Last spring, I took a completely out-of-the-blue trip to Smyrna, or Izmir. By any name, this is one of the most beautiful cities in the Eastern Mediterranean, and certainly the most livable, human-friendly city in all of Turkey.
Smyrna owes much of her beauty and splendor to the long-departed Greeks of Anatolia, who in the relatively tolerant atmosphere of the late-era Ottoman Empire transformed the city into a cosmopolitan paradise.
After the Turkish reconquest and the following Greco-Turkish population exchange, Smyrna became Izmir and lost a great deal of her metropolitan beauty. Even in its current state, however, it is a beautiful city, and the people of Smyrna are still the most educated, liberated and westernized citizens of Turkey.Below is a selection of nicely preserved Greek houses from the historic Alsancak neighborhood.
Many of these houses are currently used as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and clubs. At weekend nights the streets fill up with people, making Smyrna all the more charming and beautiful.
