Izmir Things to Do

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Konak Square or Konak Meydani with its 40.000 square meters of space at the water's edge is considered as the heart of the city. The Gouvernor’s Administration Building, City Hall, District building, and many of the banks, Clock Tower, Konak Mosque and the First Bullet Monument of Hasan Tahsin are situated in Konak Square.

The square is the busiest part of the city, as Konak is the main place of Izmir.
NATO's Southern Command headquarters is located nearby.

The large street that runs along the shore of downtown Izmir, the Kordon, has great views of the bay, restaurants, and the like. There is also a park near the tip by Alsancak, with jogging, a playground for kids, parking, etc., and a pedestrian-bicycle path follows along the Kordon with more park facilities, monuments, restrooms, etc., along it. The steet can be a useful and very enjoyable way to navigate along this portion of the city, instead of winding through the busy streets. Along the Kordon are also the piers, like Konak pier, with restaurants and the like.

The town of Bergama, with the ruins of the ancient Hellenistic city of Pergamon, one of the most important Hellenistic Graeco-Anatolian kingdoms, is about a couple hours' drive to the north. It makes a nice day trip and the ruins of Pergamon, including the impressive Hellenistic acropolis and theatre, as well as the massive Roman Basilica, are among the greatest ruins of their era.

The ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, Sart in Turkish, are a short drive due east of Izmir. Although the capital of Lydia and subsequently a major Persian provincial capital, the ciy unfortunately has little of those eras remaining, or at least no excavated. However, it still has some significant Romano-Byzantine ruins, including an important synagogue from that era and early Romano-Byzantine Christian remains. It's short enough to make a pleasant day trip and it's right on a good road, a major road inland from Izmir, in a productive agricultural and light industrial region with nice countryside.

Visit the old Greek Quarter tucked quietly away in Bornova for a totally different feel of Izmir. I love this picture - these two had such a friendship. I wonder how many intimate conversations took place behind that door over the years.

Konak Mosque - a charming little mosque on the Square, beautifully tiled with a single mineret. Above the Square to the south-east you will find the Archaeological Museum that is home to many notable exhibits. On another part of the Square is the Cultural Center of the Aegean University.

Konak Square is home to Belediye, or Town Hall, an imposing modern bulding from which today's business takes place. Just behind lies Ataturk Caddesi, a broad seafront promenade that stretches 2 miles along the bay and offers a stunning view of the gulf.

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The strange building that hold the museum built in 1831 as the St. Rock Hospital and had patients that suffered from black death! It is situated right next to the Archaeological Museum but I like it more because it shows many things about the local daily life. You can see many samples of traditional Turkish folkloric artifacts, a collection of Bergama and Gordes carpets, traditional costumes etc I visited the museum with Emek, my local friend in Izmir so we had some nice conversions about some common local customs the two counties share through the years.

The museum is open every day except Monday between 08:30-12:00 and 13:00-17:00) and the cost is only 2YTL (1.2euro!).