The country of the great seamen: Foça – Phokaia….

The sign of Foça on the main just after Kyme will take you until the Old Foça inside the sea like peninsula. Along the road, you will see all the tones of the blue and the light of the Aegean Sea will dazzle your eyes. Have a coffee break in the New Foça which is your first stop, greet the old houses and take the pleasure of this zigzag road leading to the Old Foça…

Foça or Phokai with its ancient name dating back to the 2nd millenium BC had been one of the 12 cities of lonians. The city located in this region named Aiolis developed beginning from the 7th century BC and started to live the most glorious days since the mid of the 6th century. The big and little islands located in front of Foça present the very well known characteristic of the city. These islands resemble the seals from the distance and for that reason, the city  has been called Phokia. The city  had been very  important mainly in the navigation. The people of Phokaia Possessing boats with 50 oars and with a capacity of 500 passengers had been one of the first colonies sailing far. Thus, they had presented  the Ionian civilisation during these these travels until the western and southern capes of the Mediterannean Sea. In the written documents, some cities settled by the people of Phokaia and still standing are stated as follows: Lapseki in Çanakkale, Samsun in the Black Sea, Alalia in Corsica, Velia in Italy and finally, Marseilles in France…

Like the other West Anatolian cities, Phokaia witnessed decadance after the capture of Sardes by Persians in 546 BC. Following the defeat of Persians by Alexander the Great, it was ruled respectively by the Kingdom of Pergamon, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuks and by the Ottomans after 1455…