With a history that goes back 8.500 years. Izmir is the third most developed city of Turkey. Being one of the oldest port cities of the world, Izmir has always been significant meeting point for different cultures, languages and beliefs, Located on the furthest west of Turkey, Izmir has combined a western culture with Anatolian traditions.
Known as the hometown of Homer, “the Master of poets”, Izmir is also home to the ancient city of Ephesus, one of the best preserved in the eastern Mediterranean and to Bergama (Pergamon), one of Turkey’s oldest civilized settlements and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The ancient city of Ephesus is unmissable. The city has be enable to protect its splendid architecture dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Its great temple, rebuilt several times, took its last form in the 3rd century B.C. and today it is considered as one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". Among the ruins, you will admire the theater, the gymnasium, the baths, the agora and the library of Celsus.
Kuşadası Bay and its immediate surroundings, named after Kuşadası, are known as centers of art and culture and have hosted many different civilizations since ancient times.
Lelegs in 3000 BC, Aeolians in 11th century BC, Ionians in 9th century BC dominated the region. The area between the Büyük Menderes and Gediz rivers was named Ionian in ancient times. Ionians, who were merchants and sailors, became rich in a short time, thanks to overseas trade and had a superior political power. They established 12 cities called "Ionian Colonies" in history.
Kuşadası was one of the main ports of Anatolia opening to the Mediterranean in ancient times. It was known as Neopolis at that time. In the 7th century BC, the Lydians, whose capital was Sardis, dominated the region.
Persian domination, which started in 546 BC, continued until Alexander the Great conquered all of Anatolia in 334 BC. After that, a brand new era, a brand new understanding of art and culture, as the synthesis of the Greek civilization and the native Anatolian civilization, dominates in Anatolia and this age is called the "Hellenistic Age". Ephesus, Miletus, Priene and Didim are the most famous cities of this period.
In the 2nd century BC, the Romans dominated the region. In the early years of Christianity, the Virgin Mary and her apostles When St. Jean came and settled in Ephesus, this place became a religious center. Miletus was also the Episcopal center in the Christian era. It is known as "Ania" in the Byzantine Age. Kusadasi has been a port used by pirates in the Middle Ages. In the 15th century, the city was named "Scala Nuova" during the time of the Venetians and Genoese.
