Kuşadası is a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast and the center of the seaside district of the same name in Aydın Province. Kuşadası lies at a distance of 95 km (59 mi) to the south from the region's largest metropolitan center of İzmir, and 71 km (44 mi) from the provincial seat of Aydın situated inland. Its primary industry is tourism. The district neighbours on the northeast to Germencik district, on the southeast to Söke district, on the west to the Aegean Sea, and on the north to Selçuk district.

Geography

The city stands on a bay in the Aegean with the peninsula of Guvercin Ada sticking out into the sea at one end, and the mountain of Pilav Dağı behind.

It is 95 km (59 mi) south of İzmir, the region's largest metropolitan center. It is 71 km (44 mi) from the provincial seat of Aydın situated inland.

Demographics

Kuşadası has a residential population of 64,359 rising to over half a million during the summer when the large resort fills with tourists (from Turkey itself, northern Europe and the Balkans), plus the hotel staff, bar staff, construction workers, and drivers who are needed to work in the restaurants servicing all these visitors. In addition to the visitors from overseas there is a substantial community of foreigners resident in the area.

Etymology

The name comes from 'kuş' (bird) and 'ada' (island) as the peninsula has the shape of a bird's head (as seen from the sea). It was known as Ephesus Neopolis, in greek during the Byzantine era, and later as Scala Nova or Scala Nuova under the Genovese and Venetians. Kuş-Adası was adopted in its place at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, citizens of Kuşadası often shorten the name to Ada.

Antiquity

The area has been a centre of art and culture since the earliest times and has been settled by many civilizations since being founded by the Leleges people in 3000 BC. Later settlers include the Aeolians in the 11th century BC and Ionians in the 9th century. Originally seamen and traders the Ionians built a number of settlements on this coast including Neopolis.

An outpost of Ephesus in ancient Ionia known as Pygela, the area between the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) and Gediz (Hermos) rivers, the original Neopolis is thought to have been founded on the nearby point of Yılancı Burnu. Later settlements were probably built on the hillside of Pilavtepe, in the district called Andızkulesi today. Kuşadası was a minor port frequented by vessels trading along the Aegean coast. In antiquity it was overshadowed by Ephesus, until Ephesus' harbor silted up. From the 7th century BC onwards the coast was ruled by Lydians from their capital at Sardis, then from 546 BC the Persians, and from 334 BC along with all of Anatolia the coast was conquered by Alexander the Great. From then onwards the coastal cities in Anatolia were a centre of Hellenistic culture.