Cesme
General Information
District: Izmir, State: Aegean Region, Turkey
Area: 260 km²
Languages Spoken: Turkish
Long Distance Code: (+90) 0232
Best Time to Visit: May to August
International Access: Izmir Adnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)
Description
Name The name "Cesme" means "fountain" and possibly draws reference from the many Ottoman fountains scattered across the city. Its name in Classical antiquity was Kysos, Kysus under the Romans, possibly a mere locality at the time. The name Kysos is nevertheless associated with Homer since the king Rhesus of Thrace, ally of the Trojans during the Trojan War and slain together with twelve of his men by Diomedes who had plotted with Odysseus to steal the magnificent horses of the Thracians, had his wife Argantona (sometimes also spelled as Argantone), a mythical beauty and a master of animals like her husband, who inhabited the forests of Kysos. Turkish sources always cited the town and the region as Cesme since the first settlement 2 km south of the present-day center (Cesmeköy) founded by Tzachas and pursued for some time by his brother Yalvac before an interlude until the 14th century. The town The town itself dominated by Cesme Castle. While the castle is recorded to have been considerably extended and strengthened during the reign of Ottoman sultan Bayezid II, sources differ as to their citation of the original builders, whether the Genoese or the Turks at an earlier time after the early 15th century capture. A statue of Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha, one of the naval commanders of the Battle of Chesma is in front of the castle and the Pasha is depicted caressing his famous pet lion and facing the town square. The battle itself, although ended in Ottoman defeat, had seen Hasan Pasha pulling out honorably after having sunk the Russian flagship Sv. Evstafii, together with his own ship, after which he had to follow the main battle from the coast before joining the capital by way of land, where he rapidly rose to become a distinguished grand vizier. A few paces south of the castle, there is an Ottoman caravanserai built in the early centuries of the Ottoman conquest in 1528 by order of Süleyman the Magnificent, and it is now restored and transformed into a boutique hotel. The imposing but redundant 19th century Greek Orthodox church of Ayios Haralambos is used for temporary exhibitions. Along some of the back streets of the town are old Ottoman or Greek houses, as well as Sakiz house-type residences of more peculiar lines, for the interest of strollers. Ilica Ilica is a large resort area 5 km west of Cesme to which it depends administratively, although it bears aspects of a township apart in many of its characteristics. It is famed for its thermal springs, which is the very meaning of its name. Ilica started out as a distinct settlement towards the end of the 19th century, initially as a retreat for wealthy people, especially from İzmir and during summer holidays. Today, it is a popular destination for many. Mentioned by Pausanias and Charles Texier, Ilica thermal springs, which extend well into the sea, are also notable in Turkey for having been the subject of the first scientifically based analysis in Turkish language of a thermal spring, published in 1909 by Yusuf Cemal. By his time the thermal springs were well-known both internationally, scientific and journalistic literature having been published in French and in Greek, and across Ottoman lands, since the construction here of a still-standing yali associated with Muhammad Ali of Egypt's son Tosun Pasha who had sought a cure in Ilica before his premature death. Ilica has a fine beach of its own, about 1.5 km long, as well as favorable wind conditions which make it a prized location for windsurfing.Location
Cesme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula. It is a popular holiday resort and the district center, where two thirds of the district population is concentrated, is located 85 km. west of İzmir, the largest metropolitan center in Turkey's Aegean Region. There is a six-lane highway connecting the two cities. Cesme district has two neighboring districts, Karaburun to the north and Urla to the east, both of which are also part of İzmir Province.Climate
İzmir has a typical Mediterranean climate which is characterized by long, hot and dry summers; and mild to cool, rainy winters. The total precipitation for İzmir averages 706 mm (27.8 inches) per year; however, 77% of that falls during November through Ma