What it's known for
Known as Smyrna in ancient times, İzmir is an important port and trading city on the Aegean, and it hosts the yearly İzmir International Fair. The ruins of ancient Ephesus are in İzmir Province, south of the city.
İzmir
City in Türkiyeİzmir curves around the head of the long Gulf of İzmir, a deep inlet on Türkiye's Aegean coast in western Anatolia.
Fun facts
- Homer, the ancient Greek poet, is said to have been born in Smyrna and was called Melesigenes, 'Child of the Meles Brook'.
- The Clock Tower in Konak Square, the main landmark of the city, was opened in 1901 to mark 25 years of Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign.
- The Asansör, built in 1907 by the banker Nesim Levi Bayraklıoğlu, is a building with a lift that carries people up a steep cliff in the Karataş quarter.
Finding it on the globe
About halfway down Türkiye's Aegean coast, find the long gulf that cuts deep into the land; İzmir is at its inner end, almost due east of the Greek island of Chios.
Easy to mix up
Don't confuse İzmir with İzmit, a different city on the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea of Marmara, about 100 km east of Istanbul.
Sources: Wikipedia: İzmir, Wikipedia: İzmir Clock Tower, Wikipedia: Asansör, Wikipedia: İzmit, Wikipedia: Chios