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The continuous excavations on the Bayraklı ridges by
Prof. Dr. Ekrem Akurgal
since 1959, the discovery of the Zeus Altar by the German archaeologist
Carl Humman in Pergamon (Bergama) between 1866 and 1878, the discovery of the Seljuk Artemis
Temple in 1869 by the British wood and the continuous excavations by Austrian
archeologists at certain intervals of the city of ancient Ephesus since 1904.
Also many researchers in different universities are still investigating on
the city’s historical development.
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Turkey is one of
the countries in which the world railroad transportation was first practiced. The first
railroad routes in turkey are the ones between Izmir- Aydın and Izmir- Turgutlu, which
began working between 1856 and 1863 during the period of the Ottoman Empire after the
First World War. In the years of the struggle of liberation İzmir underwent a great
wreckage with great destructions and fires. With the driving away of the Greeks by the
leadership of the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on September 9th 1922, Izmir started
to become a modern city of the young Turkish Republic and developed this character more
everyday.
Many legends are known about the derivation of the name of
Izmir. According to the knowledge acquired from scientific studies the word "IZMIR" came
from Smyrna in the ancient Ionian dialect and it was written as Smyrna in the Attikan (around Athens)
dialect. The word Smyrna was not Greek. It came from Anatolian rootb like many other names
in the Agean Region from the texts belonging to 2000 B.C. in the Kultepe
settlement in Kayseri, a place called Tismyrna was come across in the (Ti) at the
beginning was omitted and the city was pronounced as Smyrna. So the city was called Smyrna
the early years of 3000 B.C. or late 1800 B.C In the Turkish era the city was called
Izmir.
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| Smyrna was erected on a much older
city. It was captured and destroyed by Alyattes, king
of Lydia, in 600 and later was
reconstructed and restored. Following the defeat of the Lydians by the
Persians, the
latter seized it before it was eventually taken by Alexander the Great in 334
BC.
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(It is at Bayraklı near Izmir that we see the traces of the first settlements. The
excavations carried out in this place have proved that the initial settlements here dated
back to the 3rd century BC. At the time, the city possessed wide frontiers. The ceramics
of foreign origin discovered in the excavations indicate that the city flourished,
particularly in maritime trade.)
In the years of 3000 B.C. Western
Anatolia was under a big rich Trojan civilization influence. The settlement areas built on
the Agean Coast also developed generally under the Trajan influence. The Etis or the
Hitits which homer wrote about in the iliada, were an active force and civilization in the
Anatolian mountain pastures because the Trojans and Hitits were allies of the Hitits and
they had a big influence on the Agean settlements. As a matter of fact Pitane (Çandarlı) in
the Bakırçay River basin and similiar settlements were built by the Hitits. It is
believed that the Amozons lived in the area between Karya and the Lydians which today is
the sides of the Yamanlar Mountains, and they carried on their existance until the arrival
of the Aiolos and the Ions.
The Aiolos and the Ions who Fled from the Dor invasion around 1000 B.C.,
came from Greece and settled in Izmir and its surroundings. The important Aiol and Ionian
settlements are as follows: Bergama (Pergamon), Manisa (Magnesia), Izmir (Smyrna), Urla (Klazomenai), Kemalpaşa (Nimphaion), Çeşme-Ildır
(Erythrai), Sığacık (Teos), Selçuk (Ephesus).
Until the 7th century B.C. Izmir got richer because of its
trade with its neighbors especially Lydia. Its good neighbor relationships with Lydia
lasted until the Lydians were conquered by the Persians. The Persian sovereignity ended
with Alexander the Greats arrival to Anatolia in 334 B.C. In these years, in which the
Hellenistic period began, a new settlement was formed around todays Kadifekale and
its city walls belong to the Hellenistic period and have undergone many restorations in
the following periods.
It is said that Alexander, while on an hunting
expedition in the surroundings of Kadifekale, felt tired, wanted to take a rest, and fell
asleep. The dream he dreamed, as told by Pausanias, inspired him to lay the foundations of a new city on the
slopes of Kadifekale. The population of the old city had to move to this new
place.
Lysimachos proved faithful and had walls erected which still bear his name. The city grew
and became an important center.
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Smyrna,
taken by the king of Pergamon after Alexander the
Great, passed to the hands of Rome after the fall
of Pergamon. Strabo wrote in the 1st century BC.
that the most beautiful city of Ionia was Smyrna.
Herodotus had the following to say: "I have been all around the world and
realized that the most beautiful part of the earth and the most beautiful sky of the
universe are in Ionia. That must have been the reason for its being the cradle of
civilizations."
Tiberius, Hadrian and Caracalla took a close interest in Smyrna , which was
highly regarded by Rome, and
granted it certain privileges. The city, destroyed in 178 AD was reconstructed later by
Marcus Aurelius and decorated with many beautiful structures. It became an archdiocese in
Christian Byzantine times, The two roads
streching from kadifekale to Ephesus and Sardis were built during the Roman
period. In 324
A.D. after the Roman Empire was divided into two, Izmir had been acquisited by the
Byzantian Empire and Ephesus especially was an important cultural and religious center in
the classic Hellenistic Roman and Byzantian periods. An important
development was not seen
during the Byzantian period. and flourished
during 5th and 6th centuries AD The city, which was tied to the Pergamon Empire
in 197 B.C., passed into the control of the Roman Empire after a short period between 27
B.C. and 324 A.D. Roman control transformed Izmir into an important trade and harbor
city.
For the west, Izmir was seen as the center of Asia. In this qperiod the Agora,
Akropolis, Theather, Stadium, Altınyol and constructions that did not remain up to
now, like the
libraries and the fountains were built during this period. However the city had to undergo the
ill-starred consequences of the Arab
raids and eventually became an ordinary city.
Today excavations are under way at Bayrakli
with the aim of uncovering ancient Smyrna lying beneath the modern city. However it should
be kept in mind that this ancient city is nearly impossible to unearth. Some 30-40 years
ago the theater and the stadium could still be seen but today even this is no longer
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The road, referred to as the "Sacred Road", of 10 meters width that
crossed Smyrna and to which Strabo referred as the most beautiful road he had ever
seen,
was decorated with porticoes that have since been discovered during the excavations in the
environs of Esref Pasa. We know that Smyrna, which was one of the important centers of
trade, possessed under the Romans
had an agora near the harbor. This agora, of which some of the columns have now been
redressed, is still to be seen. The agora
measuring 80 by I20 meters was discovered in 1932 by Prof.
Numan. On the eastern and western facades there stood a
two-storied stoa, which was decorated with two rows of
columns. On the northern side there
is a section 28 meters wide. Beneath the columns to the north, we see stylobates upholding
the arches. A section of 72 meters in the western portico with gates has just been
discovered. The agora was built towards the middle of 2nd century AD and was destroyed by
an earthquake in I78 AD. Later, it was reconstructed by Marcus Aurelius. The
portraits figuring now on the western arches of Marcus Aurelius and of his wife Faustina
bear witness to this. Ancient authors say that an altar dedicated to Zeus stood in the
middle of the Agora in 150 AD.
Eventhough Izmir came into the possession of the Hun Emperor Atilla this
authority did not last long and the city passed into the possession of the
Byzantions.
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Selçuklu Kutalmışoğlu Süleyman Şah in 1076 was the first conquest of Izmir by the
Selçuklu Turks. In the period that the famous sea admiral Çaka Bey was appointed as the
mayor of Izmir, Urla, Foça and the Islands of Sakız (Chaos), Samos and Istankoy were
conquered. After Çakabey’s death the city and its surroundings passed into the possesion
of the Byzantians in 1098. Izmir passed into the possession of the knights at the time
that Istanbul was invaded by the Crusaders. In 1320 the Turkish sailor Umur Bey returned
Izmir from the Catholic knights and added it to the Turkish land. In the period of the principalities Izmir and its nearby surrouning were under the
reign of the Saruhanogullari principality. Pergamon (Bergama) and its surroundings
were tied to Karesioğullari principality. The reign of Izmir and its surroundings
passed into the hands of the Ottoman’s control completely in 1426.
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The following turkish architectural constructions are distinguisthed
exaples of the Turkish culture built during the Ottoman peace. They have adorned Izmir for
centuries: The Hisar Mosque, The Şadırvan Mosque, the Hatuniye
Mosque, the Konak Yalı Mosque, the Kemeraltı Mosque, the Kestane Bazaar
Mosque, the Izmir Clock Tower, the
Kızlarağası Han (Inn & commercial
building), the mirkelamoğlu and Çakaloğlu Inns
and other inns (trade places for spending the night), Bedesten (Ottoman’s special trade
construtions).
Beginning with the 16th century Izmir had an important place in the world
trade.
There was an increase in the consulates of foreign countries especially due to the
capitalations that the Ottoman management provided for Europe. It is known that these
consulates participated in the trade activities and each anchored their ships there
instead of in the inner bay where each foreign ship and it’s own dock.
A castle was built on the narrowest point of the bay to check the ships entering
and leaving the Izmir Bay. New constructions were buillt in the second half of the century
to help developing of the city’s trade.Among these constructions, the most important
examples are the customs building in the 19th century. The sectors of
packing, insurance,
stock and banking were developed in those years.
The artifacts unearthed in the excavations in the environs of Izmir were taken to
the Archeological Museum of Izmir, which is the oldest museum in the
Aegean region. This museum has now moved to its new premises at Konak. This museum must be seen for a proper
understanding of ancient Aegean civilizations |
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