Kemalpasa
General Information
District: Izmir, State: Aegean Region, Turkey
Area: 658 km²
Languages Spoken: Turkish
Long Distance Code: (+90) 0232
Best Time to Visit: May to August
International Access: Izmir Adnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)
Description
History Kemalpasa region has always been a key point of passage between the Gulf of İzmir and the lands of the Anatolian interior. The recorded history dates back to 1300 BC. The Karabel relief depicting a Hittite warrior was until recently the only trace of that civilization discovered in western Anatolia. The recent discovery and the explorations that are currently being conducted in the prehistoric mound (höyük) near the depending municipality of Ulucak (Ulucak Höyügü), is likely to shed new lights to the region's earlier history. There are also numerous tumuli in the Lydian style in the region. Karabel Hittite-Luwian rock relief The relief is a late Hittite-Luwian monument carved in rock about 1.5 meter wide and 2.5 meters high and located in a passage between two mountains on the road south to Torbali at a distance of six kilometers from Kemalpasa center. It is dated to the second half of 13th century BCE during the reign of Tudhaliya IV. A male figure depicted standing with a bow in his right hand and a spear in his left wearing a tunic and a cone-shaped hat is identified as Tarkasnawa, King of Mira, according to a recent reading by David Hawkins widely approved by scholars and matched with a name mentioned in Bogazköy Hittite annals. The relief is called "Eti Baba" (the Hittite father) locally. Nymphaion - Nif - Kemalpasa The town's name in classical and medieval times was Nymphaion. It rose to prominence during the late Byzantine times, when it became the favourite winter residence of the Nicaean emperors during the 13th century. A palace, whose well-preserved remains are still extant, was built there by John III Doukas Vatatzes. The association with the Nicaean court made Nymphaion a center of imperial politics: the city was raised to an archbishopric, where John III spent his final months, and both Theodore II Laskaris and Michael VIII Palaiologos were crowned. The two important treaties of the 13th century concluded with Italian states, both referred to as Treaty of Nymphaeum and the latter of which was to have an important impact on the region's future, virtually ceding Smyrna to the Republic of Genoa, were concluded there. In the last decades of the 13th century, it became a major Byzantine stronghold against the advances of the Turkish beyliks: both emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and the celebrated general Alexios Philanthropenos used it as their headquarters in the 1290s. The town fell to the Turkish Bey of Saruhan in 1315. Under Turkish rule, the town's original name was echoed in the Turkish name "Nif" which was in use until the early years of the Republic of Turkey. The name Nif was changed to Kemalpasa in honor of Mustafa Kemal Pasa who had spent the night of 8 September 1922 here, before the closing chapter of the Occupation of İzmir the next day, putting an end to the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) in the field. The name "Nif" is no longer used for the city, even colloquially, although its status of former name is common knowledge. Nif was one of the centers that were densely populated by Anatolian Greeks till the first quarter of the 20th century, before the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations. The mountain on the slopes of which the city of Kemalpasa extends and the district's most important stream are still called Nif (respectively, Nif Dagi and Nif Cayi). With its summit reaching 1.510 meters high, Mount Nif was one of the mountains called Olympus in ancient times and is renowned today for its dense forests of oaks, oleasters, pines and other trees of the Aegean basin, cold springs and trout farms. The River Nif enters the district area near the township of Ulucak, crosses the plain to skip tangentially into the area of the neighboring district of Bornova, at which level a Roman bridge is found, rejoins Kemalpasa to flow into Gediz River further north near Manisa. Social life Kemalpasa's proximity to İzmir and the tendance of the population to head for the big city for activities of social life becomes a factor which plays against Kemalpasa district center in terms of the availability on the spot of social facilities. While the mountain passage at Karabel where the Hittite monument is located has been arranged into a picnic area and the remains of Vatatzes's palace could attract more visitors, the absence of facilities for overnight visitors tend to limit Kemalpasa's tourism potential to daily visits or excursions by trekking or hunting groups One popular spot at a distance of a few kilometers to Kemalpasa center is the "Kazakh Valley" or "Kimiz Farm", located near the forests on the slopes of the Mount Nif and arranged around Central Asian themes, complete with a yurt built in concrete, serving Kazakh/Uzbek food and reputed to have one of the best offers of the ancestral drink kimiz, in Turkey. The stock farm within the establishment provide visitors or accomplished riders with the opportunity to ride Haflinger horses.Location
Kemalpasa is a large town and the center of the district of the same name in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its district area extends immediately to the east of İzmir's eastern-most metropolitan district, Bornova, and Kemalpasa town being at a distance of only 29 km (18 mi) from the historical and traditional center of İzmir, (Konak), it pulsates along with the rhythm of the big city, with corresponding high levels of development in terms of industry and services. İzmir-Ankara highway crosses the district area 8 km to the north of the district center. Kemalpasa district area borders on the administrative divisions of Manisa center in the north, Manisa's depending district of Turgutlu in the east and İzmir's depending districts of Torbali and Bayindir in the south.Climate
İzmir has a typical Mediterranean climate which is characterized by long, hot and dry summers; and mild to cool, rainy winters. The total precipitation for İzmir averages 706 mm (27.8 inches) per year; however, 77% of that falls during November through Ma