Teos Ancient City Olive Trees




Teos is located in Sığacık Neighborhood, Seferihisar District, İzmir Province of Turkey. It is one of the twelve Ionian Cities on the Aegean Coast and approximately 50 km away from the city center of Izmir. It can be reached by public transport. The entry to this ancient city is a fee and archaeological excavations continue in the ancient city. Dionysus temple, bouleuterion(council house), theater, cistern(fountain), acropolis, ancient port and ancient olive trees which are thousands years old must be seen. It is thought that this olive tree which I shot above and share with you is 1800 years old.

More than 200 old olive trees aged over 500-years-old are thought to be in the ancient city of Teos. The olive oil is obtained from these old trees by traditional methods in the lead of Seferihisar municipality. These oils are sold at auction held later. On October 16, 2017, auction was held for the second time under this 1800-year-old tree. Half a liter of olive oil, which can be obtained from this 1800 year old tree, was sold to 22 thousand Turkish liras (Approximately 6,000 American Dollars). This tree is located in the eastern of the Dionysus Temple in Teos Ancient City, a few hundred metres away from temple. In This auction, the oils were priced according to the age of the trees from which they were obtained. In total 137 liters of oil were sold to 49,200 Turkish Liras.

These olive trees are real monuments made by nature. These have bloomed for thousands of years and they continue to feed people. They saw Romans, Byzantines, Selchuks and Ottomans. Despite the fact that a lot of human beings generations have passed away from this world, they are still in the same place and alive like it was thousands of years ago. They are living witnesses in many historical events. I wish they could tell us what they saw.

1800 years old olive tree



Magnesia Ancient City

Magnesia Ancient City Stadion


Magnesia Ancient City reffered as "Magnesia ad Maeandrum" or "Magnesia on the Maeander". Maeander(Büyük Menderes) is a river where this city founded on one of the tributaries of Maeander. At the same time, Magnesia is a city which referred as Manisa Province of Turkey. A city called with its river helps to prevent misunderstanding. According to Strabo, Magnets founded Magnesia.

It is located in Tekin Village, Ortaklar Area, Germencik District, Aydın Province of Turkey. Magnesia nearly 80 km and 1 hour away from Adnan Menderes Airport in İzmir Province of Turkey. It is on the road between the Ortaklar and Söke. It was neighbour of crucial cities which included Ephesus, Priene and Tralleis Ancient Cities. 

The principal deity of the City is Artemis. There is a Temple and sacred area dedicated to Artemis. According to  Anciet Roman Period Writer Vitruvius, Architecture of Artemis Temple was Hermogenes, he was the first architect to apply the octagonal pseudodipteros temple plan. Vitruvius tells us that the main work of Hermogenes was the temple of Artemis Leukophryene in Magnesia. This temple was one of the greatest Artemis temples in Anatolia.

After walking around the sanctuary of Artemis, you can visit theatron, gymnasium and stadion, respectively. The City has one of the biggest stadions on the world. If you are going to this city, it is the stadion building you should definitely see. According to the entrance of the ancient city, the stadion remains far away. It may take some time to reach. The stadium is huge and magnificent. It has the capacity to allow monitoring of tens of thousands of people. The seats are made of marble. The city was known as the "city of races" due to many sports events were organized in antiquity times.

Swampy areas caused by alluviums carried by Maeander River led to formation of diseases, and the population gradually decreased over time. The artifacts found in Magnesia are exhibited in the Paris, Berlin and İstanbul Museums. Today, Archaeologiacal excavations continues in the city.