|
 Around
2000 BC. people coming from Leleg, Caria and Lydia had settled down as a
society to the slopes of Pilav Mountain. Later one by one with the unit
settlements Pigale, Maratheson, Neopolis and Panionion came to life; Ionians and later Romans by Ephesus coming into the dominance of Rome, had lived in
these lands.
Today's Kusadasi is founded in 16th century by Venetians as a colony. The
castle on the small island was built for the purpose of observation in
Byzantine times. In the Middle Ages Kusadasi was ruled by Venetians and
Genoeses which had taken the name of Scala Nova.
The city was surrounded with castle walls for being protected from the
violence of pirates, very common in the Mediterranean those centuries. It is known
that there is an Ionian Region of Kusadasi. This had taken an important
harbor mission on Asia - Europe trade road for many years.
In the period of Scala Nova, the Armenians dominant to trade, Greeks and
Jews had joined to former nations. With the Malazgirt War in 1071 Seljuk
Turks had started to spread in Anatolia and during the process of Turkish
principalities formation, in 1304 Sasa Bey had been the authority of
Kusadasi and surroundings. Mehmet Bey had connected this vicinity to
Aydinogullari after Sasa's death.
Kusadasi is a harbor town and Turks had kept this in mind. Although they
were nomads from central Asia and far away from maritime business, they had
learnt maritime as well as the Ephesians in a short time. They had lived
comfortably with the spoils they caught at naval battles. Kilic Arslan added
this town to Selcuk government and Scala Nova again had become the
exportation gate of Anatolia in 1186. The Ottoman sultan Yildirim Beyazit
had joined Ayasulug (in Selcuk) to his principalities and the city became
Ottoman in 1390. Tamerlane (Timurlenk) decided to take whole of Anatolia
under his sovereign, but when he could not take Ayasulug he put the castle
on fire in which Ottoman soldiers resisted, and St. Jean's Church was
damaged very badly. With ǥlebi Mehmet I Kusadasi had gathered to the Ottoman
Empire and became a district.
With the vicinities passing to Ottomans, Turks entered into societies in
these areas. At the end of 1st World War Ottoman Government had overcome, so
Kusadasi was given to Italians with a treaty, and under their rule, the town
was filled with Turks, Greeks, Jews, Armenians. Most of those minorities
left the country on 7th September 1923 after the victory of War of
Independence led by Atatürk. Lands between Güzelcamli and Selcuk, the
estates of Greeks which went back during the agreement to exchange
minorities between Greece and Turkey, were given to Turkish immigrants in
return to their properties there; the same was done by the Greek government.
This migration was between 1941 and 1955.
Kusadasi is living parallel to Ephesus in history and the settlements around
it. The places that have historical and tourist values are:
Panionian Agora, Roman Bath, Ilica Hill, Scala Nova, Pygale, Kadi Castle,
Andiz Tower, Neopolis, Aquaducts, Ania, Melia, Kursunlu Monastery, Okuz
Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai, The Castle on Pigeon Island, Ramparts surrounding
the City, Kusadasi Houses, Kaleici, Mosques, Turkish Baths, Yacht Harbor and
Dilek National Park.
Pygale
According to Xeonophon, one of the authors of 5th c BC, Pygale was assembled
by the king Agamemnon of Myknai and Argos. In the 14th volume of Strabon�geography
book it is told that Pygale was established by Agamemnon and he settled
large amount of his soldiers there who made good use of boiling healing
water in the land. According to Strabon again, there was a temple made for
the moon goddess Munkyia in Phigale. During the period of Trojan Wars that
continued ten years, Pygale was used for curing soldiers and repairing ships.
After the Granikos Wars, Pygale was also used as an entertainment and
treatment centre for Alexander the Great's soldiers. Written inheritance of
the whole past and visual inheritance going over today prove us that one of
the first cities established on purpose of health in the world was in
Kusadasi known with its name "Pygale". |
