իզմիր (
Izmir) in
ArmenianThe Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
,
Smirne in
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
,
Esmirna in
SpanishSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
,
Smyrne in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and
Izmir (without the
Turkish dotted İThe Turkish alphabet, which is a variant of the Latin alphabet, includes two distinct versions of the letter I, one dotted and the other dotless. The difference between the two versions is modelled after the letters Ö and Ü, which were taken from German. These two letters represent front-vowel...
) in Ladino.
In English, the city was called Smyrna until the Turkish Postal Service Law of 28 March 1930, upon which the name Izmir (sometimes İzmir) was also adopted in English and most foreign languages.
Ancient age
The city is one of the oldest settlements of the
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
basin. The
2004The year 2004 in archaeology included many events, some of which are listed below.-Finds:* Salcombe B underwater archaeological site identified from Bronze age finds discovered on the Salcombe Cannon Wreck site....
discovery of
Yeşilova HöyükYeşilova Höyük is a höyük in Bornova, Turkey, and is the first known settlement in prehistory in the area of İzmir. It was occupied continuously from roughly 6500 to 4000 BCE, and was covered with silt afterwards....
and the neighboring Yassıtepe, situated in the small delta of
Meles RiverThe Meleş River is a tributary of the Someşul Mare River in Romania.-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti* Institutul de Meteorologie şi Hidrologie - Rîurile României - Bucureşti 1971...
, now the plain of
BornovaBornova is a metropolitan district of İzmir in İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the third largest district in İzmir's Greater Metropolitan Area of and is almost fully urbanized at the rate of 98,6 per cent, with corresponding high levels of development in terms of industry and services...
, reset the starting date of the city's past further back than was previously thought. The findings of the two seasons of excavations carried out in the
Yeşilova HöyükYeşilova Höyük is a höyük in Bornova, Turkey, and is the first known settlement in prehistory in the area of İzmir. It was occupied continuously from roughly 6500 to 4000 BCE, and was covered with silt afterwards....
by a team of archaeologists from İzmir's
Ege UniversityEge University is a public university in İzmir, Turkey. It was founded in 1955 with the Faculties of Medicine and Faculty of Agriculture...
indicate three levels, two of which are prehistoric. Level 2 bears traces of early to mid-Chalcolithic, and Level 3 of
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
settlements. These two levels would have been inhabited by the
indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
of İzmir, very roughly, between 7th millennium BC to 4th millennium BC. With the seashore drawing away in time, the site was later used as a cemetery. Several graves containing artifacts dating, roughly, from 3000 BC, contemporary with the first city of
TroyTroy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
, were found.
By 1500 BC, the region fell under the influence of the
Central Anatolian Hittite EmpireThe Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
who mentioned several localities near İzmir in their records. The first settlement to have commanded the
Gulf of İzmirThe Gulf of İzmir , formerly known as the Gulf of Smyrna, is a gulf on the Aegean Sea, with its inlet between the peninsula of Karaburun and the mainland area of Foça...
as a whole is recorded, in a semi-legendary manner, to have been founded on top of Mount
YamanlarMount Yamanlar is a mountain in İzmir, Turkey, located within the boundaries of the Greater Metropolitan Area of the city.Easily accessible from Izmir, Yamanlar is a popular excursion spot for the inhabitants of the city. It is served by a steep, well maintained road. A village of the same name as...
, to the northeast of the inner gulf. In connection with the silt brought by the streams which join the sea along the coastline, the settlement to form later the core of "Old Smyrna" was founded on the slopes of the same mountain, on a hill (
then a small peninsula connected to the mainland by a small isthmusAn isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
) in the present-day quarter of
BayraklıBayraklı is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey. It is one of the metropolitan districts of İzmir. Bayraklı was turned into a district by the Cabinet of Turkey in 6 March 2008.- References :...
. The Bayraklı settlement is thought to have stretched back in time as far as the 3rd millennium BC. It rose up to become one of the most advanced cultures in early
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
n history and was on a par with
TroyTroy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
. The presence of a vineyard of İzmir's Wine and Beer Factory on this hill, also called Tepekule, prevented the urbanization of the site and facilitated the excavations that started in the 1960s by
Ekrem AkurgalEkrem Akurgal was a Turkish archaeologist. During a career that spanned more than fifty years, he conducted definitive research in several sites along the western coast of Anatolia such as Phokaia , Pitane , Erythrai and old Smyrna Ekrem Akurgal (March 30, 1911 – November 1, 2002) was a ...
.
However, in the 13th century BC, invasions from the
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
(the so-called sea people) destroyed Troy VII and Central and Western Anatolia as a whole fell into what is generally called the period of "Anatolian" and "Greek " Dark Ages of the
Bronze Age collapseThe Bronze Age collapse is a transition in southwestern Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age that some historians believe was violent, sudden and culturally disruptive...
.
Homer
HomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, referred to as
Melesigenes which means "Child of the Meles Brook" is said to have been born in Smyrna. Combined with written evidence, it is generally admitted that
SmyrnaSmyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
and
ChiosChios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
put forth the strongest arguments in claiming Homer and the main belief is that he was born in
IoniaIonia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
. A
River MelesThe river Meles is a stream charged with history and famous in literature, especially by virtue of being associated in a common and consistent tradition with Homer's birth and works, and which flowed by the ancient city of Smyrna, and a namesake of which flows through the present-day metropolitan...
, still carrying the same name, is located within the city of İzmir, although association with the Homeric river is subject to controversy.
Old Smyrna
At the dawn of İzmir's recorded historical era, Pausanias describes "evident tokens" such as "a port called after the name of
TantalusTantalus was the ruler of an ancient western Anatolian city called either after his name, as "Tantalís", "the city of Tantalus", or as "Sipylus", in reference to Mount Sipylus, at the foot of which his city was located and whose ruins were reported to be still visible in the beginning of the...
and a sepulchre of him by no means obscure", corresponding to İzmir Gulf area and which have been tentatively located to date. The term "Old Smyrna" is used to describe the
Archaic PeriodThe Archaic period in Greece was a period of ancient Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages. This period saw the rise of the polis and the founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre in the form of tragedies performed during Dionysia, and written...
city located at Tepekule, Bayraklı, to make a distinction with Smyrna re-built later on the slopes of Pagos (present-day
KadifekaleKadifekale is the name of the hill located within the urban zone of İzmir, Turkey, as well as being the name of the ancient castle on top of the same hill....
). The Greek settlement in Old Smyrna is attested by the presence of pottery dating from about 1000 BC onwards and the most ancient ruins preserved to our day date back to 725–700 BC.
HerodotusHerodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
says that the city was founded by
AeoliansThe Aeolians were one of the four major ancient Greek tribes comprising Ancient Greeks. Their name derives from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolic branch and son of Hellen, the mythical patriarch of the Greek nation...
and later seized by
IoniansThe Ionians were one of the four major tribes into which the Classical Greeks considered the population of Hellenes to have been divided...
. The oldest house discovered in Bayraklı is dated to 925 and 900 BC. The walls of this well-preserved house (2.45 by), consisting of one small room typical of the
Iron AgeThe Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, were made of sun-dried
brickA brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s and the roof of the house was made of
reedsPhragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...
. The oldest model of a multiple-roomed type house of this period was found in Old Smyrna. Known to be the oldest house having so many rooms under its roof, it was built in the second half of the 7th century BC. The house has two floors and five rooms with a courtyard. Around that time, people started to protect the city with thick
rampartA defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
s made of sun-dried bricks. Smyrna was built on the Hippodamian system in which streets run north-south and east-west and intersect at right angles, in a pattern familiar in the
Near EastThe Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
but the earliest example in a western city. The houses all faced to the south. The most ancient paved streets of the Ionian civilization have also been discovered in ancient Smyrna.
From then on, Smyrna achieved an identity of
city-stateA city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
. About 1,000 lived inside the city walls, with others living in near-by villages, where fields,
oliveThe olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
trees,
vineyardA vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s, and the workshops of potters and stonecutters were located. People generally made their living through
agricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and
fishingFishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. The most important
sanctuaryA sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
of Old Smyrna was the Temple of
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, which dates back to 640–580 BC and is partially restored today. Smyrna, by this point, was no longer a small town, but an urban center that took part in the
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
trade. The city eventually became one of the twelve Ionian cities and set out on its way to become a foremost cultural and commercial center of that period in the Mediterranean basin, reaching its peak between 650–545 BC.
Lydians
The city's portuary position near their capital attracted the
LydiansThe Lydians were the inhabitants of Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian group....
to Smyrna. The army of
LydiaLydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
's Mermnad dynasty conquered the city some time around 610–600 BC and is reported to have burned and destroyed parts of the city, although recent analyses on the remains in Bayraklı demonstrate that the temple has been in continuous use or was very quickly repaired under Lydian rule.
Persians
Soon afterwards, an invasion from outside Anatolia, that of the Persian Empire, effectively ended Old Smyrna's history as an urban center of note. The Persian Emperor
Cyrus the GreatCyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
attacked the coastal cities of the
AegeanThe Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
after having conquered
the capital of LydiaSardis or Sardes was an ancient city at the location of modern Sart in Turkey's Manisa Province...
. As a result, Old Smyrna was destroyed in 545 BC.
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great re-founded the city at a new location beyond the
Meles RiverThe Meleş River is a tributary of the Someşul Mare River in Romania.-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti* Institutul de Meteorologie şi Hidrologie - Rîurile României - Bucureşti 1971...
around 340 BC. Alexander had defeated the Persians in several battles and finally the Emperor Darius III himself at
IssusIssus may refer to:* Issus , an ancient settlement in the modern Turkish province of Hatay** Battle of Issus, in 333 BC, in which Alexander the Great defeated Darius III* Issus , a river near the town and battle site...
in 333 BC. Old Smyrna on a small hill by the sea was sufficient only for a few thousand people. Therefore, the slopes of Mount Pagos (
KadifekaleKadifekale is the name of the hill located within the urban zone of İzmir, Turkey, as well as being the name of the ancient castle on top of the same hill....
) was chosen for the foundation of the new city, for which Alexander is credited, and this act lay the ground for a resurgence in the city's population.
Romans
In 133 BC, when Eumenes III, the last king of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum, was about to die without an heir, he
bequeathedA bequest is the act of giving property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal property, and "devise" of real property. In legal terminology, "bequeath" is a verb form meaning "to make a bequest."...
his kingdom to the
Roman RepublicThe Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
in his
willA will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
, and this included Smyrna. The city thus came under Roman rule as a civil
dioceseA diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
within the Province of Asia and enjoyed a new period of prosperity. Near the close of the 1st century AD, when Smyrna appeared as one of the
seven churches of AsiaThe Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and The Seven Churches of Asia , are seven major churches of Early Christianity, as mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation and written to by Ignatius of Antioch...
addressed in the
Book of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
, Smyrna had a Christian congregation undergoing persecution from the city's
JewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
(Revelation 2:9). In contrast to several of the other churches,
Apostle JohnJohn the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
had nothing negative to say about this church. He did, however, predict that the persecution will continue and urged them, "Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). The persecution of Christians continued into the 2nd century, as documented by the martyrdom of
PolycarpSaint Polycarp was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him...
, bishop of Smyrna, in 155 AD.
Due to the importance that the city achieved, the
Roman emperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
s who came to
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
also visited Smyrna. In early 124, Emperor
HadrianHadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
visited Smyrna as part of his journeys across the Empire and possibly
CaracallaCaracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211...
in 214–215. It was a fine city with streets paved with stones.
In 178 AD, the city was devastated by an
earthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
. Considered to be one of the most severe disasters that the city has faced in its history, the earthquake razed the town to the ground. The destruction was so great that the support of the Empire for rebuilding was necessary. Emperor
Marcus Aurelius contributed greatly to the rebuilding activities and the city was re-founded again. The state
agoraThe Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...
was restored during this period. Much of the works of architecture pertaining to the pre-Turkish period of the city and that reached our day date from this period.
After the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
's division into two distinct entities, Smyrna became a territory of the Eastern Roman Empire. It preserved its status as a notable religious center in the early times of the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. However, the city did decrease in size greatly during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Age, never returning to the Roman levels of prosperity.
Smyrna becomes İzmir
Tzachas and the Seljuk Turks
The
TurksThe Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
first captured Smyrna under the Seljuk commander Tzachas in 1076, along with Klazomenai,
FoçaFoça is town and district in Turkey's İzmir Province.The town of Foça is situated at about north by northwest of İzmir city center. The district also has a township with own municipality named Yenifoça , also along the shore and at a distance of from Foça proper...
and a number of the
Aegean IslandsThe Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...
. Tzachas used İzmir as a base for his naval operations. After his death in 1102, the city and the neighboring region was recaptured by the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. The port city was then captured by the Knights of Rhodes when
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
was conquered by the Crusaders during the
Fourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
in 1204, but the Nicaean Empire would reclaim possession of the city soon afterwards, albeit by according vast concessions to their
GenoeseThe Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
allies who kept one of the city's castles.
The sons of Aydın
Smyrna was captured again by the Turks in the early 14th century. Umur Bey, the son of the founder of the
Beylikthumb|350px|Anatolian Turkish Beyliks map.Anatolian beyliks, Turkish beyliks or Turkmen beyliks were small Turkish Muslim emirates or principalities governed by Beys, which were founded across Anatolia at the end of the 11th century in a first period, and more extensively during the decline of the...
of Aydin, took first the upper fort of Mount Pagos (thereafter called
KadifekaleKadifekale is the name of the hill located within the urban zone of İzmir, Turkey, as well as being the name of the ancient castle on top of the same hill....
), and then the lower port castle of Neon Kastron (called St. Peter by the Genoese and as "Ok Kalesi" by the Turks). As Tzachas had done two centuries before, Umur Bey used the city as a base for naval raids. In 1344, a coalition of forces coordinated by
Pope Clement VIPope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352...
took back the lower castle in a surprise attack. A sixty-year period of uneasy cohabitation between the two powers, the Turks holding the upper castle and the Knights the lower, followed Umur Bey's death.
Ottoman Empire
The upper city of İzmir was captured from its Aydinid rulers by the
OttomansThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
for the first time in 1389 during the reign of
Bayezid IBayezid I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1389 to 1402. He was the son of Murad I and Valide Sultan Gülçiçek Hatun.-Biography:Bayezid was born in Edirne and spent his youth in Bursa, where he received a high-level education...
, who led his armies toward the five Western Anatolian Beyliks in the winter of the same year he had ascended to the throne. The Ottoman take-over took place virtually without conflict. However, in 1402,
TimurTimur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
(Tamerlane) won the
Battle of AnkaraThe Battle of Ankara or Battle of Angora, fought on July 20, 1402, took place at the field of Çubuk between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the Turko-Mongol forces of Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to a period of crisis for...
against the
OttomansThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, putting a serious check on the Ottoman state for the two following decades and handing back the territories of most of the Beyliks to their former ruling dynasties. He came in person to İzmir and definitely took back the port castle from the Genoese, giving it to Aydinids briefly reinstated.
In 1415, Mehmet I re-captured İzmir for the Ottomans for the second time and with the death of the last bey of Aydın, İzmiroğlu Cüneyd Bey, in 1426 the city definitely passed under Ottoman control. İzmir's first Ottoman governor was a converted son of the
BulgarianThe Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
ShishmanShishman , also Shishmanids or Shishmanovtsi , was a medieval Bulgarian royal dynasty of partial Cuman origin.The Shishman dynasty consecutively ruled the Second Bulgarian Empire for approximately one century, from 1323 to 1422, when it was conquered by the Ottomans...
dynasty. During the campaigns against Cüneyd, the Ottomans were assisted by the forces of the
Knights HospitallerThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
who pressed the Sultan for the return to them of the port castle. However, the sultan refused to make this concession, despite the resulting tensions between the two camps, and he gave the Hospitallers the permission to build a castle (the present-day
Bodrum CastleBodrum Castle , located in southwest Turkey in the city of Bodrum , was built by the Knights Hospitaller starting in 1402 as the Castle of St. Peter or Petronium.-History:...
) in Petronium (
BodrumBodrum is a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova. The site was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the...
) instead.
In a land-bound arrangement somewhat against its nature, the city and its present-day dependencies became an Ottoman
sanjakSanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
(
sub-province) either inside the larger vilayet (
province) of Aydın part of the
eyaletEyalets were a former primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The term is sometimes translated province or government. Depending on the rank of their commander, they are also sometimes known as pashaliks, beylerbeyliks, and kapudanliks.From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth...
of
AnatoliaThe Eyalet of Anatolia was one of the two core provinces in the early years of the Ottoman Empire. It was established in 1393. Consisting of western Anatolia, its capital was Kütahya...
with its capital in
KütahyaKütahya is a city in western Turkey with 212,444 inhabitants , lying on the Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Kütahya Province, inhabited by some 517 804 people...
or in "Cezayir" (i.e.
"Islands" in reference to "the
Aegean IslandsThe Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...
". Two notable events for the city during the rest of the 15th century were a
VenetianVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
surprise raid in 1475 and the arrival of the Sephardic Jews from
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
after 1492, who later made İzmir one of their principal urban centers in Ottoman lands. İzmir could have been a rather deserted place in the 15th and 16th centuries, as indicated by the first extant Ottoman records describing the town and dating from 1528. In 1530, 304 adult males, both tax-paying and tax-exempt were on record, 42 of them Christians. There were five urban wards, one of these situated in the immediate vicinity of the port, rather act,ve despite the town's small size and where the non-Muslim population was concentrated. By 1576, İzmir had grown to house 492 taxpayers in eight urban wards and had a number of depending villages. This corresponded to a total population estimated between 3500–5000.
International port city
İzmir's remarkable growth began starting late 16th century when cotton and other products of the region attracted French, English, Dutch and Venetian traders here. With the privileged trading conditions accorded to foreigners in 1620 (the infamous
capitulationsCapitulations of the Ottoman Empire were contracts between the Ottoman Empire and European powers, particularly France. Turkish capitulations, or ahdnames, were generally bilateral acts whereby definite arrangements were entered into by each contracting party towards the other, not mere...
that were later to cause a serious threat and setback for the Ottoman state in its decline), İzmir set out on its way to become one of the foremost trade centers of the Empire. Foreign consulates moved in from Sakız (
ChiosChios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
) and were present in the city by the early 17th century (1619 for the
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Consulate, 1621 for the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), serving as trade centers for their nations. Each consulate had its own quay and the ships under their flag would anchor there. The long campaign for the conquest of
CreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
(22 years between 1648–1669) also considerably enhanced İzmir's position within the Ottoman realm since the city served as a port of dispatch and supply for the troops.
The city faced a plague in 1676, an earthquake in 1688 and a
great fire in 1743, but continued to grow. By the end of the 17th century, its population was estimated at around ninety thousand, the Turks forming the majority (about 60,000), while there were also 15,000 Greeks, 8,000 Armenians and 6 to 7,000 Jews, as well as a considerable segment composed of
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
,
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
,
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
merchants. In the meantime, the Ottomans had allowed İzmir's inner bay dominated by the port castle to silt up progressively (the location of the present-day
KemeraltıKemeraltı is a historical market district of İzmir, Turkey. It was originally formed around the street surrounding the shallow inner bay of the city, which was filled in due course during the 17th century, availing the bazaar to be extended to a wider area...
bazaarA bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
zone) and the port castle ceased to be of use.
The first started and the first finished railway lines within the present-day territory of Turkey took their departure from İzmir. 130 km (81 mi) İzmir-
AydınAydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
railway was started in 1856 and finished in 1867 a year later than Smyrna Cassaba Railway, itself started in 1863. That the latter drew wide arc advancing first to the north-west from İzmir, through its
KarşıyakaKarşıyaka is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, in other words a metropolitan district, the second largest after Konak in terms of population, and it is almost entirely urbanized at the rate of 99,9 per cent, with corresponding high levels...
suburb contributed to the development of the northern shores as urban areas greatly. Such new developments typical of the
Industrial AgeIndustrial Age may refer to:*Industrialisation*The Industrial Revolution...
and the attraction the city exercised for merchants and middlemen gradually changed the demographic structure of the city, its culture and its Ottoman character. In 1867, İzmir finally and definitely became the center of its own vilayet, still under its neighbor Aydın's name but with its administrative area covering a large part of Turkey's present-day
Aegean RegionAegean Region , is one of the 7 census-defined regions of Turkey, and in Western Asia.It is located in the west part of the country: bounded by Aegean Sea on the west; Marmara Region on the north;...
.
In the late 19th century, the port was threatened by a build-up of silt in the gulf and an initiative, unique in the history of the Ottoman Empire, was undertaken in 1886 to move
Gediz River-Name:The ancient name of the river was Hermos or Hermus.The name of the river Gediz may be related to the Lydian proper name Cadys; Gediz is also the name of a town near the river's sources. The name "Gediz" may also be encountered as a male name in Turkey.-Ancient geography:The Hermos separated...
's bed to its present-day northern course, instead of letting it flow into the gulf, in order to redirect the silt. The beginning of the 20th century saw the city under the genuine and cosmopolitan looks of a metropolitan center with a global fame and reach.
Following the defeat of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the victors had, for a time, intended to carve up large parts of
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
under respective zones of influence and offered the western regions of
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
to
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
with the
Treaty of SèvresThe Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...
. On 15 May 1919 the Greek Army
occupied İzmirThe Occupation of Smyrna occurred from 15 May 1919 to 8 September 1922 by Greek forces under the High Commissioner Aristidis Stergiadis in the Smyrna district, aligned with the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. There were no military hostilities between Greece and the Ottoman Empire...
, but the Greek expedition towards central
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
turned into a disaster for both that country and for the local Greeks of
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
.
The
Turkish ArmyThe Turkish Army or Turkish Land Forces is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The modern history of the army began with its formation after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire...
retook possession of İzmir on 9 September 1922, effectively ending the
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...
in the field. Part of the Greek population of the city was forced to seek refuge in the nearby Greek islands together with the departing Greek troops, while the rest left in the frame of the ensuing 1923 agreement for the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, which was a part of the Lausanne Treaty.
The war, and especially its events specific to İzmir, like the
fire that broke out on 13 September 1922The Great Fire of Smyrna or the Catastrophe of Smyrna was a fire that destroyed much of the port city of Izmir in September 1922. Eye-witness reports state that the fire began on 13 September 1922 and lasted until it was largely extinguished on September 22...
, one of the greatest disasters İzmir has ever experienced, continues to influence the psyches of the two nations to this day. The Turks have claimed that the occupation was marked from its very first day by the "first bullet" fired on Greek detachments by the journalist
Hasan TahsinHasan Tahsin Receb was an Ottoman Turk.A member of the Ottoman special Organization, he unsuccessfully tried to assassinate the Buxton Brothers: Noel Noel-Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton and Charles Roden Buxton in Romania during World War I.He was the first to open fire on the Greek soldiers that...
and the killing by bayonet coups of Colonel Fethi Bey and his unarmed soldiers in the historic casern of the city (
Sarı Kışla — the Yellow Casern), for refusing to shout
"Zito o VenizelosEleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
" (
Long Live Venizelos). The Greeks, on the other hand, have accused the Turks of committing many atrocities against the Greek and Armenian communities in İzmir, including the lynching of the Orthodox Metropolitan
ChrysostomosChrysostomos Kalafatis , known as Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna, Chrysostomos of Smyrna and Metropolitan Chrysostom, was the Greek Orthodox bishop of Smyrna between 1910 and 1914, and again from 1919 to his death in 1922...
following their recapture of the city on 9 September 1922 and the slaughter of Armenian and Greek Christians. A Turkish source on İzmir's oral history concedes that in 1922, "hat-wearers were thrown into the sea, just like, back in 1919, fez-wearers were thrown." The lack of comprehensive and reliable sources from the period, combined with nationalist feelings running high on both sides, and mutual distrust between the conflicting parties, has led to each side accusing each other for decades of committing atrocities during the period. The city was, once again, gradually rebuilt after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923.
Population
| Population of İzmir |
| Year |
Population |
| 2010 |
3,354,934 |
| 2009 |
2,727,968 |
| 2007 |
2,606,294 |
| 2000 |
2,232,265 |
| 1990 |
1,758,780 |
| 1985 |
1,489,817 |
| 1970 |
554,000 |
| 1965 |
442,000 |
| 1960 |
371,000 |
| 1955 |
286,000 |
| 1950 |
231,000 |
| 1945 |
200,000 |
| 1940 |
184,000 |
| 1935 |
171,000 |
| 1927 |
154,000 |
| 1918 |
300,000 |
| 1890 |
200,000 |
| 1660 |
60,000–70,000 |
| 1640 |
35,000–40,000 |
| 1595 |
2,000 |
The period after the 1960s and the 1970s saw another blow to İzmir's tissue – as serious as the
1922 fireThe Great Fire of Smyrna or the Catastrophe of Smyrna was a fire that destroyed much of the port city of Izmir in September 1922. Eye-witness reports state that the fire began on 13 September 1922 and lasted until it was largely extinguished on September 22...
for many inhabitants – when local administrations tended to neglect İzmir's traditional values and landmarks. Some administrators were not always in tune with the central government in
AnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
and regularly fell short of subsidies, and the city absorbed huge immigration waves from
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
n inland causing a
population explosionOverpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
. Today it is not surprising to see many inhabitants of İzmir (in line with natives of a number of other prominent Turkish cities) look back to a cozier and more manageable city, which came to an end in the last few decades, with nostalgia. The Floor Ownership Law of 1965 (
Kat Mülkiyeti Kanunu), allowing and encouraging arrangements between house or land proprietors and building contractors in which each would share the benefits in rent of 8-floor apartment blocks built in the place of the former single house, proved especially disastrous for the urban landscape.
Modern İzmir grows in several directions at the same time. The north-western corridor extending until
AliağaAliaga can refer to:* Aliaga, Aragon, Spain* Aliağa, Turkey* the Filipino municipality of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija on Luzon* a family name, as in the case of the Peruvian writer Felipe Pardo y Aliaga...
brings together both mass housing projects, including villa-type projects and intensive industrial areaa, including an
oil refineryAn oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
. The southern corridor towards
GaziemirGaziemir is a district of İzmir Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is one of the metropolitan districts of Greater İzmir and is situated to the south of central İzmir on the road to İzmir...
is where yet another important growth trend is observed, contributed by the Aegean Free Zone, light industry, the airport and mass housing projects. The presence of Tahtalı Dam built to provide potable water and its protected zone did not check the urban spread here, which has offshoots in cooperatives outside the metropolitan area as far south as the Ayrancılar –
TorbalıTorbalı is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey.An ancient Ionian city, famous for its wines and religious sites, it has three sancuaries in marble dedicated to the Roman Emperor Augustus and his foster child Germanicus, in an ancient theatre which dominates the valley. Pieces of art found during...
axis. To the east and the north-east, urban development ends near the natural barriers constituted respectively by Belkahve (
Mount NifFor other uses of the same name. see NifMount Nif is a mountain in the district of Kemalpaşa, towering over the district center , located immediately to the east of the city of İzmir, in western Turkey...
) and Sabuncubeli (Mount Yamanlar-
Mount SipylusMount Spil , the ancient Mount Sipylus , is a mountain rich in legends and history in Manisa Province, Turkey, in what used to be the heartland of the Lydians and what is now Turkey's Aegean Region....
) Passes. But the settlements above Bornova, inside the metropolitan zone, and around
KemalpaşaKemalpaşa is a large town and the center of the district of the same name in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its district area extends immediately to the east of İzmir's eastern-most metropolitan district, Bornova, and Kemalpaşa town being at a distance of only from the historical and traditional center...
and Ulucak, outside the metropolitan zone, sees mass housing and secondary residences developing. More recently, the metropolitan area displays a growth process especially along the western corridor, encouraged by Çeşme motorway and extending to districts outside İzmir city proper such as
SeferihisarSeferihisar is a coastal district and the center town of the same district in İzmir Province, in Turkey. Seferihisar district area borders on other İzmir districts of Urla to the west and Menderes to the east, and touches İzmir's western-most metropolitan district of Güzelbahçe in the north...
and
UrlaUrla may refer to:* Urla, İzmir, a district of İzmir Province inf Turkey* Urla, Raipur - a town in Chhatisgarh, India...
.
The population of the city is predominantly Muslim, but
secularismSecularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
is very strong in this region of Turkey. İzmir is also home to Turkey's second largest Jewish community after Istanbul, still 2,500 strong. The community is still concentrated in their traditional quarter of
KarataşKarataş is a neighborhood of İzmir, Turkey, within the boundaries of the city's central metropolitan district of Konak. The neighborhood no longer has an official delimitation or status and exists as a notional zone that is admitted to stretch along the small cove of the same name in the Gulf of...
. Smyrniot Jews like
Sabbatai ZeviSabbatai Zevi, , was a Sephardic Rabbi and kabbalist who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. He was the founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement...
and
Darío MorenoDarío Moreno was a Turkish polyglot singer of Jewish origin, as well as an accomplished composer, lyricist and guitarist, who was born in Aydın, Turkey, in 1921, and who attained fame and made a remarkable career centered in France which also included films, during the fifties and the...
were among the famous figures of the city's Jewish community.
The Levantines of İzmir, who are mostly of
GenoeseGenoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and to a lesser degree of
FrenchThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and
VenetianVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
descent, live mainly in the districts of
BornovaBornova is a metropolitan district of İzmir in İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the third largest district in İzmir's Greater Metropolitan Area of and is almost fully urbanized at the rate of 98,6 per cent, with corresponding high levels of development in terms of industry and services...
and
BucaBuca is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey. It is one of the main districts of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.Buca was one of the preferred settlement areas of İzmir's community of Levantines...
. One of the most prominent present-day figures of the community is
Caroline Giraud KoçThe Koç family is a Turkish dynasty of business people founded by Vehbi Koç, one of the wealthiest self-made people in Turkey. His grandsons, the third generation of the Koç family, today run Turkey’s largest and prestigious group of companies....
, wife of the renowned Turkish industrialist Mustafa Koç.
Koç HoldingKoç Holding A.Ş. is the top industrial conglomeratein Turkey. The Koç family, one of Turkey's wealthiest families, controls the company with its headquarter in Nakkaştepe, Istanbul...
is one of the largest family-owned industrial conglomerates in the world.
Economy
Trade through the city's port had a determinant importance for the economy of the Ottoman Empire as of the beginning of the 19th century and the economic foundations of the early decades of Turkey's Republican era were also laid here in
İzmir Economic Congressİzmir Economic Congress was held İzmir, Turkey between 17 February - 4 March 1923, shortly after the end of the Turkish War of Independence and during the interval between the two conferences that led to the Lausanne Treaty the same year...
. Presently, İzmir area's economy is divided in value between various types of activity as follows: 30.5 % for industry, 22.9 % for trade and related services, 13.5 % for transportation and communication and 7.8 % for agriculture. In 2008, İzmir provided 10.5 % of all tax revenues collected by Turkey and its exports corresponded to 6 % and its imports 4 % of Turkey's foreign trade. The province as a whole is Turkey's third largest exporter after Istanbul and Bursa, and the fifth largest importer. 85–90 % of the region's exports and approximately one fifth of all Turkish exports are made through the Port of Alsancak with an annual
containerAn intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...
loading capacity of close to a million.
| Economic data on İzmir |
2008 |
| Unemployment rate |
11.8 |
| Nr. of unemployed |
156,000 |
| Public investments |
310,793 (million US Dollars) |
| Exports |
21,6 (billion US Dollars) |
| Imports |
26.1 (billion US Dollars) |
| Nr. of companies |
102,153 |
Nr. of companies
with foreign capital |
1,321 |
| Nr. of companies started 2008 |
4,813 |
| Nr. of companies ceased 2008 |
2,841 |
| Tax revenues |
11.843 (million US Dollars) |
| Bank deposits total |
17.932 (million US Dollars) |
| Bank loans total |
13.315 (million US Dollars) |
| Nr. of bank branches |
667 |
| Nr. of tourists |
1,079,000 |
Main sights
- For further information on the remnants of the ancient city, see Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
Standing on Mount
YamanlarMount Yamanlar is a mountain in İzmir, Turkey, located within the boundaries of the Greater Metropolitan Area of the city.Easily accessible from Izmir, Yamanlar is a popular excursion spot for the inhabitants of the city. It is served by a steep, well maintained road. A village of the same name as...
, the tomb of
TantalusTantalus was the ruler of an ancient western Anatolian city called either after his name, as "Tantalís", "the city of Tantalus", or as "Sipylus", in reference to Mount Sipylus, at the foot of which his city was located and whose ruins were reported to be still visible in the beginning of the...
was explored by
Charles TexierFélix Marie Charles Texier was a French historian and archaeologist.Trained as an architect at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he was appointed inspector of public works in 1827...
in 1835 and is an example of the historic traces in the region prior to the Hellenistic Age, along with those found in nearby
KemalpaşaKemalpaşa is a large town and the center of the district of the same name in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its district area extends immediately to the east of İzmir's eastern-most metropolitan district, Bornova, and Kemalpaşa town being at a distance of only from the historical and traditional center...
and
Mount SipylusMount Spil , the ancient Mount Sipylus , is a mountain rich in legends and history in Manisa Province, Turkey, in what used to be the heartland of the Lydians and what is now Turkey's Aegean Region....
.
The
AgoraThe Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...
of
SmyrnaSmyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
is well preserved, and is arranged into the Agora Open Air Museum of İzmir, although important parts buried under modern buildings are waiting to be brought to daylight. Serious consideration is also being given to uncovering the ancient theatre of Smyrna where St. Polycarp was martyred, buried under an urban zone on the slopes of
KadifekaleKadifekale is the name of the hill located within the urban zone of İzmir, Turkey, as well as being the name of the ancient castle on top of the same hill....
. It was distinguishable until the 19th century, as evident by the sketchings done at the time. On top of the same hill soars an ancient castle which is one of the landmarks of İzmir.
One of the more pronounced elements of İzmir's harbor is the
Clock Towerİzmir Clock Tower is a historic clock tower located at the Konak Square in Konak district of İzmir, Turkey. The clock tower was designed by the Levantine French architect Raymond Charles Père and built in 1901 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Abdülhamid II's accession to the throne.The...
, a beautiful marble tower that rests in the middle of the
KonakKonak can refer to:* Konak , a large house, a mansion in Turkey, possibly also fulfilling administrative functions, such as a governor's mansion* Konak, İzmir, a district of İzmir Province, Turkey, central district of İzmir metropolitan area...
district, standing 25 m (82 ft) in height. It was designed by the Levantine
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
architect Raymond Charles Père in 1901 for the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the ascension of Abdülhamid II to the
OttomanThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
throne in 1876. The clock workings themselves were given as a gift by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, a political ally of Abdülhamid II. The tower features four fountains which are placed around the base in a circular pattern, and the columns are inspired by North African themes.
The
KemeraltıKemeraltı is a historical market district of İzmir, Turkey. It was originally formed around the street surrounding the shallow inner bay of the city, which was filled in due course during the 17th century, availing the bazaar to be extended to a wider area...
bazaar zone set up by the Ottomans, combined with the Agora, rests near the slopes of
KadifekaleKadifekale is the name of the hill located within the urban zone of İzmir, Turkey, as well as being the name of the ancient castle on top of the same hill....
. İzmir has had three castles historically –
KadifekaleKadifekale is the name of the hill located within the urban zone of İzmir, Turkey, as well as being the name of the ancient castle on top of the same hill....
(
Pagos), the portuary Ok Kalesi (
Neon Kastron, St. Peter), and Sancakkale, which remained vital to İzmir's security for centuries. Sancakkale is situated in the present-day İnciraltı quarter between the
BalçovaBalçova is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is one of the nine districts in the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, the smallest in terms of area. Balçova is a fully urbanized at the rate of 100,0 per cent and the center has no depending townships with own municipalities or villages...
and
NarlıdereNarlıdere is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is one of the nine districts in the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, one of the smallest in terms both of population and area, and is fully urbanized at the rate of 100,0 per cent. The district center has no depending township with own...
districts, on the southern shore of the Gulf of İzmir. It is at a key point where the strait allows entry into the innermost tip of the Gulf at its narrowest, and due to shallow waters through a large part of this strait, ships have sailed close to the castle.
There are nine synagogues in İzmir, concentrated either in the traditional Jewish quarter of
KarataşKarataş is a small city and a district in Adana Province, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, 47 km from the city of Adana, between the rivers of Seyhan and Ceyhan, the Pyramos of Antiquity...
or in Havra Sokak (
Synagogue street) in
KemeraltıKemeraltı is a historical market district of İzmir, Turkey. It was originally formed around the street surrounding the shallow inner bay of the city, which was filled in due course during the 17th century, availing the bazaar to be extended to a wider area...
, and they all bear the signature of the 19th century when they were built or re-constructed in depth on the basis of former buildings.
The İzmir Birds Paradise in
ÇiğliÇiğli is a metropolitan district of the city of İzmir in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area covers the northern end of the boundaries of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. Çiğli district area neighbors that of Karşıyaka, another metropolitan district, to the south and the west, and that of İzmir's...
, a bird sanctuary near
KarşıyakaKarşıyaka is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, in other words a metropolitan district, the second largest after Konak in terms of population, and it is almost entirely urbanized at the rate of 99,9 per cent, with corresponding high levels...
, contains 205 species of birds. There are 63 species of domestic birds, 54 species of summer migratory birds, 43 species of winter migratory birds, and 30 species of transit birds. 56 species of birds have been breeding in the Park. İzmir Bird's Paradise which covers 80 square kilometres was registered as "The
protected areaProtected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
for water birds and for their breeding" by the Turkish Ministry of Forestry in 1982. A large open air zoo was established in the same district of Çiğli in 2008 under the name Sasalı Park of Natural Life.
İzmir International Fair
İzmir prides itself with its busy schedule of
trade fairA trade fair is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and opportunities...
s,
exhibitionsArt exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
and
congressA congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different nations, constituent states, independent organizations , or groups....
es.
İzmir International Fairİzmir International Fair is the oldest tradeshow in Turkey, considered the cradle of Turkey's fairs and expositions industry, and is also notable for hosting a series of simultaneous festival activities. The fair and the festival are held in the compound of İzmir's vast inner city park named...
(IEF), the oldest member from Turkey of the
International Union of Fairs is held every year in August–September at Kültürpark, which covers an area of 421,000 m² in the heart of the city with open-air theatres, the Painting and Sculpture Museum, art centers,
amusement parkthumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
, zoo,
parachuteA parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
tower, and other amenities. Aside from this main event, which acts as a central theme for many other secondary events, there are numerous others throughout the year. In 2007, for example, 35 national or international fairs and exhibitions were held in İzmir around the year and in relation to different areas of activity. These fairs have made great contributions to İzmir's social and cultural life.
Climate
İzmir has a typical
Mediterranean climateA Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
which is characterized by long, hot and dry summers; and mild to cool, rainy winters. The total precipitation for İzmir averages 706 mm (27.8 inches) per year; however, 77% of that falls during November through March. The rest of the precipitation falls during April through May and September through October. There is virtually no rainfall during the months of June, July and August.
The average maximum temperatures during the winter months vary between the low-to-mid 10 °C (50 °F). Although it is rare, snow can fall in İzmir in December, January and February staying for a period of hours rather than a whole day or more. During summer, the air temperature can climb as high as 40 °C (104 °F) in July and August, however the average maximum temperatures ranges between the low-to-mid 30 °C (86 °F).
Cuisine of İzmir
İzmir's cuisine has largely been affected by its multicultural history, hence the large variety of food originating from the
AegeanThe Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, Mediterranean and
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
n regions. Another factor is the large area of land surrounding the region which grows a rich selection of vegetables. Some of the common dishes found here are the
tarhanaTarhana , trahanas or khondros , tarkhīneh, tarkhāneh, tarkhwāneh , trahana , трахана/тархана , kishk , or kushuk are names for a dried food based on a fermented mixture of grain and yoghurt or fermented milk, usually made into a thick...
soup (made from dried yoghurt and tomatoes), İzmir köfte, keşkek (boiled wheat with meat), zerde (sweetened rice with
saffronSaffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Each saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are each the distal end of a carpel...
) and
mücver (made from zucchini and eggs).
BoyozBoyoz is a Turkish pastry, associated within Turkey with İzmir, which is practically the only city where it is prepared for commercial purposes and follows the original recipe. As such, in the eyes of Smyrniots boyoz acquired the dimension of a symbol of their hometown or of their longing for it...
and
lokma*Tuzlu lokma Lángos, Boortsog - They may be thought of as cookies or biscuits, and since they are fried, they are sometimes compared to doughnuts.*Tatlı lokma Loukoumades - are a kind of fried-dough pastry made of deep fried dough soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon, and sometimes sprinkled...
are Turkish pastries associated with İzmir, the former prepared for commercial purposes and the latter to commemorate the deceased.
KumruKumru is a town and district of Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 44,307 of which 18,057 live in the town of Kumru.-Geography:...
is a special kind of sandwich that is associated particularly with the
ÇeşmeÇeşme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula...
district and features cheese and tomato in its basics, with sucuk also added sometimes.
Historically, as a result of the influx of Greek refugees from İzmir (as well as from other parts of Asia Minor and
IstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
) to mainland Greece after 1922, the cuisine of İzmir has had an enormous impact on Greek cuisine, exporting many spices and foods.
Festivals
The annual
International Izmir Festival, which begins in mid-June and continues until mid-July, has been organized since 1987. During the festival, many world-class performers such as
soloistIn music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
s and
virtuosiA virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
,
orchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s, dance companies,
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
groups including
Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
,
Paco de LuciaPaco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
,
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, Martha Graham Dance Company,
Tanita TikaramTanita Tikaram is a British pop/folk singer-songwriter, best known for the hits "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart...
,
Jethro TullJethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
,
Leningrad Philarmonic OrchestraThe Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 1882 and is Russia's oldest symphony orchestra.It was initially known as the "Imperial Music Choir" and performed privately for the court of Alexander III of Russia. By the 1900s it had started to give public performances at the...
,
Chris De BurghChris de Burgh is a British/Irish singer-songwriter. He is most famous for his 1986 love song "The Lady in Red".-Early life:...
, Sting, Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra,
Jan GarbarekJan Garbarek is a Norwegian tenor and soprano saxophonist, active in the jazz, classical, and world music genres. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war Czesław Garbarek and a Norwegian farmer's daughter...
,
Red Army ChorusThe A.V. Alexandrov Russian army twice red-bannered academic song and dance ensemble , in short, the Alexandrov ensemble is a performing ensemble that serves as the official army choir of the Russian armed forces...
, Academy of St Martin in the Fields,
Kodo-In Japan:* The kōdō, Japanese incense ceremony.* Kodo , a taiko drumming group based in Japan.* The Kodo Group, a yakuza criminal organization...
,
Chick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
and Origin,
New York City BalletNew York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
,
Nigel KennedyNigel Kennedy is a British born violinist and violist. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti...
,
Bryan AdamsBryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
, James Brown,
Elton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
,
AnathemaAnathema are an English band from Liverpool primarily known for their ever evolving sound. Beginning as pioneers of the death/doom metal sub-genre, their later albums have been associated with genres such as alternative rock, progressive rock, art rock, new prog, and post-rock.-History:Anathema...
,
Kiri Te KanawaDame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
, Mikhail Barishnikov and Josep Carreras have given recitals and performances at various venues in the city and its surrounding areas; including the ancient theatres at
EphesusEphesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
and Metropolis (an ancient
IoniaIonia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
n city situated near the town of
TorbalıTorbalı is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey.An ancient Ionian city, famous for its wines and religious sites, it has three sancuaries in marble dedicated to the Roman Emperor Augustus and his foster child Germanicus, in an ancient theatre which dominates the valley. Pieces of art found during...
.) The festival is a member of the
European Festivals AssociationThe European Festivals Association or EFA is an umbrella group for various festivals in Europe and other countries. It supports artistic cooperation among festivals and offers programs for new festival and artistic managers...
since 2003.
The
İzmir European Jazz FestivalThe İzmir European Jazz Festival, is a cultural event held in the first half of every March in İzmir, Turkey. It offers a selection of jazz music performances with the participations of renowned artists and music groups from Europe and Turkey. The festival was first held in 1994 and is organized...
is among the numerous events organized every year by the
İKSEV (İzmir Foundation for Culture, Arts and Education) since 1994. The festival aims to bring together masters and lovers of
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
with the aim to generate feelings of love, friendship and peace.
The
International İzmir Short Film Festival is organized since 1999 and is a member of the
European Coordination of Film Festivals.
İzmir Metropolitan Municipality has built the
Ahmet Adnan SaygunAhmed Adnan Saygun was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. Ahmed Adnan Saygun is acknowledged as one of the most important 20th century composers in Turkish music history....
Art Center on a 21,000 m
2 land plot in the Güzelyalı district, in order to contribute to the city's culture and art life. The acoustics of the center have been prepared by
ARUPArup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...
which is a world famous company in this field.
Sports
Several important international sports events have been held in İzmir:
- 28 August – 2 September 2010 – Group D of the 2010 FIBA World Championship
The 2010 FIBA World Championship, hosted by Turkey, was the international basketball competition contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from August 28 to September 12, 2010. It was co-organized by the International Basketball Federation , Turkish Basketball Federation and the...
,
- 3–13 September 2009 – Groups A, C, E, Semifinals & Final of the 2009 Men's European Volleyball Championship
2009 Men's European Volleyball Championship was held from September 3 to September 13, 2009 in İzmir and Istanbul, Turkey.Poland claimed their first Men's European Volleyball Championship title with an undefeated run. The final was concluded with a 3-1 victory against France. Bulgaria captured the...
- 1971 – The Mediterranean Games
The Mediterranean Games are a multi-sport games held every four years, mainly for nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea, where Europe, Africa and Asia meet. The idea was proposed at the 1948 Summer Olympics by Muhammed Taher Pasha, chairman of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, and they were first...
,
- 7–22 August 2005 – The 2005 Summer Universiade
The 2005 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXIII Summer Universiade, took place in İzmir, Turkey.-Emblem:The emblem is the letter “U”, inspired by the bird’s-eye view of the Gulf of İzmir.This shape has perfectly fit the letter “U” of Universiade,...
, the International University Sports Games,
- 2–7 September 2005 – Preliminary games of the 2005 European Women's Basketball Championship
The 2005 European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called Eurobasket 2005 Women, was held in Turkey between 2 September and 11 September 2005. Czech Republic won the gold medal and Russia the silver medal while Spain won the bronze...
,
- 4–9 July 2006 – The 2006 European Seniors Fencing Championship
The 2006 European Seniors Fencing Championship was held in İzmir, Turkey, between 4 July and 9 July 2006. The event, sanctioned by the European Fencing Confederation , was organized by the Turkish Fencing Federation ....
,
- 14–23 July 2006 – The U20 European Basketball Championship
The EuroBasket, also referred to as the FIBA European Basketball Championship, is the main basketball competition contested biennially by the men's national teams governed by FIBA Europe, the European zone within the International Basketball Federation. The championship was first held in 1935 and...
for Men,
- 7–11 May 2008 – The 7th WTF
The World Taekwondo Federation is the International Federation member of the International Olympic Committee for the competition events of the martial art of taekwondo...
World Junior TaekwondoTaekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
Championship.
Notable
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
clubs in İzmir include:
AltayAltay Spor Kulübü is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of İzmir. Formed in 1914, Altay are nicknamed Büyük Altay . The club colours are black and white, and they play their home matches at İzmir Alsancak Stadium....
,
BucasporBucaspor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Izmir. Formed in 1928, Bucaspor are nicknamed Fırtına . The club colours are yellow and navy....
, Altınordu,
GöztepeGöztepe SK are a Turkish sports club in Güzelyalı, İzmir.They were founded in 1925 as a breakaway club from Altay. Their colours are red-yellow. They merged with İzmirspor and were renamed as Doğanspor in 1937. Some supporters of İzmirspor opposed the merger and founded Ateşspor in 1938. Doğanspor...
,
İzmirsporİzmirspor is а Turkish footbаllteаm from İzmir. They were founded with the name Altınayspor but in 1930 their new name was İzmirspor. They are currently playing in the Amateur league.-League Participations:...
and
KarşıyakaKarşıyaka Spor Kulübü , commonly referred to as Karşıyaka is a sports based in İzmir. They are currently playing in the Turkish 1.League football...
. Recently,
BucasporBucaspor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Izmir. Formed in 1928, Bucaspor are nicknamed Fırtına . The club colours are yellow and navy....
have relegated from the top tier, Turkish Super League by the end of 2010-11 season.
GöztepeGöztepe SK are a Turkish sports club in Güzelyalı, İzmir.They were founded in 1925 as a breakaway club from Altay. Their colours are red-yellow. They merged with İzmirspor and were renamed as Doğanspor in 1937. Some supporters of İzmirspor opposed the merger and founded Ateşspor in 1938. Doğanspor...
made sports history in Turkey by having played the semi finals of the
UEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
in the 1968–1969 season, and the quarter finals of the
UEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
in the 1969–1970 season; becoming the first ever Turkish football club to play a semi-final game in Europe and the only one for two decades.
AltayAltay Spor Kulübü is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of İzmir. Formed in 1914, Altay are nicknamed Büyük Altay . The club colours are black and white, and they play their home matches at İzmir Alsancak Stadium....
and
GöztepeGöztepe SK are a Turkish sports club in Güzelyalı, İzmir.They were founded in 1925 as a breakaway club from Altay. Their colours are red-yellow. They merged with İzmirspor and were renamed as Doğanspor in 1937. Some supporters of İzmirspor opposed the merger and founded Ateşspor in 1938. Doğanspor...
have won the Turkish Cup twice for İzmir and all of İzmir's teams periodically jumped in and out of Süper Lig. Historically, İzmir is also the birthplace of two Greek sports clubs, namely the multi-sport
PanioniosPanionios GSS , the Pan-Ionian Gymnastic Association of Smyrna, is a Greek multi sport club founded in 1890. Originally based in Smyrna/Izmir, the club was uprooted in the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922...
and association football Apollon Smyrni F.C. which were founded in the city and moved to
AthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
after 1922.
Karşıyaka SKKarşıyaka Spor Kulübü , commonly referred to as Karşıyaka is a sports based in İzmir. They are currently playing in the Turkish 1.League football...
's basketball branch
Pınar KarşıyakaPınar Karşıyaka is a professional basketball team based in the city of İzmir in Turkey. It is a section of the Karşıyaka SK. The team was sponsored by Pınar since 1998. It is the product of Yasar Holding's Food and Beverage Group....
won the Turkish Basketball Championship title and Presidential Cup in 1987.
The 50,000 capacity İzmir Atatürk Stadium regularly hosts, apart from Turkish Super League games of İzmir-based teams, many other Super League and Turkish Cup derby matches.
The city boasts of several sports legends, past and present. Already at the dawn of its history, notable natives such as the son of its first port's founder
PelopsIn Greek mythology, Pelops , was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus. He was the founder of the House of Atreus through his son of that name....
had attained fame and kingdom with a chariot race and
OnomastusFor other uses, see OnomastusOnomastus of Smyrna was the first Olympic victor in boxing at the 23rd Olympiad, 688 BC, when this sport was added. According to Philostratus,Pausanias and Eusebius, Onomastus was not only the first Olympic boxing champion but he wrote the rules of Ancient Greek...
is one of history's first recorded sportspeople, having won the
boxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
contest in the
OlympiadAn Olympiad is a period of four years, associated with the Olympic Games of Classical Greece. In the Hellenistic period, beginning with Ephorus, Olympiads were used as calendar epoch....
of 688 BC.
Born in İzmir, and nicknamed
Taçsız Kral (The Uncrowned King), 1960s football star
Metin OktayMetin Oktay nicknamed the Uncrowned King by Galatasaray fans, was a legendary Turkish footballer and one of the most successful goalscorers in Turkey....
is a legend in Turkey. Oktay became the first notable Turkish footballer to play abroad, with
PalermoUnione Sportiva Città di Palermo is an Italian football club from Palermo, Sicily which currently plays in Serie A, the top level of Italian football. Formed in 1900 as Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club, the club had various names before assuming its final form in 1987 and is currently...
in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
, during the 1961–1962 season. Two other notable football figures from İzmir are
Alpay ÖzalanAlpay Fehmi Özalan is a former Turkish footballer.Alpay is currently a member of the management committee of Siirtspor.-Playing style:...
and
Mustafa DenizliMustafa Denizli is a former Turkish football player and coach. He has won the Turkish League title five times, all with the 'Istanbul Big Three' . He is currently the only manager in history to win the Turkish league with three different clubs...
, the first having played for
Aston Villa F.C.Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
between 2000–2003 and the second, after a long playing career as the captain of İzmir's Altay S.K., still pursues a successful career as a
coachIn sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
, being the only manager in Turkish Super League history to win a championship title with each of Istanbul's "Big Three" clubs (
Galatasaray S.K.Galatasaray Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul, most notable for its football section, also known as Galatasaray S.K.. It also fields teams in Athletics, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Volleyball, Water polo, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, Judo, Bridge, Equestrian, Handball,...
, Fenerbahçe S.K. and
Beşiktaş J.K.Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...
) and having managed the
Turkish national football teamThe Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA...
to the UEFA Euro 2000 Quarter Finals.
Education
The following universities were established in İzmir:
- Ionian University
The Ionian University of Smyrna was a university established by the local Greek authorities during the Greek Occupation of Smyrna , today Izmir, Turkey. The initiative for the organization of the institution was undertaken by the mathematician Constantin Carathéodory...
, the first university of the city, established in 1920. It was organized by the mathematician and close friend of Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, Constantin CarathéodoryConstantin Carathéodory was a Greek mathematician. He made significant contributions to the theory of functions of a real variable, the calculus of variations, and measure theory...
, on the instructions of the Greek government. However, it never operated due to the developments of the Greco-Turkish War.
- Ege University
Ege University is a public university in İzmir, Turkey. It was founded in 1955 with the Faculties of Medicine and Faculty of Agriculture...
– Founded in 1955, Ege UniversityEge University is a public university in İzmir, Turkey. It was founded in 1955 with the Faculties of Medicine and Faculty of Agriculture...
is İzmir's first university to start courses. The rectorate and the campusA campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
which englobes most of the university's institutions (62 in all, with 3141 academic staff and 42,693 students for 2006/2007) are situated in the metropolitan district of BornovaBornova is a metropolitan district of İzmir in İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the third largest district in İzmir's Greater Metropolitan Area of and is almost fully urbanized at the rate of 98,6 per cent, with corresponding high levels of development in terms of industry and services...
.
- Dokuz Eylül University
Dokuz Eylül University is one of the preeminent universities in Turkey. It is located in İzmir, Turkey. It was founded in 1982 and is organized in 10 schools...
– Founded in 1982 principally by the splitting off of a number of institutions from Ege, Dokuz Eylül UniversityDokuz Eylül University is one of the preeminent universities in Turkey. It is located in İzmir, Turkey. It was founded in 1982 and is organized in 10 schools...
today equals in size to its sister university. The rectorate is in the central AlsancakAlsancak is a centrally situated large quarter in İzmir, Turkey, within the boundaries of the metropolitan district of Konak, the historic center of the city....
neighborhood, while the campus is located in the metropolitan district of BucaBuca is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey. It is one of the main districts of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.Buca was one of the preferred settlement areas of İzmir's community of Levantines...
, with 61 depending institutions across İzmir or in the city's districts, employing 3027 academic staff and uniting a student corpus of 43,851 for 2006/2007.
- İzmir University of Economics
- General information :İzmir University of Economics is a higher education institution that aims to nurture individuals who are creative, dedicated and wholly committed to Atatürk’s principles and reforms...
– Founded as a private sectorIn economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
initiative in 2002 by the İzmir Chamber of Commerce, İzmir University of Economics- General information :İzmir University of Economics is a higher education institution that aims to nurture individuals who are creative, dedicated and wholly committed to Atatürk’s principles and reforms...
is a specialized university with a campus in the metropolitan district of BalçovaBalçova is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is one of the nine districts in the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, the smallest in terms of area. Balçova is a fully urbanized at the rate of 100,0 per cent and the center has no depending townships with own municipalities or villages...
.
- Yaşar Üniversitesi (Yaşar University) – Also founded in 2002 by Yaşar Holding, the initial building is located in the central Alsancak
Alsancak is a centrally situated large quarter in İzmir, Turkey, within the boundaries of the metropolitan district of Konak, the historic center of the city....
neighborhood, while the construction of a campus in the neighboring district of SeferihisarSeferihisar is a coastal district and the center town of the same district in İzmir Province, in Turkey. Seferihisar district area borders on other İzmir districts of Urla to the west and Menderes to the east, and touches İzmir's western-most metropolitan district of Güzelbahçe in the north...
, outside the metropolitan zone, is under way.
- University of İzmir – Founded in 2007.
- Katip Çelebi University - Founded in 2010.
- Şifa University - Founded in 2010.
The following universities are located nearby city of İzmir:
- İzmir Institute of Technology
İzmir Institute of Technology is a public research university in İzmir, Turkey. İYTE maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering.The medium of instruction in all the departments of İYTE is English.-History and General Information:...
– Founded in 1992, İzmir Institute of Technologyİzmir Institute of Technology is a public research university in İzmir, Turkey. İYTE maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering.The medium of instruction in all the departments of İYTE is English.-History and General Information:...
is the city's first institute of technologyInstitute of technology is a designation employed in a wide range of learning institutions awarding different types of degrees and operating often at variable levels of the educational system...
, while the campus, which is Turkey's largest, is located in the nearby district of UrlaUrla may refer to:* Urla, İzmir, a district of İzmir Province inf Turkey* Urla, Raipur - a town in Chhatisgarh, India...
.
- University of Gediz – Founded in 2009, is located in the nearby district of Menemen
Menemen is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey as well as the district's central town. The district extends on a fertile plain formed by the alluvial soil carried by the Gediz River...
.
There are ongoing plans to establish a sixth, and perhaps also a seventh university in İzmir. The city is also home to well-rooted high-school establishments that are renowned across Turkey, such as the
American Collegiate InstituteFounded in 1878, the American Collegiate Institute , commonly referred to by the acronym ACI, is a private co-educational high school in Goztepe, İzmir, Turkey. ACI was founded, and is now run, by the charity foundation SEV, Sağlık ve Eğitim Vakfı...
which was established in 1878.
İzmir is also home to the third U.S. Space Camp in the world,
Space Camp Turkey.
Historically, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the city was an educational center of the Greek world, with a total of 67 male and 4 female schools that time. The most important Greek educational institution was the
Evangelical SchoolThe Evangelical School was a Greek educational institution established in 1733 in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, now Izmir, Turkey. The school, initially an Orthodox Church-approved institution, attracted major figures of the Modern Greek Enlightenment...
that operated from 1733 to 1922.
Transportation
İzmir is served by national and international flights through the Adnan Menderes International Airport and there is a modern rapid transit line running from the southwest to the northeast. The city is trying to attract investors through its strategic location and its relatively new and highly developed technological infrastructure in transportation, telecommunications and energy.
Connection with other cities and countries
Air: The Adnan Menderes International Airport is well served with connections to Turkish and international destinations. Its new international terminal was opened in September 2006 and the airport is set on its way for becoming one of the busiest hubs in Turkey. The city-to-airport shuttle buses are operated by the private company
Havaş which run on two lines; the first connecting
KarşıyakaKarşıyaka is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, in other words a metropolitan district, the second largest after Konak in terms of population, and it is almost entirely urbanized at the rate of 99,9 per cent, with corresponding high levels...
(in the city's northern part) and the second connecting
AlsancakAlsancak is a centrally situated large quarter in İzmir, Turkey, within the boundaries of the metropolitan district of Konak, the historic center of the city....
(in the south) with the airport. Trains remain a comparatively slow alternative, while the
metroİzmir Metro is a subway network in İzmir, Turkey that is constantly being extended with new stations being put in service. The network, consisting of one line, starts from Üçyol station in Hatay in the southern portion of the metropolitan area and runs towards northeast to end in Bornova...
line that will reach the airport is under construction. The
taxiA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s are not cheap and can cost up to fifty U.S. dollars, depending on the distance.
Bus: A recently-built large bus terminal, the
Otogar in the Pınarbaşı suburb on the outskirts of the city, has intercity buses to destinations across Turkey. It is quite easy to reach the bus terminal, since bus companies' shuttle services pick up customers from each of their branch offices scattered across the city at regular intervals, free of charge.
Rail: İzmir has two historical rail terminals in the city center. Alsancak Terminal, built in 1858 and Basmane Terminal, built in 1866 are the two main railway stations of the city. The
Turkish State RailwaysThe State Railways of the Turkish Republic or TCDD is the government owned, national railway carrier in the Republic of Turkey, headquartered in Ankara...
operates regional service to
ÖdemişÖdemiş is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey. North of Ödemiş, which is 113 km southeast of İzmir, are the ruins of Hypaiapa...
,
TireA tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
,
AydınAydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
,
SökeSöke is a town and a large district of Aydın Province in the Aegean region of western Turkey, south-west of the city of Aydın, near the Aegean coast. It had 68,020 population in 2010.- Geography :...
,
NazilliNazilli is the second largest town in Aydın Province in the Aegean region of western Turkey, east of the city of Aydın, on the road to Denizli.- Etymology :...
and
UşakUşak is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. The city has a population of 180,414 and is the capital of Uşak Province. The mayor is Ali Erdoğan ....
, as well as inter city service to
AnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, Afyon and
BandırmaBandırma is a city in northwestern Turkey with 113,385 inhabitants on the Sea of Marmara. Also, Bandırma is a district of Balıkesir....
(İstanbul via
İDOIdo is a constructed language created with the goal of becoming a universal second language for speakers of different linguistic backgrounds as a language easier to learn than ethnic languages...
connection).
Transportation within the city
Co-ordinated transport was introduced to İzmir in 1999, the first place in Turkey to apply the lessons of integration. A body known as UKOME gives strategic direction to the Metro, the ESHOT bus division, ferry operations, utilities and road developments. İzmir has an integrated pre-pay ticket, the
Kentkart (Citycard). The card is valid on metro (subway), buses, ferries and certain other municipal facilities. The Kentkart allows use of multiple forms of transport within a 90 minute window for the price of a single fare.
For situations where it is necessary to use the car for travel within the city, the number of
car rental companies in the various districts serving about 1000.
Bus
All major districts are covered by a dense municipal bus network under the name ESHOT. The acronym stands for "E
elektrik (electricity); S
su (water); H
havagazı (gas); O
otobüs (bus) and T
troleybüs (trolleybus)." Electricity, water and gas are now supplied by separate undertakings and the trolleybuses ceased to operate in 1992. However, the bus company has inherited the original name. ESHOT operates about 1,500 buses with a staff of 2,700. It has five garages at Karataş, Gümrük, Basmane, Yeşilyurt and Konak. A privately-owned company, İzulaş, operates 400 buses from two garages, running services under contract for ESHOT. These scheduled services are supplemented by the privately-owned
minibusA minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
or
dolmuşIn Turkey and Turkish controlled Northern Cyprus, dolmuş are share taxis that run set routes within and between cities.Departing from the terminal only when a sufficient amount of passengers have boarded, their name is derived from Turkish for "apparently stuffed" for this reason.In some cities...
services.
Urban ferries
Taken over by İzmir
Metropolitan MunicipalityA metropolitan municipality is a type of municipality established in some countries to serve a metropolitan area.-Canada:In generic terms, and in practical application within Canada, a metropolitan municipality is an urban local government; or at least a suburban government flanked by urban and/or...
since 2000 and operated within the structure of a private company (
İzdeniz), İzmir's urban ferry services for passengers and vehicles are very much a part of the life of the inhabitants of the city, which is located along the deep end of a large gulf. 24 ferries shuttle between 8 quays (clockwise Bostanlı,
KarşıyakaKarşıyaka is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, in other words a metropolitan district, the second largest after Konak in terms of population, and it is almost entirely urbanized at the rate of 99,9 per cent, with corresponding high levels...
,
BayraklıBayraklı is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey. It is one of the metropolitan districts of İzmir. Bayraklı was turned into a district by the Cabinet of Turkey in 6 March 2008.- References :...
, Alsancak, Pasaport, Konak,
GöztepeGöztepe is a neighborhood of İzmir, situated on the southern shore of the Gulf of İzmir, administratively within the boundaries of the metropolitan district of Konak. The neighborhood is also one of the eight quays of İzmir's urban ferry services operated by ....
and Üçkuyular.) Special lines to points further out in the gulf are also put in service during summer, transporting excursion or holiday makers. These services are surprisingly cheap and it is not unusual to see natives or visitors taking a ferry ride simply as a pastime.
Metro
İzmir has a
subwayA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
network (
rapid transitA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
over the surface in parts) that is constantly being extended with new stations being put in service. The network "
İzmir Metrosu", consisting of one line, starts from the Üçyol station in
HatayHatay is a large quarter of the city of İzmir, Turkey. Administratively, Hatay forms part of the metropolitan district of Konak, İzmir's historic center along the southern shores of the tip of the Gulf of İzmir, and the largest and the most central of the nine districts that constitute the...
in the southern portion of the metropolitan area and runs towards northeast to end in
BornovaBornova is a metropolitan district of İzmir in İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the third largest district in İzmir's Greater Metropolitan Area of and is almost fully urbanized at the rate of 98,6 per cent, with corresponding high levels of development in terms of industry and services...
. The line is 11.6 km (7.2 mi) long.
The stations are: 1) Üçyol, 2) Konak, 3) Çankaya, 4) Basmane, 5) Hilal, 6) Halkapınar, 7) Stadyum, 8) Sanayi, 9) Bölge, 10)
BornovaBornova is a metropolitan district of İzmir in İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the third largest district in İzmir's Greater Metropolitan Area of and is almost fully urbanized at the rate of 98,6 per cent, with corresponding high levels of development in terms of industry and services...
. An extension of the line between Üçyol and Üçkuyular, which aims to serve the southern portion of the city more efficiently, is currently under construction.
Basic fare on the Metro is TRL 1.25 but only TRL 0.95 if the Kentkart is used. About 12% of passengers pay cash and the rest use Kentkart, 35% at reduced rate and 53% at standard rate. The Metro carries about 30 million passengers per year, and by the end of September 2005, 160 million passengers had travelled since the opening of the metro in May 2000.
A more ambitious venture named
İZBANİZBAN, sometimes referred to as Egeray, is a commuter rail system serving İzmir and its metropolitan area. It is the busiest commuter railway in Turkey, serving about 150,000 passengers daily. İZBAN is a portmanteau of the words "İzmir" and "Banliyö". Established in 2006 and began operations in...
has begun involves the construction of a new 80 km (50 mi) line between the
AliağaAliaga can refer to:* Aliaga, Aragon, Spain* Aliağa, Turkey* the Filipino municipality of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija on Luzon* a family name, as in the case of the Peruvian writer Felipe Pardo y Aliaga...
district in the north, where an
oil refineryAn oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
and its port are located, and the
MenderesMenderes is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey.Menderes district, which is notable for its satsumas, beautiful bays and historical riches, is 20 km. from İzmir. The antique city of Lebedos is situated in the western corner of the district in Ürkmez locality...
district in the south, in order to reach and serve the Adnan Menderes International Airport. The line comprises 31 stations and the full ride between the two ends takes 86 minutes.
Light Metro
İZBANİZBAN, sometimes referred to as Egeray, is a commuter rail system serving İzmir and its metropolitan area. It is the busiest commuter railway in Turkey, serving about 150,000 passengers daily. İZBAN is a portmanteau of the words "İzmir" and "Banliyö". Established in 2006 and began operations in...
, sometimes referred to as
EgerayEgeray is the name of the current rail transportation project underway in İzmir. It is the largest transportation project in the history of the Turkish Republic. Egeray consists of upgrading the existing rail lines around İzmir to create a modern, rapid commuter rail system, extending the İzmir...
, is a commuter rail system serving İzmir and its
metropolitan areaThe term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
. It is the busiest commuter railway in Turkey, serving about 150,000 passengers daily. İZBAN is a portmanteau of the words "
İzmir" and "
Banliyö".
Established in 2006 and began operations in 2010, İZBAN was formed to revive commuter rail in İzmir. Currently, İZBAN operates a 80 km (49.7 mi) long system, with 31 stations, consisting of two lines: the
Southern LineThe Southern Line is an electrified commuter rail line operated by İZBAN, using track owned by the Turkish State Railways. The line runs from Alsancak Terminal, through the southern suburbs of western Buca and central Gaziemir as well as servicing Adnan Menderes Airport via the newly rebuilt...
and the
Northern LineThe Northern Line is a commuter rail service operated by İZBAN on tracks owned by the Turkish State Railways, operating between Alsancak Terminal in İzmir to Aliağa railway station in the northern port town of Aliağa...
.
İZBAN A.Ş.İzmir Banliyö Anonim Şirketi or İZBAN A.Ş. is the holding company of İZBAN. It was created in 2006 to operate a commuter railroad around İzmir. İZBAN A.Ş. is owned 50% by the Turkish State Railways and 50% by the İzmir Municipality....
operates the railway and is owned 50% by the
Turkish State RailwaysThe State Railways of the Turkish Republic or TCDD is the government owned, national railway carrier in the Republic of Turkey, headquartered in Ankara...
and 50% by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. İZBAN is a part of the municipality's
EgerayEgeray is the name of the current rail transportation project underway in İzmir. It is the largest transportation project in the history of the Turkish Republic. Egeray consists of upgrading the existing rail lines around İzmir to create a modern, rapid commuter rail system, extending the İzmir...
project.
External links and resources