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Many studies have pointed out that İzmir, which has a history of
several thousand years, was one of the most dominant cities in the region in every
age.
But the exact location of the small city that was established the gulf cannot be
determined. The historian Strabon stated that Old Smyrna was located in the location of
present Kemeraltı arid that Smyrna had 20 stadia from here towards the west up to
the Apollon temple and hot water baths. As a result of the conquest of İzmir by Alyattes
in 570 BC the natives of the city spread out, causing the development of a lot of villages
such as Buca, Bomova etc.. The natives of İzmir whoretumed to the gulf coasts in the year
570 BC began to live in an ordered and planned city in the ages of Antigonos and
Lysimakhos. When we come to the the year 300 AD. İzmir had reached level of the great
cities of the age like İskenderiye and Ephesus. But in those years the city was known by
the name of the daughter of Lysimakhos, Euredikeia, instead of
Smyrna. In the short
period in which the city was known by this name, its streets, perpendicular to each other
were paved with large stones. There were large porticos (large covered areas at the entrance to bulindings with pillars supporting
the roof) with entrances from their upper and
lower levels to the streets. A wooden carving of Homeros was placed on four sides in one
of these structures As far as we know, Homeros is from İzmir and poems about İzmir made
him immortal, also portraying him on bronze coins.
The city was expanding to the sea on one side, and towards the
castle on the other side. The ramparts that extend to the temple of Zeus Akraios continued
until the Meles Stream on the east. While the temple of Akraios opposes the old Jewish
cemetery, and with the west of Bahribaba Park, the name of Meles Stream was given to a
branch that departs from a river which is called by the same name
today, after it passes
the Kemer Bridge. This small stream was named Tabakhane Lake or Boyacı Stream and reached
the sea from the Basmane region through the Fair area and Vasıf Çınar
Boulevard. In
other words it reached the sea from the east side of the region. According to
this, the
length of the city coast was 1750m. In addtion to this, there was an interior harbour of
1250m.
The ramparts that protected this highly developed city, with the
exception of the castle on Pagos mountain extended 5 km. However, there wasn't a sewerage
system as seen in most of the ancient cities. For this reason on rainy days the city was
always dirty. Despite this, with its theatre, Agora, Gymnasion and Metroon it dominated
the region.
The city worn out the events experienced in Small Asia, expanded
after the age of Augustus. This expansion continued until the establishment of the
Byzantium Empire and its early ages. A lot of temples were built in the
city. Fire,
earthquakes and epidemics often were seen, causing physical and social
damage. Yet in
spite of all this İzmir was chosen as the first and "neokrat" city of Asia for
the 3rd time in 222 BC. The period of relative decline in the age of Byzantium continued
until late l8th century with some exceptions. The city lived in a
semi-free state until
the Ottomans took İzmir and the hinterland under their control. Independent cities and
principalities existed in the hinterland at this time. As İzmir was the door to these
principalities, opening to the outside, it was safe from most of the strife between these
feudal entities. The city was subject to a few Arabian attacks before the Turks were seen
in the region. Although İzmir was included in the lands of the Byzantium Empire
during this time it resembled a colonial city. The harbour under the control of the
Genoese and the simple castle was enlarged between the years of 1231 and 1235.
West
Anatolian products that accumulated inside and outside the castle were transported to
Europe by Genoese ships. The character of life in the city became monotone and everyone
was involved in the transportation business to some extend. No improvements were made during these
years.The Roman city walls
decayed day. The stones of these ramparts and other splendid buildings were used to repair
the harbour and other buildings. For example, as the theatre of the city was no longer
used its materiai dismantled and removed. In the early l4th century by the treaty of
Nymphoeon, the Geneose possessed all rights to İzmir (1261). As a result of this treaty
the Genoese built a trade distric the the harbour castle. This activity was the most
influential development undertaken for But after the 1300's the powerful struggles between
the Genoese and the Turks created handi-caps with respect to the development of the
city. Kadifekale, which had been left and ruined the coast was restored during this period and
settled by the Turks. This settlement became was the son of Ahmet, in the castle in 1379.
In 1390 Beyazıt included the Castle into the Ottoman lands.
In 1424 the first Turkish coin was minted in İzmir. In 1426 the
harbour castle had passed to the Ottomans but trade was still in the hands of the
Genoese.
While Ottoman domination influenced the city, the issue of the capitulations began to make
create changes in the structure of the Ottoman cites of the interior. When the coastal
cities were developing, İzmir was the foremost settlement due to the state of its
infrastructure. The rapid capitalism that was also seen in Europe also caused the
development of these cities through trade relations.
Developments of this age can be examined in three seperate
parts. The
first one is the arrival of a party of European tradesman and members of religious
institutions to İzmir, the second is the bulinding of splendid
socio-cultural and
commercial buildings possessing symbolic value and the third is the entrance of foreing
powers and capital in West Anatolion trade and attaining dominance. The establishment of
Netherlands Royal Church in 1612, the arrival of the Jesuits to İzmir in 1623, the
establishment of England Royal Church in 1625 and the building of St. Polycarpe can be
given as examples. Of course the biggest influence here is the establishmerıt of the
Levant Company by the English in 1581 and the establishment of the Compagnie d'Orient by
the French in 1666. These commercial foundations prevented people trading independently in
their own right and thereby controlled trade. The establishment of this system based on
the monopolistic practies, in İzmir attracted foreign merchants that had previously
settled in Sakız (Chios) Island. In the l7th century İzmir entered a stable
period. The
taxation and customs systems were advantageous for the foreign
merchants, therefore
trading in Sakız Island became equal with trading in İzmir. As the consulates of
countries came to İzmir following the companies, families settled on Sakız Island that
came from cities possessing certain concessions and developed on the basis of
trade, for
example Venice, Marseilles, Geneva and Livorno began to move to İzmir. This movement
increased especially after the Ottomans gave permission allowing the possesion of property
by foreigners. After 1857, these families had large European styled houses on large tracts
of land in the outskirts of İzmir. We see families like the Giraud,
Charlton, Bealhomme, Whitall, Chaumaud, Patterson and Baltacı among
these. Some of the families had so
increased the capital that they earned in this time that, they settled in Istanbul among
the Galata Bankers and began lending money to the Ottomans.
The second subject we mentioned was the construction of splendid
buildings for the operation of the trade and the strorage of goods that came to İzmir
from the hinterland for export. The construction of buildings like Büyük Vezir Han,
Küçük Vezir Han (1678), Kızlar Ağası Hanı
(1744) and Çuhacılar Bedesten was done
with the remaining stones from the antique theatre. In addition to the numerous churches
in the city the Ottoman religious foundation built many mosques in İzmir. The most
splendid of these were Hisar Mosque (1592), Şadırvan Mosque
(1636), Başoturak Mosque
(1652), and the Kestanepazarı Mosque
(1667). At this same time when the Ottomans were
expanding to dominate the sea, they were confronted by the Venetians. The Venetian fleet
that attacked İzmir in 1472, came again in 1694 and conquered the Sakız Island near
İzmir. Because of this, the Sancak Castle built in 1650 was later strengthened and
customs buildings were built.
The third element that had an effect on the development of the city
was the increasing strength of the notables that controlled the agricultural lands and
areas in the region. In the 18th century. Jews like Isac Ağa could be seen alongside
Muslims like Araboğlu and Karaosmanoğlu. These powerful men who were carrying out
cultivation in agreement with the European merchants controlled the land and the
raw-materials of their large estates. The economic developments of the period organisied the city of İzmir
as an export harbour. The import goods that entered the city consisted mainly of
clothing.
The organisation and distribution of these was in the hands of Greeks from Sakız and this
group had taken the scattered trade into their hands. From the end of the l8th century
onwards the Greek population coming from the islands to the agricultural lands of Anatolia
for work were employed in the settlement of these European merchants in İzmir and
Anatolian cities. Gradually a wholesale Greek trade group was created in İzmir. Therefore
as we enter the l9th century, we can see that trade in İzmir had revived and splendid
buildings, especially caravanserais and residences had increased in
number. Minority
groups no longer needed the protection of the consulates or the Levant
Companies. This
resultd in the abolution of the Levant Company in 1825. The Ottoman-England commercial
treaty was signed in 1838. As a result of this, minorities were no longer dependent upon
state controlled companies the Levant Company. The groups mostly harmed by this treaty
were the Greek, Armenian and Jewish groups. Up until then these groups had carried out the
business of the Italian, French, Jewish and other foreigners during Ottoman
rule. The life
in İzmir also changed after 1838. New houses were built and areas
opened to
improvement and the banking sector developed.
The first organized trade fleets coming from Europe to İzmir, began
travelling in these years. The Aynard brothers began to carry out this business in 1829.
In the same year Humbert Giraud trading with Marseilles established Semaphore C.A. In 1835
shipping companies working overseas beqan to call at İzmir. The French qovernment entered
the business building 10 steam shins toward this aim in 1835. Every month three voyages
were undertaken from Merseilles, the voyage taking 11 days. In 1866, we see that the
Management İzmir Karantina moved to Urla from the district of the military hospital and
that ships waited here according to the route they had travelled. Sometimes this took up
10 days.
The loading and unloading of the ships that came to İzmir which did
not have a developed har bour created problems. In 1867 an agreement was signed to
built a new harbour ito replace the old harbour which was in a ruined
stacte. Previously there were lots of houses with gardens on the
shore. According to the
agreement signed with the Ottoman Empire the customs building and harbour were to be
completed on 13 March 1880. All rights were to belonging to the Dussand brothers who were
the construction firm. Although the harbour of İzmir was found to be favourable with
respect to town planning and development techniques it was decided that the south entrance
was not suitable for the entrance of the ships. Because of this, all the entrances were
directed to the northern gate. An area in the port 3,245 m by 100 m was gained from the
sea. The areas created as a result of this filling were sold by the company and to
increase the profit, plots were created parallel to the sea.
Consequently, these areas
were filled with buildings and a city structure contrary to the traditional street system
of İzmir was created. The front sides of the streets running perpendicular to the sea was
closed and the newly established I. and II. Kordon Streets prevented the İmbat breeze
from entering the inner parts of the city.
The developing city created a new transportation systems as a
result of the construction of the harbour. The Steam Ship establishment founded in the
gulf in 1884 for the harbour, worked as a Turkish-Armenian partnership under the name of
Hamidiye Company until the May/15/1919 when it was transferred to the Guffray Harbour
Company. French Street and Sultan Street lost their positions as streets on
İzmir's waterfront. It is known that the minority groups lived on this road beginning
from the Customs Building and continuing towards the shore. The two faces of İzmir could
be seen here. It was here that Western life coexisted with the mystical air of East.
French Street was the backbone of the West and Kemeraltı Street was the backbone of the
Turks. Like French Street, Kemeraltı Street which had also been on the waterfront became
an inner street as a result of the fillings in the harbour. We know that this street and
harbour existed when Timur (Tamerlane) came to İzmir with his
army. The castle founded on
the entrance of the harbour was no longer a waterfront castle in 1830's. In 1872, already
in ruins it was demolished and 40 the houses inside it was given to a charitable
foundation. This castle area where the old municipality building of İzmir was
built was demolished leaving an influential name and economic order behind it. Even today
we can see the foundations that controlled the economy of İzmir. A new economic order was growing in the areas created by the fılling
of the harbour. The inner harbour that wasn't being used when the traveller Tuornefort
came to İzmir in 1701 because it was partially marshy was gradually filled with buildings
plot by plot The harbour that was closed from here on by a chain was invaded by the
warehouse buildings and caravanserais which stored agricultural products prior to
export.
These huge buildings which were built haphazardly from rough stones symbolised the
transformation from traditional Ottoman-Seljuk type of commercial buildings to
warehouses.
Markets in these areas introduced new technology to Anatolian to
visit. The sale of iron
tools were seen towards the middle of the l9th Century. Coal, a luxury product in that age
was sold here to replace wood as fuel as was another luxury good;
sugar. Kestane pazarı,
the market surrounding the city's main mosque in which were sold the
farmers' grains and
seeds was the meeting place of the Anatolian people who dependent on agriculture for their
existence.
For Anatolian people who came from the hinterland to the city centre
was a place of symbolic value to visit, before retuming to the village with sugar and
cloth thay had purchased here. The second consumer market was in the surrounding area of
the Hisar Mosque. Here Jews took their place among other groups of sellers establishing a
jewelery market. In the general understanding this is a traditional market place with the
guild system of shops, members of the same trade placed in a but it is not a good example
of the classical traditional Ottoman market.
The city that was formed after the early 19th century gradually
increased its relationship with Anatolia. Aydın and Manisa were the two main cities in
the hinterland. The European desire to reach the Aegean which had large
ore-beds in
addition to rich agricultural lands forced the Ottomans to accept the new technology and
the building of the railways of Manisa and Aydın. So many projects were underway in this
period that a state of confusion characterised the empire. Even the tunnel project to
connect Anatolia and Thrace was suggested to the Sultan in 1901. In addition to the railway lines of Aydın and Manisa proposals for
the Çanakkale and Çeşme railways were made. For example the Çanakkale line proposal
included the operation rights of the mines and forests in a twenty kilometer belt on the
left and right sides of the railway line. These rights would belong to the construction
company. İzmir was developing by opening to the outside
world. Post offices
of many countries were built in addition to their consultates.
European fashion was coming to this culturally developed city in
spite of the difficulties of providing it. Cultural life was sometimes very active and we
see theatres especially in the summer months in Buca and İzmir in the early l9th
Century.
These buildings were developed further by the minority groups after the middle of the
century. Kordon was the theatre district in İzmir. The Cammarano
theatre, opened in 1861,
was the second such building in the city after the Kivitos Theatre located in
Punta. Both
of these buildings were lost by fire, one of them in 1884 and the other in 1863. But
İzmir was already building its splendid new theatres at I. Kordon when these burned
down.
The most important of these were İzmir Theatre, Kramer Theatre, Sporting Club
Theatre,
Pathe Cinema and Theatre and Theatre and Turkish Theatre in Kordon near Pasaport
district.
Later on, Sakarya and Teyyare Cinemas were also built in the I. Kordon.
In the early 20 th century the situation didn't change and a series
of decisions taken during the World War was not effective in securing the Ottoman
dominance in İzmir. Stability in the city was lost with the presence of the Greek army in
the city from 1919 until 1922, and the life of the city stopped completely by the fıre in
1922. Most of the groups that held the control of the economy and the industry of İzmir
in their hands left the city with their capital. Likewise the cultural life of the city
ceased. As a result, İzmir entered a social depression. The families that possessed large
capital like the Marcopoli, Aliotti, Convalle, Dellagrammatica, Hacı
Costi, Bosovich de
Cramer and Keyser families had left the city as did many other banks. Other industrial
groups like Caramaniola, Rankin, Issigonis, Foscolo, Ollivier,
Patterson, Athanossoula, Mangonioti, Wittall, Leonidopulos, Yovonaki and Lipovac and many other
families followed in the same way.
The young Turkish State held the first Economic Congress that it
organised to give direction to the national economy in İzmir in March 1923. The efforts
to restore this ruined city that had three quarters of it burnt began in the following
way: Sewage of 1,800 m, raods totalling 403,000 m2, and a total of 7125 buildings were to
be constructed in the ten years of this project beginning after 1923. The
construction plans of the ruined and burnt out parts, were completed in a short time and
construction began in 1927. Osmaniye Street with a width of 8m had been the largest street
in İzmir's industrial area. The streets that replaced it on the new plan were Gazi
Bulvarı (38 m), Fevzi Paşa Bulvarı
(30 m) and I. Kordon Street
(30 m). They were to be
the largest streets in the city. Apart from these the municipality purchased an area of 40.000m2 and
it built apartment houses in the districts of Çayırlıbahçe and Kahramanlar. These 400
houses were the models of houses to be rebuilt in the area destroyed.
Illumination by electricity replaced the previously existing coal gas system
but was not fully operational until 1935. A new concept was emerging from the new architectural plans in the
allocation of new usable areas and new roads. The İzmir exhibition centre
(the area of
the Fair today)
the seeds of which were planted in 1923 demonstrates this
clearly. The exhibition that was opened as 1933, the Fair of September 9 th was located in
the area of the fıre. An area of 32.00m2 was reserved behind the Atatürk Statue in
Cumhuriyet Square (opened in July 28,
1932). The fair that was opened on this area was
transformed to the area of a park by the name of Culture Park. As this space was not
enough, the area was extended and a green area was created in the centre of the
city. This
place was also included to the Fair.
Until the decade of 1950's, İzmir was concerned with the restoration
of the areas destroyed by fire.. Meanwhile, settlements like Buca, Bornova, Güzelyalı and
Karşıyaka were rapidly developing.. Güzelyalı line was connected to the city in a very
short time due to its favourable position. Karşıyaka had difficulties with
transportation, but it could be reached both land and sea. Buca and Bornova were filled
with the houses of the rich minority families. Roads and railway lines were laid
here. After the1950's, private trade begun to grow rapidly. As a result of
the global developments after the World War II, İzmir needed to draw up a new city plan
in its new internatianal setting. In twenty years the population of İzmir had doubled and
the city now extended as far as the Sarıkışla, Güzelyalı and the outskirts of
Kadifekale districts. In the 1950's a town planing competition was organised and revision
of this work created the basis for the developments we are witnessing
today. In accordance
with this, Bayraklı, the harbour of Alsancak and the area behind it were chosen to be the
business area. This area includes large storage and business centres. As the Fair is a
permanent green area, the city shifted towards Güzelyalı. Buca and Bornova, like Karşıyaka, were merged with the
city. Konak
Square was protected as the historical and physical centre of the city after the
construction of Clock-tower.
After this period, industry also grew in the city and industrial
foundations like Çimentaş and Metaş led this development. Numerous factories were
established with foreign participation and settled in the east of the
city. We can count Cevher, CMS, Tuborg, Botaş, BMC, Elbo,
Dizelsan, and Pınar among these. The city also developed
rapidly together with the gradually accelerating industry and as the population reached
two million, 42% of which were living in unhealthy slum areas known as
"gecekondu".
Today İzmir has developed with Konak as its centre; and the inner
area, shaped like the fingers of a hand. Twenty eight percent of the population lives in
Karşıyaka, eighteen percent in Buca and eleven percent in Bornova.
3.114.859 people live in İzmir today. The average density is 416 people per
hectare. 32 % of the working population deals with trade. Industry is in
third place with 23% and the service sector is first with 38%. The total labour force in
proportion to the population is about 32%. It is estimated that the population of İzmir
will be 4,300,000 in the year 2010.
İzmir will continue to be the centre of this region towards the year
2001. But this time it's hinterland region will not be the region of l7th, l8th and l9th
centuries. İzmir had an hierarchical relationship with its
hinterland, co-existing in a
stable interdependent socio-economic and cultural balance. A balance which saw the city
feed from it and feed it. The hinterland is no longer the relatively closed system and has
entered into open relation with the outside system like İzmir
itself. İzmir has again
become a city that will exist not by itself but together with its
region. In the east, in the region of Kemalpaşa the industrial area is
extending. On this site, the first organised industrial zone of İzmir has been developed
and this region extends as for as the Aliağa industrial settlement. Again this area
accommodates the collective residential areas that include more than ten thousand
houses.
The region that is known as Egekent is a settlement of 40,000 people. The project of
Ev-ka
near by, has provided 3145 homes to the residents. These projects considered to be help
ful in preventing shanty haphazard housing, cover an area of 115
hectares. It is estimated
that 60.000 people will live in the total area. Another similar area of this kind exits in
Bornova where 1408 houses have been built. There are also 9700 such houses in Buca.
The Western extension is the most densely occupied part of İzmir.
There are large forests on the southem side. This region, showing a linear extension
parallel to the shore ends with the recreational areas of İzmir. In the summer months
there is dense traffic on this line. Another special feature of this region are the
Balçova baths.
The Southern side is a region where industrial and residential areas
have developed together . The forests and agricultural lands in this region are factors
that have prevented development. The Airport and the Tahtalı Dam, which will intersect in
the following years, are located in this area. Due to the existence of the
airport, The
Duty Free Region is also settled here. The industries based on agriculture were leaving their places to the
production of intermediery and investment products, in this development
period. The developments that are seen in the new settlements in the
surroundings of the city were increasing due to the new transportation
facilities. This
situation led to the creation of new market places in the city.
İzmir became a densely populated city in the last years. Big
problems started to emerge in the areas of the old city because of this
increase. The main
policy that is adopted in the city is to decrease the density of the city by planning
decisions. İzmir extending densely and vertically is unable to give the humanitarian life
standards to its residents. Due to this, settlements in the surroundings like Kemalpaşa,
Seferihisar, Menemen and Torbalı are to be the centres that will decrease the burden of
İzmir. The activities and connections of transportation developing in these settlements
will pull the population in a certain extend. Urla, in this order is giving service to the
macro decisions of the planning by attracting residence settlements.
İzmir is now a new city. First of all the developments in
transportation and industry pulled the city life into a different
dimension. In spite of
this İzmir is still a regional distribution and collection centre. The city has gained a
regional metropole identity by adding its cultural activity to its econonomic functions
through two universities and a technology institute. |
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