"The Pearl of Aegean" a Izmir Travel Page by traveloturc

Izmir is inheritor of almost 3500 years of urban past, and possibly up to that much more in terms of advanced human settlement patterns. It is Turkey's first port for exports and its free zone.
Izmir is nicknamed "Occidental Izmir" or "The Pearl of the Aegean" and widely regarded as one of the most liberal Turkish cities in terms of values, ideology, lifestyle, dynamism and gender roles.
The city hosts an international arts festival during June/July, and
Izmir International Fair, one among the city's many fair and exhibition events, is held in the beginning of September every year. It is served by national and international flights through Adnan Menderes Airport and there is a modern subway-rapid transit line running Southwest to Northeast. Izmir hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1971 and the World University Games (Universiade) in 2005. It has a running bid submitted to BIE to host the Universal Expo 2015, which will be voted in 2008. Modern İzmir also incorporates the nearby ancient cities like Ephesus, Pergamon, Sardis and Klazomenai, and centers of international tourism such as Kusadasi, Çesme and Foça.

The city hosts an international arts festival during June/July, and Izmir International Fair, one among the city's many fair and exhibition events, is held in the beginning of September every year. It is served by national and international flights through Adnan Menderes Airport and there is a modern subway-rapid transit line running Southwest to Northeast. Izmir hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1971 and the World University Games (Universiade) in 2005. It has a running bid submitted to BIE to host the Universal Expo 2015, which will be voted in 2008. Modern Izmir also incorporates the nearby ancient cities like Ephesus, Pergamon, Sardis and Klazomenai, and centers of international tourism such as Kusadasi, Çesme and Foça.

Homer is the name given to the supposed author of the early Greek poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is now generally believed that they were composed by illiterate aoidoi (rhapsodes) in an oral tradition in the 8th or 7th century BC, but it is a matter of debate among scholars whether a single aoidos is largely responsible for the poems as they stand. The name Homer is nevertheless often used, as a convention, by those who do not believe in singular authorship of the Homeric poems. He was a citizen of Izmir