Walls of Kadifekale hill fortress on the top of Mount Pagos near Izmirt city in Turkey
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aegean region, gulf of izmir, kadifekale, turkish

Kadifekale

İzmir


Legend has it that in the 4th century Alexander the Great chose this site on Mt Pagos as the location for Smyrna’s acropolis. Nothing remains of the Greek settlement, but parts of the fortifications date back to the Roman era, as do the yet-to-be-excavated remains of a hillside theatre. These days there's not much to see on site, but the view of the Gulf of İzmir is pretty good. To get here take a dolmuş.

When here, you'll see women from Turkey's southeast baking bread in makeshift ovens and weaving colourful textiles that they happily sell to visitors. There is some talk of excavating the Roman theatre and extending the site all the way down to the Agora, but no concrete project or timeline has been announced.