Kusadasi / Aydin (Kusadasi Iinternational Golf Resort)
Region : Aegean
Province : Aydin
Area : Total 264 km² (101.9 sq mi)
Elevation : 11 m (36 ft)
Population (2000) Total 65,764
Kusadasi is a resort town in the province of Aydin on the Aegean coast of Turkey, 90 km (56 mi) south of Izmir, and 71 km (44 mi) from the inland provincial capital of Aydin.
Kusadasi is near the ancient city of Ephesus and to other places of interest including Miletos, Didim and Pamukkale, and a short distance across from Kusadasi lies the island of Samos.
Demographics
Kusadasi has a residential population of 50,000 rising to over half a million during the summer when the large resort fills with tourists (from Turkey itself, northern Europe and the Balkans), plus the hotel staff, bar staff, construction workers, and drivers who are needed for work in the restaurants, the holiday villages, aquaparks, rock bars beach clubs and big hotels servicing all these visitors. An addition to the visitors from overseas there is a substantial community of foreigners resident in the area.
Industry
Kusadasi caters to tourists, arriving by land, and as the port for cruise ship passengers heading to Ephesus. In a controversial deal in 2003 the previously public-owned port was leased to a private company and renovated to attract luxury cruise liners. These range from the huge Grand Princess to smallers tours.
Real estate agents sell holiday flats and villas. Among all the ice-cream, carpets, leather, and software, there are bookshops selling books in English, German, Russian and other languages.
Old houses near the seafront, some of them converted to bars and cafes, are the remnants of old Kusadasi, which has become a modern-European looking town. The hills behind are built up with big hotels and blocks of holiday flats. The building boom in the late 80s and onwards has been continued into the hinterland of Kusadasi.
A panoramic view of Kusadasi (Guvercin Adasi seen at background)
Transportation
Transport around the town is by dolmus (minibus). There are bus and taxi services to the nearest airports, in Izmir and Bodrum. Day trips are available by boat from Kusadasi and Guzelcamli.
Etymology
The name comes from 'kus' (bird) and 'ada' (island) as the peninsula has the shape of a bird's head (as seen from the sea). Since Byzantine times it has been known as Ephesus Neopolis, Scala Nuova,<Actinic:Variable Name = '1'/> becoming Kush-Adasi at the beginning of the 20th century. Some people from the Aegean region shorten the name to Ada.
History
Antiquity
The area has been a centre of art and culture since the earliest times and has been settled by many civilizations since being founded by the Leleges people in 3000 BC. Later settlers include the Aeolians in the 11th century BC and Ionians in the 9th century. Originally seamen and traders the Ionians built a number of settlements on this coast including Neopolis.
An outpost of Ephesus in ancient Ionia, the area between the Buyuk Menderes and Gediz rivers, the original Neopolis is thought to have been founded on the nearby point of Yilanci Burnu. Later settlements were probably built on the hillside of Pilavtepe, in the district called Andizkulesi today. Kusadasi was a minor port frequented by vessels trading along the Aegean coast. In antiquity it was overshadowed by Ephesus until Ephesus' harbor silted up. From the 7th century BC onwards the coast was ruled by Lydians from their capital at Sardis, then from 546 BC the Persians, and from 334 BC along with all of Anatolia the coast was conquered by Alexander the Great. From then onwards the coastal cities were the centre of the mixed Greek and Anatolian culture called Hellenistic.
Rome and Christianity
The Roman Empire took possession of the coast in the 2nd century BC and in the early years of Christianity, Mary (mother of Jesus) and St John the Evangelist both came to live in the area, which in the Christian era became known as "Ania", although the spirituality was clearly not ingrained as during the Middle Ages the port was a haven for pirates.
Later as Byzantine, Venetian and Genoese traders began to work the coast the port was founded (as Scala Nuova "new port"), a garrison was placed on the island, and the town centre moved from the hillside to the coast.
The Ataturk Statue in Kusadasi.
From 1086 the area came under Turkish control and the Aegean ports became the final destination of caravan routes to the Orient. However this arrangement was overthrown by the Crusades and the coast again came under Byzantine control until 1280 when first the Mentese and then the Aydinoglu Anatolian Turkish Beyliks took control. Kusadasi was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Mehmet I in 1413. The Ottomans built the city walls and the caravanserai that still stand today.
In 1834 the castle and garrison on the island was rebuilt and expanded, becoming the focus of the town, to the extent that people began to refer to the whole town as Kusadasi (bird island). However in the 19th century, trade declined in favor of Izmir with the opening of the Izmir-Aydin railway, as Kusadasi had no rail connection.
During the Turkish War of Independence Kusadasi was occupied from 1919-1922 first by Italian, then by Greek troops. It was eventually captured on September 7th 1922.
Under the Turkish Republic the Greek population was exchanged for Turkish people as part of the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1922. Until the first holiday apartments were built here in the 1970s Kusadasi was a fruit-growing rural district, it then grew into a small resort town with holiday flats. These were built as housing co-operatives, membership sold to families in Ankara, Izmir, Denizli and other Turkish cities. From the mid 1980s Kusadasi grew again into the centre of mass tourism that we have today.
In 2005, the town was the location of a bomb attack targeting foreigners.
Places of interest
In the town
o The city walls - Only one of the three gates still remains.
o Kaleici Camii - mosque built in 1618 for Grand Vizier Okuz Kara Mehmed Pasha.
o Okuz Mehmet Pasha caravanserai. Near the docks, built in 1618 as a strong-room for the goods of seamen.
o Guvercin Ada - the peninsula at the end of the bay, has a castle and swimming beaches, including a private beach and cafe with a view back across the bay to the harbour of Kusadasi. There are public beaches at the back of the peninsula, on the open sea side.
o Kirazli Village - traditional Turkish koy 12km from Kusadasi reached by scenic drive over gorge. Well visited by Turkish citizens looking for a return to nature and enjoy the cool breezes during the hot summer months and amazing views.
o Yilanci Burnu - a second peninsula beyond Guvercin Ada. Possibly the location of the original settlement of Neopolis. Some walls are visible. There are more beaches and beach clubs here.
o Pygale - 3km north, the small point behind Hotel Pigale. Once refuge of Agamemnon. Still to be excavated.
o Also several aqua-parks with wave-pools, white-water slides are located near the town: the largest are NBGS International's Aqua Fantasy, along with Adaland and Aqua Land.
o Ladies Beach - near the town, next to the Imbat Hotel, named because it was once segregated for female bathers. Now open to all and quite busy.
o Kadikalesi - Venetian/Byzantine castle, 10km along the Kusadasi-Davutlar road,
o Panionium - 25 km (16 mi) south of Kusadasi, on the Davutlar-Guzelcamli road. Once the central meeting place of the Ionian League. The ruins are in poor condition and their authenticity is disputed. (See Panionium).
o Dilek Peninsula National Park. South of Kusadasi, begins at the town of Guzelcamli. Lovely bays and trip by boat from Guzelcamli is a good way to visit
See also
o Turkish Riviera
o Blue Cruise
o Marinas in Turkey
o Foreign purchases of real estate in Turkey
o Guzelcamli
|
|
