Yamanlar
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Yamanlar is the name of a small village and a historically significant mountain (Yamanlar Dağı) near İzmir, Turkey. Both the village and the mountain are located within the boundaries of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir and administratively depend İzmir's metropolitan district of Karşıyaka.
The village is at a distance of 20 km from Karşıyaka center and it is along the road to the summit of Mount Yamanlar.
A crater lake called "Karagöl" (meaning "Black Lake" in Turkish) is found at the summit, as well as amenities for visitors, and it commands an impressive view of the Gulf of İzmir from the northeast.
Since it is relatively close to the city and easy to access, Yamanlar is a popular excursion spot for İzmir's inhabitants. It is served by a good road, which is nevertheless a steep climb.
Mountain
The mountain is an extinct volcano. Although it is geologically separate from the neighboring mass of the Mount Sipylus (Spil Dağı), their flora, fauna and history have very much in common, and the two mountains have sometimes been viewed as extensions of each other.
Mount Yamanlar was the location of the first recorded settlement which controlled the Gulf of İzmir circa 1440 BC, founded by Tantalus and possibly named "Naulochon", deriving its wealth from the mines of the region.
On the steep southeastern slopes of the mountain, in the neighborhood called Bayraklı and which also depends Karşıyaka, there is a "Tomb of Tantalus" dating from this very early period in Anatolian history. This tomb was explored by Charles Texier in 1835, while another school places Tantalus's tomb to another monument found on Mount Sipylus. The first location of Smyrna (Old Smyrna) was also at the foot of Mount Yamanlar on what was at the time a small peninsula.
The same Bayraklı slopes was also where landslides caused by flash floods that had occurred on 3-4 November 1995 had claimed at least 61 lives in the slum-type residences that had mushroomed at the time in the area, and had caused material damage exceeding 50 million US Dollars [1]. Incidents of a similar nature occurred also in autumn 2001 adding five more casualties to İzmir's toll of disaster victims. A better planned and managed urbanization along the silted slopes of the mountain, by preserving its historic heritage at the same time, is an ongoing concern for the city as a whole.
Footnotes
- ^ Ali Mümran Kömüşçü (1998-07). "Analysis of Meteorological and Terrain Features Leading to the Izmir Flash Flood, 3–4 November 1995". Natural Hazards, Springer Netherlands, Volume 18, Number I.
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Resources
- Ahmet Kıvanç Kutluca, Semahat Özdemir (2006-12-17). "Landslide, Earthquake & Flood Hazard Risks of Izmir Metropolitan City, A Case: Altindag Landslide Areas" (PDF). Proceedings of WASET (World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology), Volume 17.
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Books
- Ekrem Akurgal (2002). Ancient Civilizations and Ruins of Turkey: From Prehistoric Times Until the End of the Roman Empire ISBN 0710307764. Kegan Paul.
- Cecil John Cadoux (1938). Ancient Smyrna: A History of the City from the Earliest Times to 324 A.D. Blackwell Publishing.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - George E. Bean (1967). Aegean Turkey: An archaeological guide ISBN 978-0510032005. Ernest Benn, London.