Aydın and tralles – The two-in-one town

In the sub-tropical heat and humidity of summer it's enough to remind a visitor fleetingly of Savannah, Georgia, where the trees hang heavy with Spanish moss. Of course, it's only a fleeting impression since Savannah is a town whose squares are ringed with elegant colonial-style mansions while Aydın high street is one long canyon of concrete apartment-cum-shopping blocks. Still, it's not perhaps what you would expect when you first disembark from the bus.

The bad news is that in the same subtropical heat you will need to lug yourself all the way up the high street to find the part of town that's of most interest. Just beyond the late 16th-century Ramazan Paşa Cami you'll see a bust commemorating Gen. Kazım Karabekir (1882-1948) who fought at Gallipoli in World War I and then took part in the Turkish War of Independence, fighting at Kars and Sarıkarmış in the east. If you take the pedestrianized road up behind the bust it will lead you into a bazaar area vaguely reminiscent of the Anafartalar area of İzmir, where some of the better small hotels and restaurants are gathered.

This is the part of town where you'll also find most of the reminders of an older Aydın. On 1629 Sokak, for example, stand the imposing remains of the Gümrukönü Hanı, a huge medieval caravanserai that once hosted travelers transiting the Silk Road on their way to Kuşadası. Right beside it are the remains of an L-shaped double hamam with lanterns on its domes. This was built in 1767 by one Ahmet Paşa who would no doubt be very shocked to see its current ruinous condition.

If you continue along 1629 Sokak you'll come eventually to the small 14th-century shrine of İsmail, a son of Alihan Baba who had settled in nearby Tire but who struck out to make a home for himself in Aydın; his tomb is the oldest surviving Turkish building in the city. Just past it a tailor is still hard at work inside the remains of the Zincirli Han, which dates back to 1708. It's no longer possible to go inside, but the upstairs rooms apparently still have their fireplaces and are kitted out with niches in which traveling salesmen could store their belongings.

In 1623 Sokak behind the Han is Aydın's prettiest mosque, the Cihanoğlu Cami, built on a raised platform by Müderris Cihanoğlu Abdülaziz in 1756 using Jewish workmen. Badly damaged in the 1920s, it was restored in the 1950s at which time its medrese (seminary) was turned into a student dormitory. The şadırvan (ablutions fountain) is absolutely exquisite, and in the space beneath the platform you'll find plentiful reminders of the original building. Outside in the street there's a lovely vaulted walkway reminiscent of the cloisters attached to British cathedrals complete with a stretch of original cobbled street.

Nearby you can peer through the gate at the Nasuk Paşa mosque complex, which dates back to 1708 and has also been restored recently. Then if you can find your way to the junction of 1620 Sokak and Sakarya Caddesi, you'll find a magnificent pink and white mansion, the Eyüp Şahin Evi, which was built by Hungarian craftsmen. It's close to the Üveys Paşa Cami, built by a governor of Egypt named Üveys Çelebi in 1568 and the oldest mosque to survive in the city. Badly damaged in the 1920s, it was restored in 1947-8 although it's still possible to make out bullet holes in the pillars. Finally, if you manage to locate 1602 Sokak (the road lined with government offices) you'll see the battered remains of a sebil, one of those buildings from which water used to be handed out that are such a common sight on İstanbul street corners. This particular sebil is much less grandiose in design than its İstanbul cousins, but was paid for in 1774 by a woman named Atike Hanım. As well as dispensing straight water, it's thought to have supplied kar helvası (literally “snow helva,” but really iced sherbet) to parched passers-by.

The back streets of Aydın have more going for them than a casual glance at the high street might suggest. But of course the main reason to come here, as anyone who has ever gawped at the finds on display in İstanbul Archeological Museum will know, is to see the ruins of Tralles, the original settlement that was built on ground high above modern Aydın by a group of Argive and Trallian colonists -- the latter, who came from Thrace, are believed to have bestowed their name on the new town. The settlement had the usual convoluted early history, passing in turn through the hands of the Persians, the Seleucids, the Pergamese kings, and eventually and inevitably the Romans. Its most famous son was probably Anthemius, the mathematician who was, with İsodore of Miletus, responsible for the creation of the great church of Hagia Sophia, completed in 537.

After centuries of relative stability, Tralles fell to the Selçuks in the 11th century, was recovered by the Byzantines in the 13th century and then succumbed to the Menteşe Turks in 1282. The Menteşes renamed the city Aydın (Enlightened) and managed to hold on to it until 1403. Then Sultan Mehmed I rode into town to seize it for the Ottomans, after which the original site was abandoned in favor of the current lower one.

Today the most striking relic of ancient Tralles is a huge chunk of the wall of what was once the gymnasium and bathhouse, and which is known locally as Üç Gözler (Three Eyes) in recognition of its three great arches; it probably dates from after 28 BC when much of the city had to be rebuilt after a disastrous earthquake. Excavations in the vicinity have revealed a row of shops, which have now been partly rebuilt, and what may have been a synagogue dating back to the third century, but perhaps the most extraordinary sight in light of the recent worries about outer İstanbul's lack of adequate infrastructure are the long lines of terracotta pipes lying in the soil that look as if they would still be able to carry water as well today as they did in Roman times.

On the hillside there are a few other stretches of excavated housing to inspect, and the original arsenal has been completely rebuilt nearby. Much of the land up here is in military hands, which means that you should be careful where you take pictures. There are also seemingly endless lines of olive trees up here which means that strolling the back roads would be a pleasure were it not for the depressing quantities of rubbish littering the verges.

The best of the finds from Tralles may be in İstanbul, but Aydın's museum is still very impressive, and contains finds from other local sites such as Nysa, Magnesia ad Meandrum, and Alabanda as well. Outside on the lawn a capital carved with crosses and a headstone engraved in Hebrew stand as silent witnesses to a more cosmopolitan past.

How to get there

The quickest way to get to Aydın from İstanbul is to fly to İzmir and then catch an onward bus. Alternatively, you can take the İDO fast ferry across the Sea of Marmara from Yenikapı to Bandırma and then catch a bus to İzmir and on to Aydın.

Where to stay

Anemon Hotel: 0256-266 0033

Hotel Orhan: 0256-212 1713

Hotel Özlü: 0256-225 3371