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From the Harbour of Kyme in Aliağa to the Stone Houses of Yeni Foça
Historical Sites

From the Harbour of Kyme in Aliağa to the Stone Houses of Yeni Foça

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South of Aliağa, on the shore of Nemrut Bay, an ancient city sits between two low hills. Its name is Kyme, and ancient writers called it the largest of the twelve cities of Aeolis. Today port cranes rise directly behind its ruins.

Aliağa, İzmir
Historical Sites
Radar Editör
September 30, 2026

About Trip

South of Aliağa, on the shore of Nemrut Bay, an ancient city sits between two low hills. Its name is Kyme, and ancient writers called it the largest of the twelve cities of Aeolis. Today port cranes rise directly behind its ruins. So this is not a silent archaeological site on a mountain slope but a city that has survived in the middle of an industrial coastline. That is exactly what makes it surprising: a theatre, an agora, a colonnaded hall and an ancient pier reaching into the sea stand on the shore of a bay where container ships pass by. Give the second half of the day to the neighbour to the north. Yeni Foça is a small harbour town founded by the Genoese for the alum trade, its back streets filled with stone houses in Ottoman and Greek styles. At Kyme you see an ancient harbour, at Yeni Foça a town that grew around a medieval one; the road that links them is the same coastal line running through Çakmaklı.

Getting there

Kyme lies in the district of Aliağa, near the neighbourhood of Çakmaklı, at the spot called Nemrut Harbour on the southern side of the Gulf of Çandarlı. Coming from İzmir, follow the İzmir-Çanakkale road to Aliağa, then take the signs towards Çakmaklı. Public transport works too: ESHOT bus 745, the Yeni Foça - Biçerova Transfer Centre line, stops at Çakmaklı Yolu and Çakmaklı, so the same bus joins the two ends of this trip. Timetables change, so check the ESHOT line page before you set out. If you like to walk, the İzmir Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism lists among its Aliağa routes an easy 5.5 kilometre trail of two to three hours descending from Samurlu to Kyme; the directorate recommends it between March and November. Yeni Foça, for its part, is about 80 kilometres northwest of İzmir and about 20 kilometres from Foça. It was a separate municipality for a time; today it is a neighbourhood attached to the district of Foça.

The largest city of Aeolis

According to Strabo, the Aeolians migrated from Greece and settled on this coast between 1120 and 1050 BC; for the city's foundation the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism gives the middle of the 11th century BC. Kyme takes its name from the Amazon Kyme, who according to legend was its founder. Written sources become concrete from the 8th century BC, and in the Archaic period the city became one of the first to mint coins. It is recorded that the father of Hesiod migrated from Kyme to Boeotia and that the historian Ephorus was a native of the city. Coming under Persian rule in the middle of the 6th century BC, the city contributed 15 ships to the fleet in the Persian-Greek wars; in 478 BC it joined the Delian League and paid 9 talents in yearly tribute. After 334 BC came Macedonian rule, then the governments of Antigonus, Lysimachus and Seleucus; Roman rule began in 129 BC. After the great earthquake of AD 17 the city was supported by the Emperor Tiberius. With the adoption of Christianity Kyme became the seat of a bishop, and life there continued until the 12th century AD; the Byzantine fortress on the north hill remained in use until it passed to the Ottomans in 1415.

A walk among the ruins

The site consists of two hills and the harbour flat between them. The North Hill is the city's acropolis; here stand the remains of a temple first dedicated to Cybele in the Archaic period, later converted into a three-part temple in the Ionic order, and rebuilt in the second half of the 2nd century BC for the cult of Isis. On the southwestern slope of the North Hill is the theatre: built in the Hellenistic period against the natural slope, its orchestra was enlarged and paved with marble slabs in the Roman period, and in the Byzantine period three separate lime kilns operated inside it. Most of the seating rows are gone, but the curve can still be read; the information panel in front explains the phases. Below, on the harbour flat, lies the agora, a square framed by the pedestals, exedrae and porticoes typical of Roman forums. In the late period a single-nave church with an apse was set directly on the paving, and 44 graves dated to the 5th to 7th centuries AD were found along the northeastern edge. From the agora towards the harbour ran a stoa 125 metres long and 15 metres wide, dated to the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. The harbour had been in use since the 8th century BC, and the 190 metre pier structure can still be made out reaching into the sea. The bronze statue of a running athlete found here in 1979 is now displayed in the İzmir Archaeological Museum. The city walls belong to the same Hellenistic phase; built of andesite blocks, their two gates are known as the Sea Gate and the Framed Gate. On the South Hill there were houses from the 8th century BC to the 7th century AD; the earliest house remains date to the 4th century BC. Several necropolises were excavated around the city, and the earliest finds go back to the 7th century BC. The Byzantine fortress on top of the North Hill has an irregular pentagonal plan; built of reused stone, it has two towers and a rectangular courtyard.

A century and a half of excavation

The first to describe Kyme was Ciriaco d'Ancona, an Italian merchant who travelled the coasts of Anatolia in the first half of the 15th century. The first excavation was carried out in 1874 by Demostenes Baltazzi, who lived in İzmir; in 1881 Reinach and Pottier worked in the necropolis. In 1925 the team of Salač from Prague could dig for only one season, yet that work was the first archaeological excavation permit of the Republican era. In 1953 Ekrem Akurgal found Geometric and Archaic pottery on the South Hill. During the rescue excavations of 1979-1981 under Hasan Tahsin Uçankuş, director of the İzmir Museum, the Archippe inscription of the 2nd century BC came to light; it tells how a woman of the city had a new bouleuterion built. In 1982-1984 Vedat İdil of Ankara University opened a colonnaded building. From 1986 to 2007 Sebastiana Lagona of the University of Catania worked on the harbour, the theatre and the houses; from 2008 to 2017 Antonio La Marca extended the agora and uncovered the Hellenistic walls. Since 2017 the work has continued under the responsibility of the İzmir Museum Directorate. Some of the finds were sold to the British Museum in 1876-1877 and some went to Prague; the objects unearthed today are gathered in the İzmir Archaeological Museum.

Visiting conditions

The sources give no ticket or opening hours for Kyme; the area is visited as an excavation site equipped with information panels and attended by staff. The fact that the Provincial Directorate's walking route ends here shows that a visit is the natural part of a trail. Still, some trenches may be closed during the excavation season; do not enter the taped-off sections and follow the staff's warnings. If you find the site closed, do not be disappointed: since the agora and the pier remains lie right on the shore, they can be seen from the outside along the beach. The view in which the port cranes and the ancient pier stand in the same frame is in any case the most memorable photograph of this place. Check the current situation before you go on the ancient cities page of the Aliağa Municipality or with the İzmir Museum Directorate.

The stone houses and shore of Yeni Foça

As you continue north from Kyme towards Yeni Foça, the character of the coast changes. According to the history published by the Foça District Governorate, in 1275 the Byzantine emperor gave Foça to a Genoese named Manuele Zaccaria; the Genoese founded a new settlement here to work the alum mines nearby and grew rich on the alum trade. The name Yeni Foça, New Foça, comes from that foundation. The Ottoman navy added Yeni Foça and Foça to Ottoman territory in 1455; in 1649, during the Cretan War, the Ottoman and Venetian fleets faced each other off this shore. The town was built around a harbour, and its back streets are filled with a great number of old stone houses in Ottoman and Greek styles. The Greek population left with the wars and population movements of the early 20th century; the houses remained. Because the plants and wildlife of the surroundings are protected, new construction is restricted in most of the town, which is why the skyline is still low and dominated by stone. The best way to explore is to start from the quay of the harbour and turn inland into the narrow streets. Cut stone walls, wooden bay windows and coloured shutters pile up along a few streets; in the midday sun the stone turns white, in the afternoon light it turns yellow. If you keep going along the shore you reach Burunucu Public Beach, a 500 metre sandy public beach with an access ramp for disabled visitors. In September and October the sea is still warm; the crowds have thinned and the light has softened.

Season and time of day

There is little shade at Kyme; the site spreads over an open, windy flat at sea level. Spring and autumn, especially April-May and October, are the most comfortable times both for the ruins and for the walking trail. In summer go in the first hours of the morning and leave midday to the shaded streets of Yeni Foça. In winter the site is empty and calm, but the north wind beats the bay hard; a windbreaker is a must. For photographs, morning light suits the theatre and afternoon light suits the harbour and the agora; the sun sets over the bay.

Practical notes

  • There is neither a kiosk nor shelter at the site; bring your water and a hat.
  • The ancient pier and the paving of the agora are still in place; do not step on the stone blocks and do not cross the tape around the excavation trenches.
  • If you come by bus, note in advance the last departures of line 745 in both the Aliağa and the Yeni Foça direction.
  • The streets of Yeni Foça are narrow; leave your car around the harbour and walk.
  • The ancient cities of Myrina and Gryneion are in the same area; save them for a second day.

Sources

Location - From the Harbour of Kyme in Aliağa to the Stone Houses of Yeni Foça

Trip Info
CityAliağa, İzmir
TypeHistorical Sites
DateSeptember 30, 2026
SourceRadar Editör
Radar TürkiyeAuthorRadar TürkiyeVisit SourceGet Directions