THE AEGEAN REGION OF TURKEY

The Aegean Region Aegean Region is one of the 7 census-defined regions of Turkey. It is located in the west part of the country, bounded by Aegean sea (Ege Denizi) on the west, Marmara region on the north, Mediterranean region on the south & southwest and Central Anatolia region on the east.

Many would agree that the coastal region of the Aegean has some of the most stunning views in the country and, in the words of Heredotus, "have the most beautiful sky and the best climate in the world." The bays peninsulas, and golden beaches stretchthe length of coastline and this region was also the venue of countless mythological events. There are remains of ancient cities including Troy, immortalised by Homer, and Pergamum, the art and cultural centre and capital of one of the most powerfulkingdoms at the time.

The provinces in the Aegean region are Afyon, Aydin, Denizli, Izmir, Kutahya, Manisa, Mugla and Usak.Situated in Edremit bay is Ayvalik, the meeting point of the sea, the theraputic springs of Akcay, and pine forests, which has been dubbed the olive-grove Riviera. To the south are countless resorts, then further south is Foca, famous for the heroicTurkish sailors who were based here. Sardis, the capital of the wealthy Lydian king Croesus, is a small detour inland.

Located in a narrow bay, Izmir is a modern city and the third largest in Turkey, as well as the major part on the Aegean. It brims with life and is a busy commercial centre, with broad boulevards and modern architecture, combined with the traditionalred-tiled roofs of the old houses in the bazaar area. The peninsula of Çesme with its brilliant waters, superb beaches and thermal springs, lies to the west of Izmir.

Among the most famous cities of the ancient world, Ephesus was one of the biggest during the Roman era. A treasury of all the riches of Ionian culture, Ephesus had a reputation for philosophy and critical thinking. The Temple of Artemis, one of theseven wonders of the ancient world, as well as countless statues, theatres, libraries, markets and smaller temples were all architectural symbols of the city's fame. Further to the south is the ancient city of Priene, built according to a geometricplan designed by the great architect of Milet, Hippodamos. Milet was a great centre of commerce and thought in the ancient world, and was the venue of many significant developments, scientific and intellectual.

The nearby Didim, though not one of theancient cities, is still famous for its magnificent temple dedicated to Apollo.On the Izmir-Antalya road, Aphrodisias (Geyre) was an important centre for culture and art famous for its training in sculpture. On the same road is the world-famous Pamukkale, with its calcium-rich thermal waters flowing out of the mountain whichhave, over centuries, created an extraordinary geographical phenomenon of

white marble terraces.

The ruins of the ancient city of Hierapolis lie behind this.The best known holiday resorts in this area are Bodrum, Marmaris, Datca, Koycegiz and Fethiye, and private boats can be chartered to explore the bays of the south Aegean, immortalised in the book Mavi Yolculuk (Blue Voayge). Bodrum (ancient Halikarnas)is the birthplace of the great historian Heredotus. 

The mausoleum of King Mausolos was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Marmaris is a lively resort with a modern marina surrounded by lush mountains and crystal-clear waters,and further south is the bay of Oludeniz, famous for watersports and paragliding, and the coastal town of Fethiye.

Afyonkarahisar Province

Afyonkarahisar, also called more simply Afyon, is a province in western Turkey.

Adjacent provinces are Kütahya to the northwest, Uşak to the west, Denizli to the southwest, Burdur to the south, Isparta to the southeast, Konya to the east, and Eskişehir to the north. The provincial capital is Afyonkarahisar. It covers an area of 14.230 km², and the population is about 701,326 (2009 est).

Afyonkarahisar castle hill

Rock tombs in the village of

Ayazin/Afyonkarahisar

Countryside from Kocatepe hill

Gedik Ahmed Pasha Mosque in Afyon

Aydın Province

Aydın is a province of southwestern Turkey, located in the Aegean Region. The provincial capital is the city of Aydın which has a population of approx. 150,000 (2000). Much of the countryside is an attractive mix of fig, olive and citrus trees, especially figs. Other towns in the province include the summer seaside resorts of Didim and Kuşadası.

History of the AydınAydın was founded by the ancient Thracians and was once known as Tralles. The area is an earthquake zone and the city was built and rebuilt by a succession of Spartans, Phrygians,Ionians, Lydians, Persians and Ancient Romans. In 1186 the Seljuk Turks took control of the area, followed by the Anatolian beylik of the Aydınoğlu. During this period the town was named Aydın Güzelhisar, and was brought into the Ottoman Empire in 1426.

Temple of Apollo in Didim

Kuşadası

Temple of Aphrodite in Aphrodisias

Denizli ProvinceDenizli is a province of Turkey in Western Anatolia, on high ground above the Aegean coast. Neighbouring provinces are Uşak to the north, Burdur, Isparta, Afyon to the east, Aydın, Manisa to the west and Muğla to the south. It is located between the coordinates 28° 30’ and 29° 30’ E and 37° 12’ and 38° 12’ N. It covers an area of 11,868 km², and the population is 926,362. The population was 750,882 in 1990. The provincial capital is the city of Denizli.

History of the DenizliAntiquityThere are traces of prehistoric cultures throughout the province, including evidence of pre-Hittite cultures and the Hittites themselves. The Hittites were followed by Phrygians, Lydians and Persians, and then cities founded by the ancient Greeks and Alexander the Great. The first real settlement was the city of Laodicea on the Lycus which was established by King Antiochus II for his wife Laodice. Laodicea is located 6 km north of the city of Denizli.The city of Hierapolis was established around 190 BC by the Pergamene Kingdom, one of the Hellenistic states of Anatolia. The calcified terraces and pools of Pamukkale (Cotton Castle) now stand below the ruins of Hierapolis. The two cities, Laodicea and Hierapolis later came under Roman rule, and with the division of the Empire in 395 were left within the boundaries of the East Roman Empire.

The Christian era

The province has strong biblical connections: in the Book of Revelation, John the Evangelist hears a loud voice which sounded like a trumpet when he was on the island of Patmos. The voice says: "Write down what you see and send the book to the Churches in these seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea". The Church of Laodicea was a sacred place even in pre-Christian times, and is still visited by Christians today, although it lost its importance to a great extent during Byzantine rule.

The Turkish eraTurks were first seen in Denizli in 1070 when Afşın Bey, under the control of the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan, raided the area. The second and third Crusades fought here against Kazıkbeli, who managed to flee with a small force to Antalya. Later, after the Turks had established control of the ancient cities, they moved south to the site of the present city of Denizli, where drinking water was brought through stone pipes. The name Laodicea slowly changed into “Ladik” then since the 17th century other names were given “Tonguzlu”, ”Tonuzlu”, ”Tenguzlug”, ”Donuzlu” and finally “Denizli”.After World War I, when the Greek army arrived in İzmir on May 15, 1919, one of first centres of Turkish resistance formed at an open air meeting in Denizli. A Turkish militia formed lines on the Menderes organized by Yörük Ali and Demirci Efe, involving large numbers of volunteers from the local peasantry. Stiffened by the Turkish regular army, Greek forces were repelled, and Denizli remained in Turkish hands throughout the Greco-Turkish War.

Limestone terraces in Karahayıt,

Denizli

Pamukkale below the ruins of

Hierapolis

Ruins of Tripolis of Phrygia near

Yenicekent

İzmir Provinceİzmir is a province of Turkey in western Anatolia on the Aegean coast, whose capital is the city of İzmir (ancient Smyrna). On the west it is surrounded by the Aegean sea, and it encloses the Gulf of İzmir. Its area is 11,973 km.2, population 3.868.308 (2009 tüik census). The population was 3,370,866 in 2000. Neighbouring provinces are Balıkesir on the north, Manisa on the east, and Aydın on the south. The traffic code of the province is 35.The main rivers of the province are Küçük Menderes river, Koca Çay (with Güzelhisar dam), and Bakır Çay.

History of the İzmirThe area was first settled by local Anatolians, milleninum later Ionian Greeks in about the 11th century BCE who established the League of Ionia. It was later conquered by the Persians, retaken by the Greeks, before being subsumed into the Roman Empire. After the split of the Roman Empire, the area became part of the Byzantine Empire until conquered by theOttoman Turks in the 14th century. Following the First World War the province was ceded to Greece, but was retaken by the forces of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the Turkish War of Independence. As a result of the Treaty of Lausanne all Greek Orthodox inhabitants of the province had to leave, and İzmir Province was incorporated into the modern republic of Turkey

Çeşme

Urla

Konak

Foça

Kütahya Province

Kütahya is a province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is 11,889 km² in size, and the population is 571,804 (2009 est). In 1990, Kütahya had a population of 578,020.

Manisa ProvinceManisa Province is a province in western Turkey. Its neighboring provinces are İzmir to the west, Aydın to the south, Denizli to the south east, Uşak to the east, Kütahya to the north east, and Balıkesir to the north. The seat of the province is the city ofManisa.

Muğla Province

Muğla is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about 20 km (12 miles) inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, are on the coast in Muğla.

History of the Muğla

In ancient times in Anatolia, the region between the Menderes (Meander) and Dalaman (Indus) rivers in the south was called Caria. The inhabitants were Carians and Leleges. In his Iliad, Homer describes the Carians as natives of Anatolia, defending their country against Greeks in joint campaigns in collaboration with the Trojans.

A major city of ancient Caria, Muğla is known to have been occupied by raiding parties of Egyptians, Assyrians and Scythians, until eventually the area was settled by Ancient Greek colonists. The Greeks inhabited this coast for a long time building prominent cities, such as Knidos (at the end of the Datça Peninsula and Bodrum (Halicarnassos), as well as many smaller towns along the coast, on the Bodrum Peninsula and inland, including in the district of Fethiye the cities of Telmessos, Xanthos, Pataraand Tlos. Eventually the coast was conquered by Persians who were in turn removed by Alexander the Great, bringing an end to thesatrapy of Caria.

In 1261 CE, Menteşe Bey, founder of the Beylik (principality) that carried his name, with its capital in Milas, established his rule over the region of Muğla as well. The beys of Menteşe held the city until 1390 and this, the first Turkish state in the region, achieved a high level of cultural development, its buildings remaining to this day. The province also became a significant naval power, trading with the Aegean Islands, Crete and as far as Venice and Egypt. Turkish settlement during the Menteşe period usually took place through migrations along the Kütahya-Tavas axis.

In 1390, Muğla was taken over by the Ottoman Empire. However, just twelve years later, Tamerlane and his forces defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Ankara, and returned control of the region to its former rulers, the Menteşe Beys, as he did for other Anatolian beyliks. Muğla was brought back under Ottoman control by Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, in 1451. One of the most important events in the area during the Ottoman period was the well-recorded campaign of Süleyman the Magnificent against Rhodes, which was launched from Marmaris.

With this long history Muğla is rich in ancient ruins, with over 100 excavated sites including the UNESCO World Heritage Site ofLetoon, near Fethiye.

Coast in Muğla province (near Dalaman)

Typical Muğla coastal scene

Typical Muğla inland landscape

Marmaris

Fethiye

Datça

Bodrum

Uşak Province

Uşak is a province in western Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Manisa to the west, Denizli to the south, Afyon to the east, and Kütahya to the north. The provincial capital is Uşak, and its traffic code is 64. The province covers an area of 5,341 km² and has a population of 335,860 (2009 est). The population was 322,313 in 2000.

Banaz

Sivaslı

Gallery