Konak is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

İzmir Province İzmir Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 districts out of 30 in to ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its area is 24 km², and its population is 332,277 (2022). It is the most densely populated of the thirty districts of

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, and has historically acted as the administrative and economic core of the city. Situated in an area that roughly corresponds to the geographic center of İzmir, Konak extends for along the southern coastline of the Gulf of İzmir. Konak district area neighbors the district areas of Bornova to the east, Balçova to the west and Buca and Karabağlar to the south. Konak center is connected to other districts of İzmir and beyond by a dense network of roads and railroads, as well as by a subway line currently being largely extended and by

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

services to

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 51 km2, and its population is 346,264 (2022). The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of ...

. Konak is a very active hub of industry, trade, commerce and services, with the number of companies exceeding sixty thousand and its exports nearing two billion

US dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

in 2006.

Location and administration

The name "Konak" was previously used for İzmir's historic core neighborhood, as well as for its key central square (''

Konak Square Konak Square () is a busy square at the southern end of Atatürk Avenue in the Konak district of İzmir, Turkey. The square is named after the '' Vali Konağı'' (Governor's Mansion) of İzmir Province, which is located here ('' konak'' means ' ...

– Konak Meydanı''). For example,

along the opposing northern shore did not always consider itself as an integral part of İzmir, or in any case, had marking specificities and points of rivalry. Administrative history of Konak started in 1983–1984 when the steps towards the constitution of a Metropolitan Municipality of İzmir, itself divided into districts, were taken. In 1987, the territory of former district of central İzmir of was renamed the district of Konak (with the exception of its former dependency of Buca, which was turned into a separate district), and the name İzmir implies the entire metropolitan area since then. The municipality of Konak came into effect in full terms in July 1988. The district of Karabağlar was created in 2008 from part of the district of Konak. Konak district area starts at the tip of the Gulf of İzmir and follows the southern shoreline, covering such prominent neighborhoods of İzmir as, respectively from east to west,

Alsancak Alsancak is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Konak, İzmir, Konak, İzmir Province, Turkey. Its population is 5,581 (2022). It is part of the historic center of the city of İzmir. Overview As a notional zone, Alsancak extends ...

with its international freight and passenger port,

proper and Kemeraltı and Çankaya

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

areas and Kültürpark, where İzmir International Fair is held, immediately behind it,

Karataş Karataş (Turkish language, Turkish for ''black stone'') is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Adana Province, Turkey. Its area is 862 km2, and its population is 23,499 (2022). The town itself has 10,293 inhabitants. It is o ...

, the former Jewish neighborhood marked by Asansör building, and Göztepe, famous for its

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, among others, further along the coast towards the west, as well as the hillside zone behind these, notably the quarters of

Eşrefpaşa Eşrefpaşa is a popular and rooted neighborhood of İzmir within the metropolitan district of Konak (District), İzmir, Konak. It does not have an official status and delimitation and exists rather as a notion. Eşrefpaşa encompasses up to twenty ...

and

Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

. For both the metropolitan area and

in general, Konak still represents the administrative nerve center, with the governorship, the offices of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, the commercial areas, and other important administrative and private headquarters being situated within the boundaries of Konak. The name '' konak'' itself means, inter alia, ''government house'' or ''official residence'' in Turkish and refers in the case of Konak, İzmir, to the residence built for the governor between 1869–1972 at the spot and as a replacement of the mansion of Katipzade, a family of notables who controlled the city and the region between 1750–1820. The new building was intended to emphasize the prestige acquired by a growing international trade center and its design and furnishings were consequently luxurious. The building marked the move for the seat of the

vilayet A vilayet (, "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...

Aydın Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar; Greek: Τράλλεις)'' is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient ...

to İzmir, initiated in 1865. In recent years, there is a move toward decentralization and shift also to other districts of İzmir by official and private headquarters, notably with the building of a new and huge Hall of Justice in Bornova.

History

The core areas of Konak Square and Kemeraltı were formed with the filling in due course during the 17th century of the shallow inner bay of İzmir and immediate outer coastal reaches. Kemeraltı bazaar came into existence with the filling between 1650–1670 of the shallowest parts of the bay and the process of gaining ground from the sea bay was pursued progressively. The shoreline took its present form by the end of the 18th century in approximate terms, although some of the land along the berth remained unused till the mid-19th century. In 1829, Sarı Kışla, the Yellow Casern, the principal Ottoman casern of the city, gigantic for its time, was built at immediate sea-side, and a private residence ( konak) situated slightly diagonally behind the casern was extended and converted into the governor's mansion, demarcating Konak Square that holds its name from the mansion, and which in its turn gave the name to the central metropolitan district of İzmir ( Konak), and at the level of which Kemeraltı is considered to start. The Yellow Casern was demolished in 1955 under express instructions from the then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Adnan Menderes Ali Adnan Ertekin Menderes (; 1899 – 17 September 1961) was a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister of Turkey between 1950 and 1960. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of ...

, who wanted to see Konak Square re-shaped, to the continuing regret of many Smyrniots who had come to adopt the oversize building as one of the main landmarks of their city.

is still where the best symbols of İzmir are found.

Economy and education

The number of companies registered in Konak district was 58,199 in 2006. Exports realized by the district's companies reached 1,824,101,418 the same year. 26 banks are present across Konak district area and they provide services through 209 branches. Roughly 304,000 residential buildings make up Konak's settlement. It is notable to observe that, according to the figures provided by the prefecture, residential areas make up only around 10–15 per cent of Konak's urban zone, while a huge proportion of 75–80 per cent is classified as land being used for commercial and/or industrial purposes. The literacy rate is close to hundred per cent, a minimal two per cent ratio of illiteracy accounted for principally by new immigrants to the district. There are 23 students for each teacher, and 2,085 patients for each doctor in Konak. While İzmir's universities mostly have their campuses in other districts of the metropolitan area, these preserve an important presence in Konak through their administrative buildings and depending educational institutions, and some among the higher education establishments of fresher date chose Konak as initial base. Konak is also home to a number of deep-rooted high schools well known across Turkey.

Business centers

The district is the home of some large business centers including Heris Tower, Birsel Plaza, Kavala Plaza and Arkas Building. Of İzmir largest business plazas, Heris Tower is the largest as of 2004 with 600 people working there. Heris Tower was one of the tallest building of İzmir and as of 2014 it was still one of only 9 high-rise buildings in İzmir. And as of mid 2021 was still the 15th tallest building in İzmir. Heris Tower () is a tall office

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

. in the commercial Akdeniz neighborhood on Şehit Fethi Bey Avenue, the building is the seventh tallest building in İzmir and the 99th tallest building in Turkey. Heris Tower was completed in 2001 and was the second tallest building in the city on completion. With a blue pyramid at the tip, Heris Tower shares a resemblance with the Mellon Bank Building in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Composition

There are 113

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Konak District: * 26 Ağustos * Akarcalı * Akdeniz * Akın Simav * Akıncı * Ali Reis *

* Altay * Altınordu * Altıntaş * Anadolu * Atamer * Atilla * Aziziye * Ballıkuyu * Barbaros * Birinci Kadriye * Boğaziçi * Bozkurt * Çahabey * Çankaya * Cengiz Topel * Çimentepe * Çınarlı * Çınartepe * Dayıemir * Dolaplıkuyu * Duatepe * Ege * Emirsultan * Etiler * Faikpaşa * Fatih * Ferahlı * Fevzipaşa * Göztepe * Güneş * Güneşli * Güney * Güngör * Güzelyalı * Güzelyurt * Halkapınar * Hasan Özdemir * Hilal * Hurşidiye * Huzur * İkinci Kadriye * İmariye * İsmet Kaptan * İsmetpaşa * Kadifekale * Kahramanlar * Kahramanmescit * Kemalreis * Kestelli * Kılıçreis * Kocakapı * Kocatepe * Konak * Kosova * Kubilay * Küçükada * Kültür * Kurtuluş * Lale * Levent * M. Ali Akman * Mecidiye * Mehmet Akif * Mehtap * Mersinli * Millet * Mimarsinan * Mirali * Mithatpaşa * Murat * Muratreis * Namazgah * Namık Kemal * Odunkapı * Oğuzlar * Ondokuzmayıs * Pazaryeri * Pirireis * Ş. Nedim Tuğaltay * Sakarya * Saygı * Selçuk * Sümer * Suvari * Tan * Tınaztepe * Trakya * Turgut Reis * Türkyılmaz * Tuzcu * Uğur * Ülkü * Ulubatlı * Umurbey * Vezirağa * Yavuzselim * Yeni * Yenidoğan * Yenigün * Yenişehir * Yeşildere * Yeşiltepe * Yıldız * Zafertepe * Zeybek * Zeytinlik

Main sights

Kadifekale

Kadifekale, originally built at the end of the 4th century BC, is the millenary "Pagos" of

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

times and "Pagus" of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and Genoese periods of İzmir. The Turkish name Kadifekale literally means ''"the velvet castle"'' and is used both for the castle and for the hill on whose summit the castle is situated. The summit is located at a distance of about from the shoreline and commands a general view of a large part of the city of İzmir, as well as of the Gulf of İzmir.

Agora of Smyrna

As is the case with Pagos

hilltop castle A hilltop castle is a type of hill castle that was built on the summit of a hill or mountain. In the latter case it may be termed a mountaintop castle. The term is derived from the German, ''Gipfelburg'', which is one of a number of terms used ...

at Kadifekale, the foundation of the second city of Smyrna to replace its Archaic Period predecessor at what is

Bayraklı Bayraklı is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 30 km2, and its population is 299,859 (2024). It covers the northern part of the metropolitan area of İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and tow ...

district today, is associated and contemporaneous with

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, although the present-day remains date from later periods. In the case of ancient Smyrna, the ruins are centered around the Roman period

Agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...

of the city, rebuilt after a 178 AD earthquake, although much evidence leads to the conclusion that further research could bring many other vestiges of the antique city to daylight. A new drive in the last decade, once the excavations were placed under the authority of İzmir's Metropolitan Municipal Administration, led to new acquisitions of land around the site of the Agora, incurring considerable expenses and with the objective of enlarging the area to explore. First scientific explorations at the Agora of Smyrna were conducted by

Charles Texier Félix Marie Charles Texier (22 August 1802, Versailles – 1 July 1871, Paris) was a French historian, architect and archaeologist. Texier published a number of significant works involving personal travels throughout Asia Minor and the Middle Eas ...

in late-1830s and the present state of the site as accessible to visitors is the consequence of the work accomplished between 1931 and 1942 by the archaeologists Rudolf Naumann and Selâhattin Kantar.

Konak Square and Kemeraltı (grand bazaar)

Konak Square is the central point where the structure that became İzmir city's symbol, İzmir Clock Tower, built upon decision of the city council by the Levantine French architect Raymond Charles Père on the occasion of Sultan Abdülhamid II's

silver jubilee Silver Jubilee marks a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, the 25th year of a monarch's reign or anything that has completed or is entering a 25-year mark. Royal Silver Jubilees since 1750 Note: This ...

(1901), is found. The tower is in front of İzmir Governor's official residence (''Konak''), an almost identical replica of the original building built between 1869 and 1872, which itself was lost to a fire in 1970. Between the two structures, the tower and the "konak", is a very small mosque, a curiosity today and which was formerly annexed by a

medrese Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

, which also dates from the time of the Katipzade, having been built around 1755. The eastern end of Konak Square is marked by Konak Pier, a 19th-century construction whose steelworks are claimed to have been designed by

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...

. The western end is the location of another 19th-century Levantine/European landmark of the city (''see below''), İzmir Ethnography and Archaeology Museum, originally built as an orphanage. The central part of the square, just next to the Clock Tower and the Governor's Mansion, leads access to Kemeraltı bazaar area and to the Agora of Smyrna beyond at the bazaar's land's end. Konak shore

Covering the area between Konak Square and the Agora of Smyrna, Kemeraltı Bazaar is a part of İzmir where residential buildings are practically absent and which consists, not on only of hundreds of commercial establishments but also of numerous religious buildings (historic mosques and synagogues) concentrated in walking distance from each other. İzmir center's two largest churches, a Catholic church dedicated to Polycarp and the Greek Orthodox church of "Aya Vukla", premises of the archaeological museum until recently and currently in phase of being restored, are also located slightly outside Kemeraltı zone. The entire area corresponds to İzmir's small inner bay which existed until the 18th century and is thus land gained from the sea. 1590-built Hisar Mosque and the 1744-built Kızlarağası led the pace for the establishment of a commercial zone here which is still marked by many buildings of İzmir's Ottoman period.

Kordon (seaside promenade)

is a neighborhood of well-designed streets and modern apartment blocks and stores and also where İzmir's trendiest and the most expensive and exclusive residences and commercial space are found here, as well as the busiest office buildings, including consulates. It extends along the First Kordon and the Second Kordon, the first having taken present-day look with the construction of İzmir's new port installations between 1867–1876. With the project, the

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

(''Pasaport Quay''), as well as a 3250 m long combination of a landing stage, of a street served by a tram line and of an esplanade (''Kordon'') came into existence, all built on land gained from the sea, and profoundly changing the city's look. Many restaurants, bars, cafes, discothèques and other entertainment venues are concentrated in Alsancak, increasingly within the intact rows of older and more traditional one- or two-storied buildings found in the inner smaller streets and are often restored specifically for the purpose of the intended commercial activity.

Asansör (elevator)

Asansör ( Turkish for "

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

") is a building in Konak's

neighborhood and it was built in 1907 as a work of public service by a wealthy

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

banker and trader of that period, Nesim Levi Bayraklıoğlu, in order to ease passage for people and goods from the narrow coastline of Karataş to the hillside along its steep cliff. The small street that led to the building was recently renamed

Darío Moreno David Arugete (; 3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968), commonly known under his stage name Darío Moreno, was a Turkish-Jewish polyglot singer, an accomplished composer, lyricist, and guitarist. He attained fame and made a remarkable career centr ...

in memory of the singer who used to live there before attaining fame in Europe.

Kültürpark

Kültürpark, behind Alsancak's coastal strait at a short distance, is considered the cradle of Turkey's fairs and expositions industry, and is notable for hosting a series of simultaneous festival activities.

References

External links

Metropolitan Municipality of Greater İzmir

Dokuz Eylül University Forum

Walking routes inside the city
{{İzmir Districts of İzmir Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey