| Seferihisar | |
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| — Town — | |
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| Coordinates: 38°12′N 26°50′E / 38.2°N 26.833°E | |
| Country |  Turkey |
| Region | Aegean |
| Province | Izmir |
| Area | |
| - Total | 386 km2 (149 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 0-28 m (-92 ft) |
| Population (2006)[1] | |
| - Total | 43,361 |
| - Density | 112/km2 (290.1/sq mi) |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal code | 35xxx |
| Area code(s) | 0232 |
| Licence plate | 35 |
| Website | http://www.seferihisar.bel.tr |
Seferihisar is a coastal district and the center town of the same district in İzmir Province, in Turkey. Seferihisar district area borders on other İzmir districts of Urla to the west and Menderes (Cumaovası) to the east, and touches İzmir's western-most metropolitan district of Güzelbahçe in the north. Seferihisar town center is situated slightly inland at an altitude of 28 m and the urban area extends towards the sea as composed of eight quarters, with some distance among some, and one of which, the neighborhood called Sığacık stands somewhat separately from the rest at a distance of 5 km, and has its own port and made a name as a tourism resort by its own right. The wide area of the district center partly accounts for the high number of the population and an urbanization rate of only 51 %, and the general impression observed is rather rural in some of its sections. Both the center town and the district as a whole preserves an overall outlook of a pleasant resort area bearing typical Aegean characteristics. Nevertheless, the district's economy is still largely based on agriculture, with the production of tangerines and satsumas standing out, and only increasingly on tourism, with the presence of several housing projects or vacation villages, pensioners opting to settle in the region due to its quiet charm and under the impetus of a university campus that is in phase of being built. At a distance of 45 km (28 mi) from İzmir center, (Konak), the connections with the metropolis are made easily, especially once reached the six-lane highway in Urla. Seferihisar is where the ancient city of Teos is located and its highly interesting await further research and discoveries. The district's literacy level is 99 %.
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Settlement
Seferihisar district counts eight depending villages and two larger settlements which have their own municipal administrations (Doğanbey and Ürkmez). The district center of Seferihisar, spreading over eight officially delimited quarters, accounts for roughly half of the total district of population estimated as being slightly over forty thousand (34.761 in the last census of 2000). As such, it is one of the smaller districts of İzmir Province and the inward immigration level is rather low at only 0.18 % despite rising interest in recent years by those seeking secondary summer residences. The real estate market thus remains underexploited in striking contrast with the districts of Urla and Çeşme neighboring Seferihisar to the west. Several projected housing projects and the move by Yaşar University to its campus in phase of being built in the town are expected to change the present trend of stagnation.
Sights of interest
Sights of interest include the ancient city of Teos near Sığacık locality, the ruins locally called "Karaköse" in Doğanbey - Gerenalanı region, Seferihisar center's depending coastal neighborhood of Sığacık where an inner castle built by the Genoese is found within a larger one constructed later by the Ottomans. A French vacation village is located near Siğacık. Seferihisar also has beautiful beaches and bays along its 27 km.-long coastal strait.
Economy
Since citrus fruits occupy a considerable share in Seferihisar's agricultural production, the district's economy is relatively outward, including international, oriented, and Seferihisar realized exports nearing 10 million US Dollars in 2006. Tourism's growing importance is attested by the increase to a total bed capacity of 4,539 for the district as a whole in recent years.
The total number of residences in Seferihisar district is 12,146, the part occupied by secondary residences owned by seasonal inhabitants starting to correspond to a significant share in this number. The literacy rate nears hundred per cent and the number of students per teacher is quite comfortable at 16. As a basic indicator of health services, there is one doctor for 1,495 patients. There are four banks providing services through four branches in Seferihisar. The yearly income level per inhabitant was calculated at 2,693 US Dollars in 2007, well below the national and provincial average.
History
Ottoman records refer to the town alternatively as "Seferihisar" or "Sivrihisar", sometimes leading to confusion with another town in Central Anatolia named Sivrihisar, and which was nevertheless recorded from time to time as "Seferihisar" itself. While the historic medrese in the depending village of Hereke (Düzce today) remained a regional center of learning throughout, on many occasions during the Ottoman period, the region of Seferihisar had made itself notorious as a pirate's lair, being a particularly apreciated hideout and at times a practically autonomous entity. The town is notably the birthplace of two of the best known Turkish corsairs of the very end of the 15th century, Kara Hasan and Kara Turmuş [1]
The region was, as such, scarcely populated and development came gradually only in the course of the 19th century, due especially to cultivation of citrus fruits and cash crops. The municipal administration was instituted in 1884 and by the time of the fall of the Empire, the kaza of Seferihisar counted roughly twenty thousand people, in which about half or slightly less, according to varying sources, were Greeks, mostly recent immigrants from the islands.
Recent news
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seferihisar |
There are four small dams built for irrigation purposes within the boundaries of Seferihisar district and effort is being pursued to use the region's geothermal energy resources.
In November 28 2009, Seferihisar became the first Turkish town to become a member of the Cittaslow movement.[2]
Resources
References
- ^ Nicolas Vatin (1994) (in French). L'ordre de Saint-Jean-de-Jerusalem. L'empire ottoman et la Mediterranee orientale entre les deux sieges de Rhodes (1480-1522) ISBN 906831632X, ISBN 978-9068316322. Peeters Publishers.
- ^ "Turkish town that's on a go-slow". The National. 2009-06-26. http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090626/FOREIGN/706259877/1013. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
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Settlements in Seferihisar District, İzmir, Turkey |  |
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Municipalities: Seferihisar | Doğanbey | Ürkmez |
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