Part 20: Visiting the small fishing town of Foça
Another day trip I can highly recommend from Izmir is the cute fishing town of Foça – which is a popular weekend getaway for locals because of the beautiful town and many nice bars and restaurants. It takes about one-and-a-half to two hours to reach from Izmir – but it is actually one of the easiest places to get to. You start by taking an Izban suburban train from anywhere in the city towards Aliaga. You get out at Hatundere, and change for the bus to Foça through some lush countryside with some cool rock formations.
Foça is a pretty small place – you can walk around the main sights and seaside promenade in one to two hours. It becomes however immediately clear that this is not really the purpose of the town. Just looking at the sheer number of appealing cafes and restaurants and you realise that this is the place to take it easy for the day and enjoy some tea, coffee, nargilah, a meal, beer or two – or whatever else you fancy.
Also Foça has Greek origins (Greek name: Phocaea) dating back to antiquity. Nearby there are some ruins as well from the old Greek settlement – although after visiting Ephesus they might pale quite a bit in comparison.
The modern fishing town was mostly populated by Greeks in the times of the Ottoman Empire until the Massacre of Phocaea happened when the Turks killed off most of the Greek population in 1914. As a result, a large portion of the historic city was destroyed, and all the old churches were destroyed and mosques were built on top of them. It was the time when the Ottoman Empire stood on its last feet in near collapse and also a genocide against Armenians was carried out in the country.
As much as the central government and newly arrived migrants from Anatolia at the time hated the Greeks – Turkish locals who lived in the region for longer had different perceptions of them as Turkish-Greek community relations were always great until the events of the first two decades of the 20th Century. Turks with deep roots in the region thus often still talk fondly about the history before the massacres and population exchanges when it was a much more multicultural area.
But back again to the current state of affairs! The town of Foça is constructed around a small fishing harbour and the pedestrianised waterfront is lined with dozens of bars and restaurants.
Needless to say there are also plenty of cute cats around the port.
The main sight in town is a seaside castle – around which a walkway is constructed over the water.
Besides being a fishing port, the town is also big yachtie territory.
If you look carefully you can see the typically Greek old stone windmills on the hills in the distance.
The town of Foça has a lovely old town centre with tree-covered alleys filled with attractive cafes. It also features some beautiful stone mansions – some in a state of disrepair while others are beautifully renovated.
The seaboard goes on quite a while to the outskirts of town, making for a fabulous, relaxing walk. The crowds thin out the further you go from the city centre – yet there are also some lovely bars and restaurants at the far end of the boardwalk.
After a nice day relaxing, sipping coffee, smoking nargilah and having some beers, it was time to head back into Foça proper to find a nice restaurant for some dinner. Of course, when at the seaside you must have some fish paired with raki.
The fish, raki and lovely sunset around the castle were a great end to a great day out.