İzmir has almost 4,000 years of recorded urban history and possibly even longer as an advanced human settlement. In ancient Anatolia, the name of a locality called Ti-smurna is mentioned in some of the Level II tablets from the Assyrian colony in Kültepe (first half of the 2nd millennium BC)

In 133 BC, when Eumenes III, the last king of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum, was about to die without an heir, he bequeathed his kingdom to the Roman Republic in his will, and this included Smyrna. The city thus came under Roman rule as a civil diocese within the Province of Asia and enjoyed a new period of prosperity.

Itinerary

Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey, and its port is second only to Istanbul’s. Behind the palm-lined promenades and avenues, which follow the shoreline, the city, in horizontal terraces, gently ascends the slopes of the surrounding mountains. Our first stop will be at the Church of St. Polycarp, the Oldest Church in Izmir, symbolizing the community of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse. Drive to Alexander the Great “Velvet Castle” overlooking the Izmir bay. Continue to the “Saat kulesi” Clock tower, in the afternoon visit the Museum of Archaeology and the Ethnographic museum before returning to hotel. (L)

Departure:

Min. pax = 2 (two persons) Pick-up time at 09:00 – Drop-off time at 16:30