We Does Reveal You The 7 Biggest Secrets of Beautiful İzmir

I am now beginning to reveal you, one-by-one, the secrets of İzmir from the depths of the rumour mill, many of which are not also known to the people of İzmir… Here is what I have learnt in secrets, some from the present day, some of them whispered in our ears by people from ancient civilisations: Oh beautiful İzmir, everybody will get acquainted with you in a better way now.

I am beginning with the oldest and the most unknown rumour that comes from the bottom of my rumour mill. Now, everybody, please keep your ears to the ground…!

1- This rumour is about a beautiful woman and a handsome man! Of course, love is also involved in it…Hear Ye! Our girl in question is Cleopatra, yes!…

This story begins centuries and centuries ago at a place which was one of the most romantic coasts in the world! Now I will tell you about the king and even the queen involved in this story: Oh Cleopatra Oh… I believe there is certainly nobody who has not heard about Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt who set her heart solely upon being beautiful and graceful! The scene of one of the greatest loves in the world is İzmir; it was winter, and the calendar showed the year in which Cleopatra arrived Ephesus from Egypt to meet Antonius, the Roman General with whom she was involved in a passionate love affair. Yes, to Ephesus, namely to İzmir… Their love was so great that the rumour has it that even a war broke out to make them separate. We should not malign anybody, but whether the queen declared the war or whether she came to İzmir after hearing about the beauty of the girls of İzmir, I have no idea about it J But I know one thing for certain: the coasts of Ephesus witnessed a great love with Cleopatra!

2- Well, now let’s have a look at the news from the rumour kitchen that bubbled centuries ago. Ultimately, İzmir with its coastline and promenade is a rare place where one can find a great many spaces here and there conducive for reflecting. Well, I would almost say, one can become here into a philosopher; but yes, I have said it… In fact, so many philosophers have found a home here… You have perhaps no idea about it, or have you?!

One of them is Homer, the antique Greek philosopher who was a resident of İzmir; he wrote the epics of Iliad and Odyssey. Xenophanes, another philosopher and poet, lived in Colophon, an antique city not far from İzmir. Of course, with so many beauties around, he could do nothing else, but write poems! Now tell me one thing, namely whether you did know that Heraclitus, whose quotation ‘’One can never swim twice in a river’’ parades around even today, lived in Ephesus? But it is in fact a different irony to see a quotation of such a master philosopher parading in films, isn’t it! Can he be one of the ancestors of zeybeks of İzmir??? After all, although he was of Greek origin, he was perhaps influenced by the soil in which he lived. All jokes aside, ladies and gentlemen, this is a true piece of information!

3- Well, besides so many philosophers, who else was hosted by İzmir? For instance, Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish author and Nobel Prize winner, wrote his poem ‘İzmir at Three O’clock’ after a trip in İzmir, which was very impressive for him…

4- It is a city the whole world keeps an eye on… Just imagine; even though Islam is the fastest expanding religion today, there are still 2 billion Christians in the world. And do you know where the 7 churches cited in the Holy Bible, namely the first 7 churches of Christianity, are? Of course, they are in and around İzmir!

But there is more to it; İzmir offers more… Can you guess where the House of Virgin Mary, a site declared by Vatican as one of the holiest places in the world, is? It is also in İzmir J

5- Now I will tell you about another interesting sight… Everybody has probably heard about the Clock Tower in İzmir, the famous symbol of the city; that is normal, you would think… But no! the oldest clock tower is not the one on the Promenade! 

Central Train Station! It is indicated on it that it was erected in 1890… The one in Konak, on the other hand, was built in 1901, which means that the one at the Station is 11 years its senior. A piece of information to help you ride the high horse, should an occasion ariseJ

6- What about the hostility between the districts of Göztepe vs. Karşıyaka … All football fans know of it; in the 1980s, in an atmosphere a few years after the coup d’état, all the people in Turkey under the military rule set their eyes on that match between hostile parties! It was a match that people saw a goal after another; but few people know that the Atatürk Stadium hosted over 80 thousand fans on that day, which was a record not only for Turkey, but for all the second league matches around the world. Woe is me, what a match that was…

7- Women of Izmir are renowned for their beauties, this is not a secret… It is a fact that these women who are also famous for their courage as much as their beauty have a soul of royal splendour much more splendid than the one of an English princess, but few people know that they are courageous as much as Spanish bandits. Yes, you now have an idea of the women of İzmir… that they are self-assertive and reckless… Just imagine; they are the women that performed the first-ever protest action in the world; would it have been possible for women without such traits…?

Do you know the reason of their mutiny? An increase of the bread price was enough to make them get their rag out. Then, they invaded the streets for three days, looting every thing they saw! This went down in the history as the first-ever protest action performed by women in the world. So, mark my words; their response can be very bitter!