Today marks the first day of cold weather in Izmir. It's about 35 fahrenheit out and really windy off the water. The mountains have snow and I'm told that a little even made it into the city. I didn't get a chance to witness any of this because I was busy doing as little as possible in the warm cocoon of my apartment. My plans are to drink plenty of tea and update everybody on where I've been in the last two months.
First:
Izmir Agora
I visited an outdoor museum in my hometown of Izmir. It's worth going into a little bit of the history of the city itself to fully explain the Agora. Volumes can and have been written about these topics and I'm just paraphrasing to make the pictures more interesting. I'm not an archaeologist, historian or theologian. I'm just a guy taking pictures.
Once upon a time there was this guy named Jesus. He had a servant named John and, while living on the island of Patmos just off the coast of modern-day Turkey he instructed John to;
"Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." -Revelation 1:11
John had a vision of something or someone called the Son of Man. This Son of Man walked among seven lamp stands and carried seven stars in his right hand. The lamp stands represented the churches of these seven cities and the stars represented the angels sent to protect them. John would eventually send seven letters to these churches that addressed the angels directly. All follow the same format. They appear in the book of revelations.
Approximately 3000 years before that, Smyrna was inhabited. Some say the original founders were Amazons and that "Smyrna" was a variation on an Amazon queens name "Smurna." Around 1500 BC the city was under the influence of the Hittites as evidenced by two reliefs.
Around 1100 BC; Old Smyrna was founded as an Aeolian settlement. The Aeolians were one of four major Greek tribes. The location is easy to defend and a fantastic port so it's always been very popular as a strategic point in Anatolia. 700 years later Alexander the Great would decide that a new city foundation was in order. He founded the new Smyrna a short distance away.
Both locations flourished in the same bay area where current Izmir is located. The outdoor museum that I visited represents the core of Izmir during Roman and Hellenistic times but excavations are ongoing (as of 1997) to learn more about Smyrna in its earlier days. Sort of a challenge because there's a city on top of everything. Anyway...
There was an Agora in every major Greek city. They were places for people to gather and served an important function in Greek society. Free-born male landowner citizens (sorry ladies) would gather at the Agora for military drills and or service assignments. This would also be the place to hear the latest announcements about the goings on in the kingdom or rulings by whoever was in charge at the time. It was a marketplace, a center for teaching and a place for artistic activities.
This particular Agora would have been constructed during the Hellenistic period which began after Alexander's death around 332 BC. Things were built to last back then.
The whole structure is really impressive and well worth the three lira admission price.
Original terra cotta plumbing (As seen in Ephesus) still had a natural spring running through the place. It's difficult to imagine going from this to the Dark Ages.
Another beautiful Mosaic from a more recently excavated part of the ruins.
Many of the passages are still very well preserved.
This slab was an opening to the sewer system below the agora. A metal prybar would be inserted into the two holes and the slab could be lifted. I recognize them from Ephesus.
This Roman Basilica would have been used by imperial officials, city magistrates and businessmen. 160m long and 28m wide, it had three stories. With the exception of the Basilica of Trajan at Rome, it was the largest known basilica in the Roman empire.
Only the ground floor remains now.
One of Izmir's many mosques. This one was visible from the ruins.
Roman Graffiti on an ancient Greek part of the Agora.
The engraving reads "Praise to Dhamokharis!
O judge Dhamokharis famous with his skills!
This success also belongs to you:
After the awful (mortal) disasters of an earthquake
With a very diligent work
You also succeeded in making a city out of Smyrna again."
550 A.D.
Historically Izmir has been devastated by many earthquakes. The most notable happened in 178 AD. Marcus Aurelius funded the reconstruction of the city then.
The number of unassembled pieces laying around waiting to be categorized and put together is pretty amazing.
Notice the different styles put together. Turks and Germans do most of the excavations.
I don't know their significance. But they look pretty cool.
When the Ottomans took control of the city, they made the agora area into a graveyard. This is part of the reason it has remained so well preserved. The arabic calligraphy on each f the headstones is really beautiful.
There were quite a few headstones. Notice the turbans. I think there's supposed to be one on top of each headstone.
It's really incredible to see so many different civilizations built on top of each other.
Second:
Bostanlı
Skate or Die
So I've covered a lot of historical sites but what does day-to-day life look like in Izmir? I think many westerners hear "Turkey" and think of some sort of impoverished desert. Like anywhere else, Turkey has its problems but here are a few photos to give you an idea of what you might expect to see in Izmir.
The whole city is shaped by Izmir Bay. Notice Mustafa Kemal Boulevard curving at the waters edge.
Beautiful mountains rise behind the city on all sides. The green spot rising out of the city in the foreground is ACI campus. At one time it was an olive orchard. Our facilities manager still bottles the oil.
Karşıyaka is the other side of town. It sits across the water from Göztepe, where I live. The green hill rising on the right is a park. Velvet castle is not far away.
Izmir is similar to many other modern cities of comparable size. Are you surprised that all the signs are in western characters? You might be surprised to know that Turkey, as a country is only 88 years old and that one of the radical reforms proposed and enacted by Atatürk was to abandon the arabic script for the western alphabet.
Izmir Clock Tower is located in the Konak area and is a symbol of the city. This district houses all the administrative government buildings as well as a police station and many businesses. The clock tower itself was a gift from German Emperor Wilhelm II to Abdülhamid II in commemoration of his 25th year of ruling the Ottoman Empire. It was designed by Raymond Charles Père and built in 1901.
This skywalk in Konak leads you to Konak Pier. There's a big mall there and you can take ferries to various ports across the city.
A ride on the ferry, bus or metro costs 1.50 lira. I prefer the ferry when possible.
It takes a bit longer but it's definitely worth it. Izmir bay is always busy. Waiters walk around the boat offering people tea and orange juice during the journey.
You can get your shoes shined at the ferry stop in Karşıyaka...
...or eat at one of many fine restaurants on the water.
Atatürk memorials are all over Turkey and Izmir.
My friend Erinç is a kung fu master. He comes to Bostanlı (Just beyond Karşıyaka) to skate. Notice the sculpture exhibition in the background.
The sculptors slowly carved their artwork over the course of several weeks before the final judgement was made.
Interesting cultural phenomenon:
Boys are often circumcised between the ages of 7 and 10. It's traditional for the family to rent a red convertible. They then dress the boy in a crown, cape and scepter that resembles a sultan and drive him around blaring Turkish music and honking.
Then it's traditional to go to the square people are skating in (maybe not so traditional).
And have an impromptu circumcision dance party!
Before posing in front of the nation's founder with the folks.
