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Smyrna was founded in the 4th century BC, developing simultaneously on the slopes of Mount Pagos and alongside the coastal strait. The name Smyrna can come either from the name of an Amazon Queen or from the word myrrh, the main export of the city. It rose to prominence due to its advantageous port conditions, ease of defence and inland connections.  In 197 BC  the city cut its ties with Pergamum and turned to Rome and in 133 BC when the last Attalid king died without an heir, his kingdom, including Smyrna, became a Roman province. Smyrna, as a major seaport, rivalled Pergamum and Ephesus as the leading city of the new province. In 178 AD the city was badly damaged by an earthquake and Emperor Marcus Aurelius was instrumental in having it rebuilt. The area was later used as a cemetery, during the Ottoman Empire rule. Most of the present day remains date from the Roman period but there are also Hellenistic, Byzantine and Ottoman remains.   Th...

The first archaeological museum in Izmir opened to the public in 1927, on the site of an old abandoned church, in the Bismane district. The museum was relocated in 1951 but the artefacts brought from the works in neighbour ancient sites demanded a larger museum. In 1984 the museum was again relocated, now to a 5000 m2 building, in Bahribaba Park. The museum has artefacts from a number of ancient sites, such as Smyrna, Pergamum, Ephesus and Miletus, just to name a few. Opening hours : 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. (7 p.m. mid-Apr. to Sep.) Entrance fee : about €3 (10 TL) How to go: Konak metro station

The Sultan Ahmet Mosque is known as the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles in its interior. The mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Sultan Ahmet I, on the site of a Byzantine palace. The mosque includes six minarets which, at the time, was as many as Mecca's minarets. When criticised for his presumption, the Sultan explained he was misunderstood, as he had asked for golden minarets (similar word to six in Turkish). Nevertheless, he paid for a seventh minaret to be built at Mecca. The Blue Mosque is an active mosque so it's closed to non-worshipers during daily prayers. Entrance free Avoid visiting the mosque during daily prayers. Dress appropriately. How to go: Sultanahmet light train station

Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom, not Saint Sophia) was once a church, then a mosque and is now a museum. Hagia Sophia was (re)built in 537 AD, by order of Emperor Justinian I and for 900 years was the centre of Orthodox Christianity- except between 1204 and 1261, when crusaders converted it into a Roman Catholic Cathedral. The previous two basilicas, built on top of a pagan temple, had been destroyed by rioters, the first in 404 AD and the second in 532 AD. More than 10,000 people worked in the construction of the Cathedral. The mosaics were finished later, during the reign of Emperor Justinian II (565-578). A succession of earthquakes resulted in the original dome collapsing completely in 558. Isidorus the Younger, nephew of one of the original architects (or "mechanikoi", as they were called) was responsible for rebuilding the dome, which is 55,6m high and has a diameter of 31,2m, making it the second largest in the world, after the Pantheon's dome. Hagia Sophia was the ...