The Alsancak area of İzmir is the central commercial district with the trendiest bars and restaurants, tallest buildings, and major hotels. Other than the Kordon esplanade, which is covered in another entry, there are are a few interesting things to find in the neighborhood.
At Izmir’s opposite shore lies the suburb of Karşıyaka, which, coincidentally, means “Opposite Shore”. The Greeks called it Kordelio (Κορδελιό). It’s a nice, quiet area that has pretty much nothing interesting to deter visitors away from Izmir proper, unless you’re into historic Levantine homes. If you are, you’re in luck!
Something that’s not easily noticeable when wandering through Izmir is the number of synagogues in Kemeraltı, especially around Havra Street (Havra Sokak). Much of the Jewish community of Izmir used to live in the area until recently. There were once 40,000 Jews in the city but that number is now down to less than 2,000.
From Konak Square (Konak Meydanı) there is direct access to Izmir’s historic bazaar district of Kemeraltı. A street with the funny name, Anafartlar Street (Anafartlar Caddesi), leads directly into the heart of the area.
A great place to start a day in Izmir is at Konak Square (Konak Meydanı), the busiest square in the city. It’s surrounded by government buildings and is full of street vendors, children feeding (and chasing) pigeons, and lots and lots of pigeons.
A good 25 to 30 minute walk from Konak Square is Karataş, a once heavily Jewish neighborhood of Izmir known to the Greeks as Melantia (Μελάντια).
Within walking distance of Konak Square are two of Izmir’s most important museums, the Izmir Archaeology Museum (İzmir Arkeoloji Müzesi) and the Izmir Ethnography Museum (İzmir Etnografya Müzesi). They’re located in two adjacent buildings.
Kadifekale is a castle on very same hill where Alexander the Great had a dream about founding the ancient city of Smyrna (Σμύρνη or Σμύρνα in Greek). It’s located in Izmir, Turkey.