|
 The
harbours of the Menderes Valley were "Ayasulug"
(Ephesus-Selcuk) and Balat (Miletos) When
the sea receded from those two harbours, it
reguired a new harbour to be built where now
Kusadasi is situated. Because trade was
mostley in the hands of the Venetians and
the Genoeses , this new harbour was called
in Italian; "Scala Nuova". With the
consulates warehouses and merchants, it was
like merchants colony. Moslem Turks
preferred to live at Andizkule at the Pilav
hill, 5km. inwards from Kusadasi, on the
Ataturk Road as we today call it. Kusadasi
started to get its today's character since
the beginning of the 17 the Century. Ottoman
vizier Ox Mehmet Pasha who served as the
vizier of Sultan Ahmed the 1 St., then as
the visier of Sultan Osman the 2 N.D.-surrounded
Kusadasi with walls. He also constructed a
collection of buildings consisting of a
caravanserai, a Turkish bath and mosque. He
also built a waterway and brought water the
to the city.
Kusadasi, beyond its walls surrounding it,
was consisted of the main districts;
mountain district and the mosque district.
The Mosque district was situated on a flat
area where Narrow Street crossed each other
horizontally. The house blocks between those
streets where so norraw that only two house
could stand next to each other. The main
parts of the these houses, generally faced
the street and had courtyards at the back.
The mountain district, since the houses and
gardens were built in terraces like famous
terraced houses of
Ephesus, didn't come into
each other's view.
They were typical Ottoman houses. Most off
them had large eaves and salient parts with
classical tile roofs. Today only small parts
of these walls surrounding the ancient
ottoman city is left. One of the most
outstanding ruin left is the castle door,
has an archway, completed with a tower
rising on top. In its inner corner, there is
a fountain with a tombstone as its base and
another as its drinking basin. There two
types of writing found on the mirror in
Turkish: one written in Arabic letters from
the 19nt Century, the other written in Latin
letters. The fountain it self seems like
telling the story of Kusadasi. As the city
extended, district such as Hacı Feyzullah,
Alaca Mescit, Cami Atik and Turkmen were
added to those previous districts. With its
tourism potential being
discovered in the 60's it showed a rapid
advance in this field. Especially in the
recent years, hotels, motels, camping, many
resortsand, summerhouses were built in the
city as well as in the suburbs. Meanwhile, a
yacht marina was built and the port premises
were built and the port premises were built
and the port premises were enlarged. Today
Kusadasi is one of the most important
tourism centers of Turkiye. The rich
historical sites and wonderful beaches are
not the only reasons for this; the climate
of the region also plays an important role.
Kusadasi, with its shores and sand right in
the front is a beach center. Clean sands in
the north and south, named Tusan, Akyar,
Otuzbir, Kadınlar Denizi, Aslanburnu,
Karaova, Guzelsamlı, Buyuk ve Kusuk
Kalamaki, İlyas Aga, Disburun, Tavsanburnu
Beaches are kilometres long. The total
length of those sandy 6 shores is over 20
km. besides those wide shores; there are
also deep bays with sharp rocks suitable for
diving. |
