Once upon a time, before the Turks came to Anatolia there were many Greeks on the Aegean Coast. We could tell about many great but today the subject is İzmir, the city that I live in. There were 3 main locations that people used to live in and I will tell you all about them one by one from experience.
1. Smyrna
Smyrna is the central one of these cities. Sadly I don’t have a photograph of it but I can not much is left of the city. It was built by the Ionian Greeks around the 8th century B.C., It remained small and minor, unimportant for a long time. When Alexander the Great came to this city he saw a dream that told him to build walls around it and expand the city. He gave the city its name and built Kadifekale or as it was called “Pagos”. Currently not much of the city nor the walls as I mentioned beforehand.
2. Bergama (Pergamon)
Bergama is the northernmost city in İzmir. The building date of the city is around the 3rd century B.C., It is located on high terrain, on a hill. The city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon giving its name. The main city consists of some homes, a palace, some demos, and a gigantic amphitheater. You can still see most of the city as it was kept good but the German archaeologists stole some statues from the rather mighty city. In the lowlands, there is a Christian basilica and some Egyptian statues but most importantly there is the asklepion healing facilities home to the 2nd greatest library of history and many temples and facilities as it is mentioned in the name.
3. Efes (Ephesus)
Efes is the southernmost city in İzmir. It is also the biggest one homing 200.000 people in the past. It is a port city like Smyrna but much bigger. It was built around the same time as Smyrna but it saw its prime in the Roman era (1st century B.C., 4th century A.D.). It has remarkable homes and buildings but the main spotlights are the Celsus library and the great amphitheatre. There are also terrace homes that remain intact but they cost extra money to enter. You can visit the home of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus as well.
That was the ancient city of İzmir, Thank you for reading. I hope that you learned something new or remembered your previous knowledge or memories.