Must-see attractions in İzmir & the North Aegean

  • The ancient Temple of Trajan at Pergamos (Bergama)

    Bergama Acropolis

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    One of Turkey's most impressive archaeological sites, Bergama's acropolis is dramatically sited on a hill to the northeast of the town centre. There's…

  • Bursa, Turkey - November 19, 2021.Muradiye Mosque - Bursa.From the construction inscription on the Muradiye Mosque door arch, II. It is understood that it was built by Murat in 1425-26. It is the last sultan's mosque built in Bursa and the first example of the monumental, multi-unit sultan mosques to be built later. Unlike previous mosques, the two main domes of this mosque are of equal height. The entrance ceiling of the mosque, the lower part of the walls of the main room; It is decorated with dark blue and turquoise colored hexagonal tiles. One of its two minarets was destroyed in the earthquake of 1855 and was rebuilt. The minaret in the northwest corner is old and the other is new. 1357632199

    Muradiye Mosque

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    The architectural genius of Mimar Sinan is well and truly on show at this exquisite mosque, which was commissioned by Sultan Murat III and constructed…

  • The entrance to the Izmir History and Art Museum in Kulturpark. Izmir, Turkey - July 1, 2023. 1511243808 hall, turkey, turkish, interior, greek, heritage, arts museum, landmark, culture, building, display, gallery, hallway, turkiye, tour tourism, holiday maker, park, outdoor, greek sculptures, izmir history art museum, kulturpark, konak

    İzmir Museum of History & Art

    İzmir

    This museum is overlooked by many visitors to the city, who do themselves a great disservice in the process. Spread over three pavilions, it is one of the…

  • Ä°zmir Kemeraltı Bazaar Market, Turkey Middle East, Vintage Colors, Shopping Crowded People, Tight street, Day Light, Traditional Coffee Houses İzmir Kemeraltı Bazaar Market, Turkey Middle East, Vintage Colors, Shopping Crowded People, Tight street, Day Light, Traditional Coffee Houses 1336823247

    Kemeraltı Market

    İzmir

    A labyrinthine bazaar stretching from Konak Sq through to the ancient Agora, Kemeraltı dates back to the 17th century and is home to shops, eateries,…

  • Izmir, Turkey - January 29, 2023 Kordon Street view in Pasaport District and historic tram 1464998170

    Kordon

    İzmir

    It’s difficult to imagine life in İzmir without its iconic seafront kordon (promenade), which stretches north from Cumhuriyet Meydanı to Alsancak and…

  • Teos

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    The evocative ruins of this ancient city, which was one of the 12 cities of the Ionian League, are spread over a low hilly isthmus now used as farmland. A…

  • Old Town

    Ayvalık

    Ayvalık’s old town is a joy to explore. A maze of cobbled streets east of the liman, it is full of market squares, atmospheric cafes, Greek Orthodox…

  • Asklepion

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    The Asklepion may not be as dramatic as the Acropolis, but in some ways it is even more extraordinary. One of the most important healing centres of the…

  • Ruins of Sardis

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Scattered around the village of Sartmustafa (or Sart), this archaeological site is a rewarding day trip from İzmir (80km away). It and Manisa can easily…

  • Bergama Archaeology Museum

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Boasting a small but impressive collection of artefacts, Bergama's museum is well worth a visit. On exhibit are reliefs from the Acropolis, including a…

  • Empty corridor with arcs and blue sky. Ruins of Smyrna

    Agora

    İzmir

    Dating from the end of the 4th century BC, Smyrna's ancient agora was ruined in an earthquake in AD 178 but soon rebuilt by order of the Roman emperor…

  • Izmir - Turkey, January 26, 2023, Awesome view of Kizlaragasi Han Caravanserai and Hisar Mosque in Izmir, Turkey. Izmir is a popular tourist destination in Turkey. 1473548912

    Hisar Mosque

    İzmir

    Surrounded by popular coffeehouses, this mosque in the Kemeraltı Market is the largest in the city and dates from 1597. The interior is quintessentially…

  • Çeşme Museum

    Çeşme

    Çeşme's majestic Genoese-built fortress dates from 1508 and was later repaired by order of Sultan Beyazıt II, son of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, in order…

  • Church of St Polycarp

    İzmir

    Built in the early 17th century, this Catholic church is the oldest still-functioning Christian house of worship in the city. Its survival during the 1922…

  • Apollon Smintheion

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    This impressive site in the village of Gülpınar includes a partially reconstructed 2nd-century-BC Temple to Apollo, two Roman baths complexes that were…

  • Antandros

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Located on the coastal slope of Mt Ida, the Greek city of Antandros was established in the 7th century BC and was famous for its dockyards and harbours…

  • Alexandria Troas

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Scattered around the village of Dalyan on the coastal road between Geyikli and Gülpinar, these ruins are all that is left of an ancient city founded in…

  • Temple of Athena

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Built in 540 BC on top of a 238m-high hill overlooking the Gulf of Edremit, this temple with its squat Doric columns has undergone a reconstruction that…

  • Medical History Museum

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Tracing the history of medicine across the globe, this ambitious museum in the grounds of the Sultan Mosque occupies a handsome bimarhane (mental hospital…

  • Taksiyarhis Memorial Museum

    Ayvalık

    This erstwhile Greek Orthodox cathedral, built in 1844 but never used as a place of worship, was completely renovated in 2013 and positively shimmers in…

  • Kızlarağası Hanı

    İzmir

    This restored Ottoman-built bedesten (warehouse) dates from 1744 and is similar to the İç (Inner) Bedesten in İstanbul's famous Grand Bazaar. It's…

  • Havra Sokağı

    İzmir

    One of Kemeraltı's most interesting pockets, this stretch of produce stalls links the centre of the bazaar with the Agora and the eastern stretch of…

  • Rahmi M Koç Museum

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Housed in the magnificently restored Taksiyarhis Church (Church of the Archangels), a Greek Orthodox church built in 1873 and now painted in a distinctive…

  • Çınarlı Cami

    Ayvalık

    Built in 1790 as the Greek Orthodox church of Ayios Yorgis and converted to a mosque in 1923, this lovely building has three naves and three apses and…

  • Adatepe Olive-Oil Museum

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Housed in an old olive-oil factory, this unassuming but interesting museum explains the process of making olive oil and illustrates the product's many…

  • Corvus Vineyard

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    The island's best-known winery, owned by Turkish architect Reşit Soley, is a short drive from Merkez, on the road to Akvaryum Beach. Tasting glasses and…

  • Archaeology Museum

    İzmir

    The city's Archaeology Museum has some gems in its collection, including a late-Hellenistic-period bronze statue of a runner found in the Aegean Sea near…

  • Köy Pazarı

    Ayvalık

    On Thursdays, a 'village market' is held in this square next to the main pazar yeri (marketplace), which is also filled with market stalls.

  • Walls of Kadifekale hill fortress on the top of Mount Pagos near Izmirt city in Turkey 1277088609 aegean region, gulf of izmir, kadifekale, turkish

    Kadifekale

    İzmir

    Legend has it that in the 4th century Alexander the Great chose this site on Mt Pagos as the location for Smyrna’s acropolis. Nothing remains of the Greek…

  • Red Hall

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    The cathedral-sized Red Hall, sometimes called the Red Basilica, is thought to have been built by the Romans as a temple to the Egyptian gods Serapis and…

  • Konak Meydanı

    İzmir

    On a pedestrianised stretch of Cumhuriyet Bulvarı, this wide plaza, named after the prominent Ottoman-era Government House, built in 1872, to the east,…

  • Atatürk Museum

    İzmir

    Built as a carpet merchant's residence between 1875 and 1880, this stately white building ended up in state hands after the shocking events of September…

  • Kültürpark

    İzmir

    The 1922 fire destroyed much of the town centre between Alsancak and Basmane, which had been a Greek neighbourhood for centuries. Today the area contains…

  • Alibey Kudar Etnografya Galerisi

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    The jumble of objects at this privately operated museum below the village of Tahtakuşlar provides an insight into the history of the local Turkmen…

  • Theatre

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    A heavily restored theatre and the remains of the ancient city walls can be seen below the agora; the theatre is accessed via a gate on the winding road…

  • Ethnography Museum

    İzmir

    Housed in a splendid stone building that once functioned as a hospital, this museum showcases the arts, crafts and customs of İzmir. Dioramas, displays,…

  • Zübeyde Hanım Museum Ship

    İzmir

    Named after Atatürk’s beloved mother, who died in İzmir in 1923, this 50m-long, 307-tonne ferry was built in 1987 and sailed in İstanbul until early 2014,…

  • Sultan Mosque

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Commissioned by Ayşe Hafsa Sultan, the wife of Sultan Selim I and mother of Süleyman the Magnificent, this mosque was built in 1522 and is part of a…

  • Hüdavendigâr Mosque

    İzmir & the North Aegean

    Next to the entrance to the Temple of Athena, this poorly maintained 14th-century mosque is a simple structure – a dome on squinches set on top of a…

  • Arkas Art Centre

    İzmir

    Occupying a handsome 1906 building that functioned as the French consulate until 2010, this arts centre hosts temporary exhibitions with an Aegean accent…

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