İzmir & the Peninsula: An open-air city
Harbour, market, theatre, craft and viticulture make the region an open cultural geography rather than a set of sealed boxes.
41 narratives and 43 place records connect to this discovery world through thematic and geographic relationships.
Four gateways into this world
- Craft and material — Forms given to stone, timber, clay, thread, metal and plant material through local knowledge.
- Ritual and memory — Connections made by belief, commemoration, celebration and community memory with place.
- Music and narrative — The movement of epic, lament, zeybek, oral history and literature through geography.
- Architecture and everyday life — The relationship of house, street, workshop, market and public building with living culture.
Other discovery worlds
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Story and event network
- 1865 Establishment of Ottoman Urla Quarantine Station and Maritime Lazaretto System
- Reconstruction of Smyrna by Emperor Marcus Aurelius Following the Plea of Aelius Aristides (178 AD)
- Opening of Anatolia's First Railway Line and Çamlık Aziziye Station (1856 CE)
- From Aydın Alabanda Hermogenes' Architecture to Nysa Dionysius Thrax Grammar and Ephesus Apollonius Dyskolos Syntax: Classical Architecture, World Grammar, and Syntax Theory
- From Balıkesir Cyzicus Eudoxus Navigation to İzmir Smyrna Quintus Epic and Colophon Hermesianax Elegiacs: Indian Ocean Navigation, Trojan War Epic, and Elegiac Love Poetry
- Pergamon and Aizanoi: a Hellenistic Inner Aegean threshold
- Appointment of Physician Galen of Pergamon as Personal Doctor to Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (169 AD)
- Construction of the Çakırağa Mansion and Decorative Frescoes at Birgi (1761)
- From Çakırağa Mansion at Birgi to Yalınayak Bathhouse at Tire and Lake Gölcük
- From Bodrum Queen Artemisia's Fleet to Knidos Eudoxus Observatory and Colophon Xenophanes Philosophy: First Female Admiral, Mathematical Astronomy, and Rational Theology
- Progradation of the Büyük Menderes Delta and Silting of the Latmic Gulf (6th c. BCE — 6th c. CE)
- From Çamlık Steam Locomotives to Şirince Stone Houses and Virgin Mary House: 1856 Industrial Heritage, Greek Stone Houses, and Bülbüldağı Shrine
- Erection of the Seikilos Musical Inscription Stele at Tralleis (100 CE)
- From the Edremit Gulf to the Dikili Islands: Adramytteion, the Gömeç Olive Plain, and Kalem Island
- Authoring of the Foundational Gynecological Encyclopedia Gynaecologia by Soranus of Ephesus (100 AD)
- From Erythrai Athena Temple to Bademler Village Theater and Özbek Stone Pier: Sea Theaters, Village Stages, and Stone Piers
- Three Thresholds of Gediz: Sardis, Kula and Alaşehir
- Command of the Naval Fleet by Queen Artemisia I of Halicarnassus at the Battle of Salamis (480 BC)
- From İzmir Aelius Aristides' Smyrna Oratory to Magnesia Pytheos Architecture and Teos Theodosius Geometry: Imperial Oratory, Halicarnassus Mausoleum, and Spherical Geometry
- From İzmir Ephesus Rufus Neuroanatomy to Magnesia Hegesias Oratory and Bergama Telephus Grammar: Ancient Neuroanatomy, Asianism Rhetoric, and Imperial Tutoship
- From İzmir Ephesus Soranus Medicine to Aydın Tralles Apollonius Sculpture and Germencik Menesthes Architecture: Gynecological Medicine, Farnese Bull Sculpture, and Ionic Architecture
- From İzmir Ephesus Xenophon's Romantic Novel to Priene Isidore Hagia Sophia and Halicarnassus Bryaxis Serapis: Romantic Literature, Dome Architecture, and Monumental Sculpture
- From İzmir Smyrna Hermippus Biography to Teos Boëthos Sculptures and Knidos Ctesias Persica: Classical Biography, Bronze Sculptures, and Persian History
- Invention of Lydian Coinage and Gold Refining on the Pactolus (7th — 6th c. BCE)
- Lydian Gold and the Royal Road: Sardis Coinage, Bin Tepe Pyramids, and Kula Volcanoes
- Three cities in the Menderes valley: Nysa, Mastaura, Tralleis
- From Menemen Taşhan Caravanserai to Kozak Yukarıbey Mosque and Göbeller Weaving Homes: 17th-Century Ottoman Inn, Floral Wood Paintings, and Granite Mansions
- Construction of Menemen Taşhan Caravanserai and Sadrazam Mahmut Paşa Foundation (1675 AD)
- From Metropolis Council to Belevi Mausoleum and Torbalı Aqueducts: Mother Goddess City, Royal Tombs, and Roman Aqueducts
- Freedom Battle of the Aegean on Mount Mycale: The Fall of the Persian Fleet and the Revival of Panionion
- Authoring of Téchne Grammatikē (The World's First Systematic Grammar Textbook) by Dionysius Thrax of Nysa (170 BC)
- Pergamon, Halicarnassus, Miletus: paths of knowledge
- Invention of the Water Organ (Hydraulis) and Force Pump by Ctesibius of Pergamon (270 BC)
- Phokaians' Mediterranean Colonization via 50-Oared Pentekonters (600 BCE)
- Composition of the 14-Book Trojan War Epic Posthomerica by Quintus of Smyrna (350 AD)
- From Mount Sipylus to the Karabel Luwian Pass: Akpınar Kybele, Niobe, and King Tarkasnawa
- Education of Epicurus by Nausiphanes of Teos and Establishment of Tean Atomist Philosophy (320 BC)
- From Tralleis Üç Gözler to Seikilos Epitaph and Nysa Canyon Aqueducts: Vaulted Gymnasion, World's Oldest Song, and Water Tunnels
- Establishment of Turkey's First Village Theater at Bademler (1932 CE)
- From Ulamış Mills to Birgivi Madrasa and Dağkızılca Aqueducts: Karakılçık Wheat, 1563 Ottoman Center, and Nif Mountain Bridges
- From Urla Quarantine Island to Panaztepe Harbor and Mount Nif: 1865 Steam Station, 2500 BCE Bronze Harbor, and Ancient Metallurgy
Connected cultural inventory
- Belevi Hellenistic Royal Mausoleum Monument
- Bergama Kozak Göbeller Village Granite Stone Houses and Weaving Homes
- Bergama Kozak Yukarıbey Village Hand-Painted Timber Mosque and Pine-Nut Terraces
- Historic Town of Birgi and Çakırağa Mansion
- Çandarlı Castle, Ancient Pitane, and Çandarlı
- Dikili Bademli, Kalem Island, and Ancient City of Kane
- Ephesus Ancient City Birthplace of Grammarian Apollonius Dyskolos and Syntax Sanctuary
- Ephesus Ancient City Birthplace of Physician Rufus and Neuroanatomy Medical School
- Ephesus Ancient City Birthplace of Physician Soranus and Gynecological Medical School
- Ephesus Ancient City Birthplace of Novelist Xenophon and Grand Theater
- Ancient City of Erythrai and Ildırı Theater
- İzmir Smyrna Birthplace of Master Orator Aelius Aristides and Roman Agora
- Karabel Luwian Pass and King Tarkasnawa Relief
- Kemalpaşa Mount Nif Ancient City and Metallurgy Workshops
- Colophon Ancient City Birthplace of Elegiac Poet Hermesianax and Leontion Acropolis
- Colophon Ancient City Birthplace of Elegiac Poet Mimnermus and Ionian Acropolis
- Colophon Ancient City and Birthplace of Philosopher Xenophanes of Colophon
- Ancient City of Kyme and Nemrut Bay
- Menemen Panaztepe 2500 BCE Bronze Age Harbor City and Necropolis
- Menemen Historic Taşhan Caravanserai and Sadrazam Mahmut Paşa Pottery Inn
- Ancient City of Metropolis and Marble Bouleuterion
- Metropolis Ancient Aqueducts and Cisterns
- Ödemiş Birgi İmam-ı Birgivi Madrasa and Graveyard
- Ödemiş Lake Gölcük and Bozdağlar Plateau
- Pergamon / Bergama multi-layered cultural landscape
- Pergamon Ancient City Birthplace of Scholar Telephus and Imperial Library
- Pergamon Ancient City Birthplace of Master Engineer Ctesibius and Invention Workshops
- Pergamon Library Research Base of Mathematician Apollonius and Conics Sanctuary
- Ancient City of Phokaia and Eski Foça
- Seferihisar Ulamış Village and Historic Karakılçık Wheat Stone Mills
- Selçuk Mount Bülbüldağı House of the Virgin Mary (Panaya Kapulu)
- Selçuk Çamlık Open-Air Steam Locomotive Museum
- Selçuk Şirince Village Greek Stone Houses and Wine Cellars
- Smyrna Ancient City Birthplace of Biographer Hermippus and Ionian Acropolis
- Smyrna Ancient City Birthplace of Epic Poet Quintus and Posthomerica Assembly
- Teos Ancient City Birthplace of Philosopher Nausiphanes and Tean Atomist Garden
- Teos Ancient City Birthplace of Master Sculptor Boëthos and Bronze Foundry
- Teos Ancient City Birthplace of Mathematician Theodosius and Spherical Geometry Acropolis
- Tire Yalınayak Bathhouse and Historic Bazaar Guilds
- Torbalı Dağkızılca Village Nif Mountain Aqueducts and Stone Arch Bridge
- Urla Bademler Village Turkey's First Village Theater
- Urla Quarantine Island 1865 Ottoman Quarantine Station and Klazomenai
- Urla Özbek Village Historic Stone Pier and Olive Mills