Urla, a hidden garden in İzmir

Even though some people call it İzmir’s hidden garden, this Aegean town still get’s the attention it deserves. The small fishing village is filled with visitors from İzmir and nearby cities over the weekend.

Urla gets its name from the Greek word “vurla”, which means swamp or marshy land. Some historians believe it originates from when a commander in Sultan Mehmet Çelebi’s army named İbrahim Bey said “uğur ola” (good luck) or “uğurlu geldi” (lucky) as he was heading out for an excursion.

As you walk through the streets, old men sitting at the corners greet you with an Aegean accent. You will also come across people who invite you for some lunch or dinner. I met an old lady who was sorting out sea urchins on the beach. When I approached her, I found out that this is actually an ancient Aegean favorite. Sahime Teyze was splitting the urchins in half and putting them in her basket. “My mom would do this whenever we went to the beach or to a picnic when we were younger,” she said. Sahime Teyze squeezes some lemon juice on the sea urchins and eats them with bread, olives and onions. “This is how you eat urchins,” says her son, Ahmet. Sea urchins used to be consumed a lot but now they are not as popular.

You can find fresh fish here all the time. You can buy affordable fish at an auction held by the pier every morning at 10 am or at the restaurants. A crowd gathers at the pier in the mornings and waits to see what kinds of different fish the fishermen are going to put up for auction. Once the fishermen arrive with plastic bins in their hand, they form a line to have their fish weighed. Some have scorpion fish, others have red sea bream and gilt-head sea bream. There is a variety of fish that I haven’t even seen or heard of before. While fishermen with a smaller catch are generally not too happy, those who have an abundance of fish are quite content.

Cumhur Kaptanın Yeri is an ideal place to eat fish

Cumhur Kaptanın Yeri, which Verda Hanım operates, is an ideal restaurant to enjoy seafood. It is one of the oldest restaurants in Urla. The chairs and tables are set up right along the pier and while customers enjoy the view of the sunset, Verda Hanım visits each table to personally welcome them to her restaurant. Industrial production and consumption have not yet taken over this place. The foods are made with organic ingredients and the fish are selected carefully from the auction. As you feel the cool breeze on your face, replacing the heat of the sun with a sweet chill, you can treat yourself with a savory desert called dondurmalı irmak tatlısı, or semolina dessert served with ice cream.

Urla is a port city and has always been a “focal point” throughout history. Piri Reis mentions Urla in his “Kitab-ı Bahriye” (Book of Navigation). He wrote about the curves of the coast, the islands, what parts of the sea were deep enough for big ships and what parts were shallow enough for smaller boats, as well as from which direction the wind blows in which season.

Aside from being a fishermen’s village, Urla has been an important source for olives and grapes throughout the years. In fact, in his travel book Evliya Çelebi writes about a grapevine he saw growing in the marketplace and says it was so big that it would take two people to encircle it. The remains at the ancient city of Klazomenai, where excavations are still under way, match up with Evliya Çelebi’s writings. The excavated remains of a sixth century B.C. olive oil factory, including an olive mill, press and stills, as well as pieces of containers to store olive oil, are on display in workshops reconstructed to look like their original form.

Urla has also hosted important figures. One of these people is writer Necatı Cumalı, who was born in the Greek city of Florina, but now lives in Urla. That is why he writes about the lives of people on both shores of the Aegean. Greek poet Yorga Seferis also lived in Urla until 1914. His home is now a boutique hotel. When you enter this hotel you’ll feel transported back in time. To the left there is an old radio and piano and on the walls are old pictures.

Don’t leave without eating katmer

Fish and seafood is the first thing that comes to mind when your hear of the Aegean, but you shouldn’t leave Urla without tasting katmer. Katmer is made with thinly rolled out dough and cheese. The dough is handmade and cooked on a special iron hotplate. Women used to make Katmer at home, but the Ünal brothers have turned it into a commercial product. The four brothers took over the business from their father Erol Bey and have been selling katmer since 1978.

How to go to Urla?

To go to Urla you have to first go to İzmir. Enter the Çeşme highway from İzmir and watch out for the Urla exit. After an approximately 35-kilometer drive from İzmir, you’ll reach the historic seaside olive paradise. Once you get off the highway, you will come to a junction. You can either turn right and go down a tree-lined asphalt road to the Urla İskele neighborhood, which is along the coast (approximately 3 km) or turn left and head to the central part of the town.

Where to stay?

You can stay at poet Yorgo Seferis’ home on the coast, which has been turned into a boutique hotel. 0232 752 04 14

Where to eat?

The Ünal Kardeşler Katmer and Kahvaltı Salonu is a good place for breakfast, and Cumhur Kaptanın Yeri is a good place for seafood. 0232 752 20 64