Yet once it was Turkey’s most cosmopolitan city ... The modern day city stretches around the Gulf of Izmir but started life in old Smyrna, located in the Bayraklı neighborhood.

Alex Crevar is a regular contributor to New York Times Travel. For much of its history, Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, was arguably the center of the world. Halfway down the Aegean coast ...

As Turkey’s most-progressive city ... and Armenian families strolling the waterfront of the Gulf of Izmir. Smyrna had risen to prominence as a safe port to move silk from Iran, which lured ...

First-time visitors are surprised to learn that Turkey's "turquoise coast" is its Riviera with ancient cities and golden sands, with the region around Izmir boasting 66 Blue Flag beaches.