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You will
find the Cesme peninsula about way down the Aegean coast
of Turkey at its most western point. It is less than 1
Hours drive from the City of Izmir and Adanan Menderes
International Airport.
Cesme is renowned for Thermal Spa's, Blue Seas and
Golden Beaches, which range from crowded to remote and
secluded. There are about 20 of them spread around the
peninsular so transport is necessary to get to any of
them. One option is to use one of the many the public "Dolmus"
(Mini bus) services or just take Taxi. You could also
hire a Car or Motorcycle for the day too and explore the
peninsular at your own pace and convenience.
Cesme town itself is a "compact" and "bustling"
collection of Souvenir, Leather, Carpet, Clothing,
Footwear and Jewelry stores punctuated by Bars, Disco's
Bistro's, Restaurants, Coffeehouse's and Ice Cream
stalls. There are also a fair number of Pharmacies (Eczani)
around so you can take on extra supplies of Sun Tan oils
or After Sun Balm in case you happen to "overdo it" in
the first few days of your vacation.
The central waterfront of Cesme stretches from the yacht
harbor to the south and a public beach to the north with
the Castle taking center stage. It is mainly a
collection of hostelries and Travel Agencies but you
also find there the PTT, the Tourist Information Center,
the Ferry Port for day trips to the island of Chios and
in case of Emergency a Tourist Police Station.
A casual visitor should have little trouble finding
accommodation, Cesme boasts over 10,000 Tourist Hotel
beds, ranging from small and friendly Pensions to 5 Star
Luxury Hotels or Holiday Villages, something to match
every budget. One good starting point for accommodation
is the Tourist Information Center another is to surf
inside this site and work out your own arrangements.
There are plenty of Travel Agencies in Cesme who are
ready and willing to help. Another option is of course
the ubiquitous Taxi drivers who always "Have a friend."
Finally for the really adventurous ones amongst you, the,
walk the streets and ask, method works well too.
Çeşme
is a pretty coastal town situated about 70 km from Izmir
in Western Anatolia. Its history can be dated as far
back as 3000BC. Erythrai and Çesmeköy were the first
settlements the central district of Çesme is a more
recent development.
Even though its history is largely unclear, information
gathered from excavations and research done in the
ancient city of Erythrai place its establishment around
3000BC.
In around 2000 BC Leleghs, who were native Anatolean
people, settled in the area. For a variety of reasons
there seems to have been an influx of people from Greece
who came across the Aegean sea from the islands but the
Leleghs were still the dominant force.
Research also revealed, there seems to have been a small
settlement to the East of Çesme called Kalemburnu. The
area came under the dominance of the Lydians in the 6th
century BC and throughout its history it was also
controlled by the Romans and Alexander the Great. In or
around 334BC the area became independent and flourished
due to its connection with the Roman Empire.
In the 3rd century AD it lost its influence and its
development was curtailed. It wasn't until a famous
Turkish chief Emir Çaka used the Çesme peninsula as a
base for his sea wars against the Aegean islands that
Çesme became important again.
In the 13th century the Germian Lord was Sasa Bey and in
the 14th century the area was conquered by Aydinogullari
and was settled by them |
