The City of Izmir

Izmir is known as the perl of the country because of the historical and natural beauties is has. It is also among the most important port cities in Turkey, like Antalya, Sinop and Samsun. The date for the establishment of the city is estimated to be about 8500 years ago. As a result of being a very old city, Izmir is the centre of a variety of world heritages.

One of the most important place that is being visited by both local and international visitors is Ephesus, the largest city of the Roman Empire. It is located near to Selcuk. You can go to our post on Ephesus to learn how to get there.

Among the Turkish people, Izmir is called as “beautiful Izmir” since there are many natural beauties. The climate of the city is also good for both summer and winter tourism. The summer is hot and dry where as the winter is mild.

Herodotus, who was also from Izmir stated: “they have founded the city under the most beautiful sky and the best climate that we know on Earth.”

For Roman and Byzantine civilizations, Izmir was a very important place and it also has great importance in the spread of Christianity.

The total land area of the city is 11.973 km2. The districts of Izmir are; Aliağa, Balçova, Bayındır, Bayraklı, Bergama, Beydağ, Bornova, Buca, Çeşme, Çiğli, Dikili, Foça, Gaziemir, Güzelbahçe, Karabağlar, Karaburun, Karşıyaka, Kemalpaşa, Kınık, Kiraz, Konak, Menderes, Menemen, Narlıdere, Ödemiş, Seferihisar, Selçuk, Tire, Torbalı, Urla.