Most people bypass the city of Izmir when visiting Turkey.
Honestly, I would have bypassed Izmir except I needed to do some research there.
It's not a very tourist-friendly place. But it is an authentic Turkish city wherein the occasional tourist sticks out like a sore thumb. Blonde hair, light skin. Yah. That's me, trying to blend in, in TURKEY. Fail. Staring. Pointing. Yelling. Yah.
I made arrangements to visit Izmir & Ephesus through a local travel agency. The upside of doing this was the private car and driver. It was really a great way to get around, and my driver was fabulous. Very attentive, looked out for me and tried to answer all of my questions about very obscure things. The downside of booking this segment of my trip through a local agency was the AWFUL hotel they stuck me in and the pre-packaged group tour of Ephesus I was stuck on. Knowing what I do now, I would have booked everything but the driver separately.
Anyhoo.
Izmir. It's a very old city. It was once known as Smyrna.
It's roots date back to Alexander the Great.
Old Alex had a vision about a particular hillside, and about building a Castle/city on that hillside. The vision showed him that if he built the city on the top of the hill it would never be defeated. What came about was Kadifekale, the Velvet Castle. And Alex was right.
Kadifekale's remains still sit atop the ancient hill. It doesn't get many tourists and as such there is no entrance fee (the first no-entrance fee site I'd seen in Turkey). The site has been excavated and you can see the ruins of old cisterns, the castle walls and a chapel. Newer constructions and inclusions to the site include a children's playground (?) and the remains of an old restaurant (tables and chairs) nestled beside the tall walls of the fortress. It would have been a pretty cool place to eat dinner, actually.
At the bottom of the hill lie the remains of Smyrna's Agora, it's city market. The agora site is actually much more interesting than the castle, mostly because it's been excavated more and there's more to see. You can wander around under the old Agora floor and see ancient pipelines and waterways, fountains and collonades. It's not the best archaeological site I've been to, and I wouldn't necessarily say that it's worth everyone's time and effort to go out of the way to see, but I enjoyed it and did the research I needed.
Honestly, I would have bypassed Izmir except I needed to do some research there.
It's not a very tourist-friendly place. But it is an authentic Turkish city wherein the occasional tourist sticks out like a sore thumb. Blonde hair, light skin. Yah. That's me, trying to blend in, in TURKEY. Fail. Staring. Pointing. Yelling. Yah.
I made arrangements to visit Izmir & Ephesus through a local travel agency. The upside of doing this was the private car and driver. It was really a great way to get around, and my driver was fabulous. Very attentive, looked out for me and tried to answer all of my questions about very obscure things. The downside of booking this segment of my trip through a local agency was the AWFUL hotel they stuck me in and the pre-packaged group tour of Ephesus I was stuck on. Knowing what I do now, I would have booked everything but the driver separately.
Anyhoo.
Izmir. It's a very old city. It was once known as Smyrna.
It's roots date back to Alexander the Great.
Old Alex had a vision about a particular hillside, and about building a Castle/city on that hillside. The vision showed him that if he built the city on the top of the hill it would never be defeated. What came about was Kadifekale, the Velvet Castle. And Alex was right.
Kadifekale's remains still sit atop the ancient hill. It doesn't get many tourists and as such there is no entrance fee (the first no-entrance fee site I'd seen in Turkey). The site has been excavated and you can see the ruins of old cisterns, the castle walls and a chapel. Newer constructions and inclusions to the site include a children's playground (?) and the remains of an old restaurant (tables and chairs) nestled beside the tall walls of the fortress. It would have been a pretty cool place to eat dinner, actually.
At the bottom of the hill lie the remains of Smyrna's Agora, it's city market. The agora site is actually much more interesting than the castle, mostly because it's been excavated more and there's more to see. You can wander around under the old Agora floor and see ancient pipelines and waterways, fountains and collonades. It's not the best archaeological site I've been to, and I wouldn't necessarily say that it's worth everyone's time and effort to go out of the way to see, but I enjoyed it and did the research I needed.
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