Kuşadası is defined as a 'Paradise of shopping' please be asssured that this is not an exaggeration.You can find a range of good quality souvenirs including leather products, from a choice of over four thousand shops.

Kuşadası port is an important stop of for the Cruise ships and has it's own well appointed shopping centre.

Kuşadası is an ideal holiday destination and offers seafood and other restaurants,cafes,parks and marvellous beaches.Shopping is a famous qualification of this area with it's hand tooled leather products,fabulous jewellery and collectible carpets. Kuşadası bazaar ,Ladies Beach and the bars, nightclubs and restaurants around the marina provide a colourful ambiance.

Didyma

Didyma is located near the village of Yenihisar (Yoran) near the town of Söke in the province of Aydın in the Aegean region. Here one finds an important sanctuary that housed one of the oracles of Apollo. It was connected to Miletus by sea, and those arriving by ship would land at the harbour of Panormus and thence follow the Sacred way to Didyma. Until its destruction by the Persians in 494 B.C. it was administered by the family of the Branchidae, the descendants of Bronchos, a youth beloved of Apollo. For the last two kilometers the Sacred Way was lined with seated statues of the male and female members of the Branchidae family. After his capture of Miletus in 334 B. C. Alexander the Great placed the administration of the oracle in the hands of the city of Miletus. In 331 B.C. the oracle proclaimed Alexander "the son of Zeus". In 300 B.C. the Milesians embarked on the construction of the largest temple in the Greek world. Although work continued until the middle of the 2nd century A.D. the temple was never finished. Later, a church and other buildings were constructed, while the Byzantines built a barracks in which troops were garrisoned. The buildings were damaged by fire and in the 15th century further damage was caused by a great earthquake. The Temple of Apollo (Didymaion) was the largest and wealthiest Ionic temple in Anatolia and was renowned for its holy relics, its treasury, its sacred spring and sacred laurel grove. Investigations in the Temple of Apollo were first undertaken in 1834 by the French traveller Charles Texier and the English archaeologist Charles T. Newton, who had conducted the excavations at Halicarnassus.

The first excavations were begun in 1904 by Theodor Wiegand under the auspices of the Berlin Museum and continued until 1913. Since 1962 excavations have been conducted by Klaus Tucheld on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute.

The first Temple of Apollo was built in the Archaic period and the Hellenistic temple which succeeded this was built on the foundations of the earlier building, materials from which were used in the construction. The temple we see today is an Ionic structure measuring 60 x 118 m, with a dipteral arrangement of two rows of columns with 21 on each side and 10 at each end. The columns are of various styles with pedestals adorned with reliefs. These columns support an architrave surmounted by a frieze decorated with acanthus leaves and Gorgon (Medusa) heads. The high pronaos at the top of a monumental flight of steps leads into a naos with two columns, which gives access to the sacred area or cella in the form of an open courtyard surrounded by high walls with columns and containing a small Ionic temple which housed the statue of the god. Didyma was never a large city and its fame was closely connected with the existence of a sacred spring and the temple founded over it. The ancient Greeks merely took over the already existing sanctuary and reorganised it.

Didyma was connected to Miletus by the Sacred Way, the latter part of which was lined with sarcophagi and statues of lions and sphinxes. The Branchidae family was responsible for the maintenance of the Sacred Way.

The remains of the earliest temple, which lie within the later building, have been dated to the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. These consist of a sacred wall measuring approximately 24 x 10 m, an open-air sanctuary, a portico 16 m in length, a sacred well and a votive altar.

Pamukkale

Until forty or fifty years ago, Pamukkale was a place where travelers who happened to pass by found peace and tranquillity and the opportunity for quiet meditation by the side of the sacred spring that still lies exposed, amid the few ancient columns and in the deep silence of the tombs that lay scattered over the countryside to the west and extended out towards the surrounding hills. In spite of the doubtful merits of present-day developments, and in spite of all the ugly building construction that has taken place, the seething crowds, the noise and pollution, one can still confidently assert that Pamukkale has lost nothing of its former attractions.

Pamukkale is located in the Inner Aegean region at a distance of 20 km from the town of Denizli. This lovely, rapidly developing district in the Menderes valley, which enjoys a temperate climate over the greater part of the year, has all the conditions required for an ideal touristic resort.The tectonic movements that took place in the fault depression of the Menderes river basin gave rise to the emergence of a number of very hot springs, and it is the water from one of these springs, with its large mineral content, chalk in particular, that has created the natural wonder now known as Pamukkale, Cotton Fortress or Baumwollenschloss, a very appropriate name for such a phenomenon...

You may approach Pamukkale by the main roads marked on your map, but there are also other ways, according to the direction from which you are coming. For example, if you approach from the West you can branch off to the left at the sign shortly after Sarayköyü.This will give you the opportunity of seeing and getting to know quite a few very interesting Western Anatolian villages.On approaching Pamukkale, whether you choose the route through these villages or arrive by the Denizli road you will be confronted by one of the most remarkable landscapes to be seen anywhere in Turkey.The first thing you will see is a rock platform over 100 m in height rising up from the plain. The slopes of this hill, which look from a distance like a great white speck, are covered with large numbers of pools and terraces.As you come nearer, you will begin to see this natural phenomenon, which resembles a frozen waterfall, in greater detail.

From the edge of every terrace and every step in this fascinating natural phenomenon that has gradually formed throughout the ages hang brilliantly white stalactites, and you can hear the joyful splashing of the waters of the hot springs as they cascade down over slopes where their flow is impeded only by clumps of oleanders.The temperature of the water forming the travertines, which issues from the hot springs on the hills above, falls to around 33 C° lower down.On emerging to the surface, the solution of calcium-carbonate in the spring water decomposes into carbon dioxide, calcium carbonate and water. The carbon dioxide is released into the air while the calcium carbonate separates off from the water to form a grayish-white limestone sediment.The beds of the water-courses are filled up with these limestone deposits and the water, confronted with these obstacles, splits up into several branches.The water flows over the slopes into pools, the small basins surrounding them and finally into the fields below.It is in this way that these terraces over 100 m in height composed of layers of the accumulated limestone sediment have been gradually formed in the course of the ages. As the limestone sediment reaches a certain level the water accumulates in pools and, as these pools fill up, overflows into smaller pools in the vicinity and from these flowsinto the small hollows and depressions around them.The limestone layers in the pools rise up in steps, one above the other, and the continual flow of water keeps this process in operation.The stalactites form one of the most important features in the landscape.

With the formation of the layers and the emergence of steps and terraces one above the other, the water leaves the limestone deposit behind it and drips down in the form of stalactites, as in the Damlataş caverns.The calcium oxide in the water adds to the thickness of the white layers and widens the terraces, producing pools in fantastic shapes reminiscent of oyster shells or flower petals, while the small amount of sulphur and iron oxide produces stripes of yellow, red and green over the white of the limestone. Any object left in the water at Pamukkale will take on a coating of limestone within a very few days. Now, as in the olden days, the water flows through open channels, and in cold weather you can see columns of mist dancing over the surface.Although the water flowing from the hot springs on the southern slopes of Çaldağ rapidly loses heat during its flow through these open channels it is still hot enough to make it possible for one to bathe throughout six months of the year in the open-air swimming pools in the motels and on the terraces.

Izmir

Izmir is located in the Aegean province, which, of all the seven geographical regions of Turkey, enjoys the finest climate. In population it is the third city in Turkey.It is located in an area whose magnificent history has made it a tourist centre. It lies at the centre of the most important land, air and sea communication network in the ancient Aegean region.

THE LEGENDARY ORIGIN OF ITS NAME

The wife of Cinyras, King of Cyprus, foolishly claimed that her daughter, Smyrna, was more beautiful than Aphrodite herself. This so enraged the goddess that she made Smyrna fall in love with her own father and one night Smyrna's nurse having made the king drunk, she climbed into his bed. When he finally awoke from his drunken slumber, the king drew his sword and drove his daughter from the palace, pursuing her into the countryside.Just as he was about to overtake her and kill her with his sword, Aphrodite took pity on the girl and turned her into a myrrh tree.

As it descended, the king's sword split the myrrh-tree and ADONIS tumbled out. And thus Adonis was born.

According to famous ancient travelers such as Aristides, Strabo, Pliny and Pausanias, Izmir was founded around 1450 B.C. by TANTALUS, King of Manisa (Spilos) to the north-east of the present-day city.

There is also a legend to the effect that it was founded by the Amazons. The one certain thing is that Izmir is not a Greek word and would appear to be derived from an autochthonous language.

Selcuk

Selçuk is the central town of Selçuk district, İzmir Province in Turkey, 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Kuşadası, 5 km (3 mi) northeast of Ephesus. Its original name was Ayios Theologos (Greek: Άγιος Θεολόγος), from which the Ottoman Turkish name Ayasluğ is derived. In 1914 it was renamed Selçuk, after the Seljuk Turks who settled in the region in the 12th century. It was a township in Kuşadası district till 1954 and Torbalı between 1954-1957. It finally became a district in 1957. Its neighbours are Torbalı from north, Tire from northeast, Germencik from east, Kuşadası from south, Aegean Sea from west and Menderes (formerly Cumaovası) from northwest.

Selçuk is one of the most visited touristic destinations within Turkey, known for its closeness to the ancient city of Ephesus, House of the Virgin Mary and Seljukian works of art. The 6th century Basilica of St. John the Apostle, which, some claim, is built on the site of the Apostle's tomb, is also inside the town. With the vast majority of tourists only using Selçuk as a stopping point for Ephesus and not visiting the town itself, the old quarter of Selçuk remains generally undisturbed and undeveloped, retaining traditional Turkish culture and locality.

Ayasoluk Hill dominates the surrounding area, with several historical buildings on its slopes, including the İsa Bey Mosque built by the Seljuk Turks in 1375, and the Grand Fortress.

The Ephesus Airport and Selçuk Training Center of the Turkish Aeronautical Association is only 3 kilometers away from Selçuk, offering piloting, parachuting, and microlight training.

Miletus

Situated at the mouth of the Meander in the south of the province of Ionia in Western Anatolia, the ancient city of Miletus was the oldest and the most powerful of the twelve Ionian cities in Asia Minor. It also founded over ten colonies on the shores of the Marmara and the Black Sea, while its commercial activities extended as far as Egypt. Its schools made a very great contribution to the intellectual and scholarly development of the Mediterranean world and one cannot talk of Miletus without mention of the great contributions to geometry and science made by Thales, one of the greatest scholars produced by the city.

Miletus is also renowned as the first city to which the principles of modern town-planning were applied. The gridplan introduced by Hippodamos was later to form the basis of town-planning in all Roman cities. As a result of the silting caused by the alluvium washed down by the Meander the city now lies at a distance of several kilometres from the sea. The fact that Miletus formerly possessed four separate harbours well indicates the important role played by the Meander in the history of the city.

Sirince