Seferihisar
General Information
District: Izmir, State: Aegean Region, Turkey
Area: 386 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
History Apart from Teos, a major Ionian port and artistic and cult center, two other ancient settlements datable to the ancient Greek period and beyond are located along Seferihisar district's seashore, both to the south of Teos. Near the southern boundary of the district is Lebedos, the smallest of the twelve original Ionian settlements along the Anatolian coastline. Pausanias mentions that the town was initially inhabited by Carians, for whom the region is normally a very northern one, and that Ionian Greeks immigrated there under the guidance of Andræmon, while Strabo gives the name the colonizing leader as Andropompus and that it previously bore the name of Artis of ancient Lydia. Although it is known to have engaged in maritime commerce, was famous for its mineral springs and a member of the Ionian League, the peninsular settlement of Lebedos suffered from the limited space of its hinterland and a comparatively unsuitable port. It has not been excavated and the visible ruins are scanty. The other settlement, at the edge of a promontory between Teos and Lebedos, referred to by Hecataeus of Miletus (500 BC) as a "city" and by Artemidorus of Ephesus (100 BC) as merely a "place" is Myonnesos. The best definition for ancient times must have corresponded to that of a small town, advantaged by a peninsula with a 60 m cliff which was very difficult to access and easy to defend. Traces of Cyclopeian walls attest to the presence of a very particular site and it remains a visitor's attraction due to the challenges of rock climbing it offers.Ottoman records refer to the present-day center town alternatively as "Seferihisar" or "Sivrihisar", sometimes leading to confusion with another town in Central Anatolia still named Sivrihisar, and which itself was nevertheless recorded from time to time as "Seferihisar". While the historic medrese in the depending village of Hereke (Düzce today) remained a regional center of learning throughout, on many occasions during the Ottoman period, the region of Seferihisar had made itself notorious as a pirate's lair, being a particularly appreciated hideout and at times a practically autonomous entity. The town is notably the birthplace of two of the best known Turkish corsairs of the very end of the 15th century, Kara Hasan and Kara Turmus. The region was, as such, scarcely populated and development came gradually only in the course of the 19th century, due especially to cultivation of citrus fruits and cash crops. The municipal administration was instituted in 1884 and by the time of the fall of the Empire, the kaza of Seferihisar counted roughly twenty thousand people, in which about half or slightly less, according to varying sources, were Greeks, mostly recent immigrants from the islands. Sights of interest The district's most popular sights of interest is its depending small port of Sigacik with the Genoese - Ottomans. The ancient city of Teos is located between Seferihisar and Sigacik. There is also the rock of Myonnesos and the ruins locally called "Karaköse", both near Doganbey township. The other ancient city found within the district, Lebedos, is located further south, near Ürkmez township. A French vacation village is located near Sigacik. Seferihisar district also has beautiful beaches and bays along its 27 km.-long coast.Location
Seferihisar is a coastal district and the center town of the same district in İzmir Province, in Turkey. Seferihisar district area borders on other İzmir districts of Urla to the west and Menderes (Cumaovasi) to the east, and touches İzmir's western-most metropolitan district of Güzelbahce in the north. Seferihisar town center is situated slightly inland at an altitude of 28 m and the urban area extends towards the sea as composed of eight quarters, with some distance among some, and one of which, the neighborhood called Sigacik stands somewhat separately from the rest at a distance of 5 km, and has its own port and made a name as a tourism resort by its own right.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