Ancient Cities in Turkey
İzmir, historically Smyrna, city in western Turkey. The country’s third largest city and one of its largest ports, İzmir lies at the head of the sheltered Gulf of İzmir on the deeply indented coast of the Aegean Sea. Pop. (2000) 2,232,265; (2013 est.) 2,803,418.
İzmir is one of the oldest cities of the Mediterranean world and has been of almost continuous historical importance during the last 5,000 years. Excavations indicate settlement contemporary with that of the first city of Troy, dating from the 3rd millennium BCE. Greek settlement is first clearly attested by the presence of pottery dating from about 1000 BCE. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Greek city was founded by Aeolians but soon was seized by Ionians. From modest beginnings, it grew into a stately city in the 7th century, with massive fortifications and blocks of two-storied houses.
Captured by Alyattes of Lydia about 600 BCE, it ceased to exist as a city for about 300 years until it was refounded by either Alexander the Great or his lieutenants in the 4th century BCE at a new site on and around Mount Pagus (modern Kadifekale; 540 feet [165 metres]). It soon emerged as one of the principal cities of Asia Minor (Anatolia) and was later the centre of a civil diocese in the Roman province ofAsia, vying with Ephesus and Pergamum for the title “first city of Asia.” Roman emperors visited there, and it was celebrated for its wealth, beauty, library, school of medicine, and rhetorical tradition. The stream of Meles is associated in local tradition with Homer, who is reputed to have been born by its banks. Smyrna was one of the early seats of Christianity.
Smyrna; is the ancient name of Izmir which is not only one of the earliest settlements but also one of the most beautiful cities of the Aegean Region.
