I think the town mentioned in the sentence “let’s settle in a small fishing town” that decorates our dreams is Foça.. Foça is the place where I spent most of my time on the Aegean tour, which I went on when I was a young girl.. The hometown of Mediterranean seals and magnificent sunsets, Foça also has a history. Old Foça houses, flowers, insects, the sea and a new tale, a new adventure…
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Night in Foça
Foça is one of the most beautiful districts of Izmir in my opinion.. Foça is one hour away from Izmir.. You will see two Foça options, Old Foça and New Foça.. Old Foça, which I went to and loved. In Old Foça that I came to at midnight, I want to park and explore the first place I find without knowing which way to go.. I’m too tired. In Old Foça there is a region they call the little sea.. I’m asking there. That’s the real Foça. Taverns, small fishing boats, people, souvenir shops… When I ask a few people, I realize that I parked at the marina.. My destination is on the other side.
I pass through small narrow streets, old stone houses, gates with bougainvillea.. On the one hand, I am busy calming my friend who is wondering about me on the phone.. The little sea with its fishing boats, small taverns is the point where I come out of the narrow streets.. I should look for a hotel, but I also need to rest first. Right in the center there is a place to sit under the big palm tree. I sit for a while and enjoy the view of the fishing boats swaying in the sea, accompanied by the smell of anise mixed with the sounds of music coming from a little distance away.
It’s getting pretty late at night.. I dive into the side streets and look for hotels.. almost none. I’m asking for the price of a place like a hostel.. No internet, no air conditioning, no breakfast 100 liras and it’s really bad. I’m going to get up early in the morning anyway, it’s midnight, I’m going to sleep in the car.. When I set out, I already took this into consideration.. A woman who came alone in the middle of the night, the owner of the hostel, whose obligation I see in her eyes, does not know me yet.
When I walk from the bottom of the castle on the left of the beach, I reach the marina where I left the car.. I put the car in the parking lot behind the little sea. They have a fairly large free parking lot.. I couldn’t believe I found a parking space so quickly.. A little music, a little internet hang out, the warm arms of sleep hug me. Luggage full of my camping gear. I got a big suitcase in the backseat. All I have left are the front seats, the handbrake and the gearshift.. I had such a sound sleep that I couldn’t sleep in glass mansions in my house for weeks.
A Foça Morning, 1ci Ali Abi Story
When the day is bright and the beauty of the streets is revealed, I feel like I am in another country.. I think it was the clearest fishing shelter I’ve ever seen in my life.. While I was wandering around to find a place to have breakfast, I came back with a sudden decision when I read the text of mixed breakfast by the palm.. At that moment, we come face to face with Ali brother.. At that moment, my batteries are exhausted, so I turned it on.. I say, “Is it okay if you give me a glass of water with lemon, plug them into the charger, wander the streets, take pictures, and then have breakfast?”
The answer to all my requests is a big “yes”. Ali brother was the owner of Palmiye Cafe.. When I drive from Palmiye Cafe to the right of the small sea, I see that I am wandering in opposite directions to find a hotel at night.. There are many large and small hotels and they are very beautiful.. Starting from 100 lira per night. Internet, hot water, air conditioning in most of them. On the way to New Foça, I learn that there are campsites in the wooded area that can be seen when I look just outside Old Foça.. It’s like there’s a huge photo and I’m inside that photo, I’m walking around. It’s like I’m lost in the side streets of a Greek island. As if from this country. It’s like I’ve been teleported to another place. This must be what they call settling in a quiet little fishing town.
I wander the streets photographing these wonderful houses and return. They make me an amazing breakfast. This is how our story begins with Ali brother. While having breakfast on the one hand, I ask Abiye Ali what should I not go without seeing.. Ali brother answers all my questions with great patience.. describing the way. He’s squeezing a lot of Foca brochures into my hands. Blessed like a tourist information office.
Breakfast is not like one person can finish. I always feel sorry for food being thrown away and wasted.. I say “it’s a shame”. Ali brother says, “We’ll cover you up, you can continue when you arrive at noon.. You’re going to come to buy a powerbank anyway.” Have you ever seen or heard of such a business owner? We didn’t even take a picture with my brother Ali.. I’ll burn, I’ll burn, I’ll burn for him. Foça, the habitat of Mediterranean monk seals. It is said that it is impossible to see the seals in Foça, which is now home to 10 seals.. A pilot area has been declared for the protection of Mediterranean monk seals.. The famous Siren rocks were also the habitat of the seals.. This time, I couldn’t see the Siren rocks, which can be visited by boat tours, but I always leave something behind in the places I go so that I have an excuse to go again.
Former name Phokaia, that is, comes from the seal.. Isn’t it a name like the famous cartoon Pokohantas? The symbol of Foça has also been sealed since the importance of Rome Phokaia. This emblem can be seen even on the coins.. In the excavations carried out in recent years, it has been understood that the first place to be established was actually on the southern slope outside the walls.. Maybe Phokaia was founded in the bronze age, who knows. There is information that there used to be an Athena temple where the high school is located today.
It was on the top of the hill overlooking both the small harbor and the city, but now there is nothing.. Harbor sanctuary That side of the castle. Open-air rock temple dedicated to Goddess Cybele. Reliefs and statues of the goddess are still there.. The Castle of Five Gates dominates Foça and used to be the boathouse of the Ottoman Empire.
The hands of an empire descended from here into the arms of blue
with oars… The Castle, which is depicted as…
Traces of the Ottomans in Old Foça
There were two Ottoman mosques. I’m going to see them first. If I lifted my head, I would actually see. I parked the car right under the mosque. I even slept under. Then I go to the Ottoman cemetery. Ottoman Cemetery does not have a sign. When I see the health center sign, I enter a grass-covered road, but the door is closed with padlocks.
Someone I asked the way told me that Izmir Municipality bought this place and locked its doors.. He says if I come back from behind the gas station, I can see inside and photograph it, even if it’s behind bars.. Behind the only gas station in Foça. The door is locked, no entry. The oldest tomb that can be found in this cemetery, which is of great importance as it has preserved its integrity among the tombs of the Turkish period, belongs to the period of Suleiman the Magnificent.. Foça’s market on Tuesday. Let’s note that. I love the food side. If I was staying in a house no one could hold me. I used to buy fresh vegetables and make olive oil dishes as befits the Aegean.
Foça Yeldeğirmenleri and Pervin
Then I drive up to the windmills from the corner of my grandfather hotel.. The mills, which are thought to have been built in the 18th-19th centuries, are located in Değirmentepe on a hill with a bird’s eye view of Foça.. I can’t tell what kind of wind there is. I’m flying. Just on the phone, while I was saying to my friends, “There is no one to take a picture,” three young people come.. Pervin takes pictures of me. When he finds out that I am wandering, he says “oh you are the planet”. I laugh first. I think you’re kidding, but then when I find out that he’s an azeri, I realize that planet means traveler. I am a planet.
You can swim in Foça very easily. Sea lovers with children and babies enjoy the sea from a sandy beach. In addition, they prepared wooden sunbathing areas, which are prepared like a platform along the road and descended by stairs.. Although it seems more pleasant to swim from there, I am a little hesitant because it is right on the roadside.. Although I was hesitant, there were a few people sunbathing and swimming.. I can predict that it will be completely full in the season.
Foça Boat Tours
There are many tour boats available here.. When I ask a few people, they direct me to the boat called Hello Foça. Orhan Kaptan explains that they entered all the coves, including the Siren and Atatürk Rocks, which were visited at 11 am and returned at 5:30 pm.. Such a tour for 50 liras including fish and salad menu. 10 lira tours are like the Bosphorus tours in Istanbul. You’re just coming and going. There is no swimming break etc.. Unfortunately, I am leaving Foça today.. He pressed my friend Ildır a lot about me going to him.. I would love to stay one more day and go on this boat tour.. I’ll leave Orhan Kaptan’s phone here so that maybe you can replace me: 0534 620 20 80.
My Brother Ali Adopts Me
I’m going back to my brother Ali. The breakfast in the morning was so plentiful that Ali said, “Let’s cover it up, come at noon and continue”.. Yigit, who works for him, collected it two minutes ago when I came back again.. He was wiping the table. When he saw me, he bit his lower lip and said “oh”. They become victims.
Ali has brought a new one right away.. This time, I’m busy sitting at a table by the sea and memorizing the view of Foça.. Ali brother does not get paid while getting up.. He says “you paid in the morning”. I bought a breakfast, I paid 22.5 liras. I ate two meals. I filled my charges. I became a partner in their love. I traveled and got to know Foça with great advice and directions.. Ali brother, the owner of Palmiye Cafe by the palm in Foça, was a retired teacher.. Retired but still teaching, still loving people. What beautiful people the road adds to my life. I must come again to see my brother Ali, who adopted me for a short time.
Searching for a Small, Calm Cove
With the help of the wind, I visited Foça in the heat of the afternoon, and the heat is no longer unbearable.. I already took a little sea break in the little sea, but now it’s time to get rid of the tiredness of the day and find a deserted cove.. As I head towards the new Foça road, I pass in front of a few beach signs.. Since I am not much of a beach person, I am looking for a place where I can hang out on my own.
Orhan Kaptan and Ali brother told me about a place.. This is 15 minutes away from Foça, but it is paid.. Of course they don’t know. Even parking the car is 10 lira. Because it’s 4 o’clock. Car entrance is 30 TL on weekdays, 40 TL on weekends, says the boy at the door. Setting up a tent for 1 person 30 TL. He says this is a private property and I will pay even if I leave my car up on the main road.
Who rents these bays and seas? Who is preventing us from swimming in the sea? I don’t know why we always have to fight when we say the sea belongs to the people in the coastal laws. I thank him and leave.
The Seeker Finds
As I turn towards the Old Foça side again, I notice a very large observation terrace and I wish I could take a look at the view.. I take a look down, the heatless bay I’ve been looking for is waiting for me there. A few cars even parked. This is where the huge electric poles are.. You can find it easier. Or I don’t know if everyone should find it. I leave the car up and put on my sea shoes and go downstairs.. In such places, it is useful to go down with sea shoes.. We don’t know what we will encounter. Since it is left unclaimed, a stony and difficult-to-enter sea may emerge.. There is a family in the tiny bay that I see from above. I descend to the place that belongs to me, which has a small beach in front of it, like a wall on three sides, right next to it.
Getting down from the rocks like a wall requires attention. My three months of training to get off the rocks is finally paying off.. Against my expectation, the sea is easy to enter and comes out just the way I like it.. This is the bonus of the day. I turn on my music, I lay my towel, I swim, I dive, I go out, I sunbathe. Waiting for money on my head, will you drink it? do you eat this? no one says. No one reminds me of the rules. On my pedestal in the rule. Of course, you don’t know my name without rules. I’m also a naughty girl. In many places, people even look at them with a benevolent look.
Sunset in Foça
Now I have to run for the sunset, which I have been chasing for two days before sunset.. Enough of laziness and pleasure.. Just as I was about to change and leave, 3 men and a few children in their arms appear on the rocks.. I say “I’m going anyway” and when I entrust my bay to them, I tell them where there are sea urchins so that no one gets hurt.
I quickly return to Foça and have something to eat and drink. I’m buying. Unfortunately, I lost the card of the kebab shop, which I bought from a side street and has a great ambiance.. These very smiling people forgive me. Kebabs were great. The sun is about to set and I’m running now. I have been chasing the view of Foça’s famous sunset and Siren Cliffs for days, but as far as I learned, it cannot be seen from the land.. Ali Abi and every other Foça person I ask send me to their restaurant behind the windmills.. The view of this place, which overlooks Foça from the top, is wonderful.
Of course, I won’t be watching the view from a restaurant.. I open a chair and a table, arrange my meals on the table, and take my place against the sunset.. A car stalls while I try to open my broken tripod for photography. such is life. A wonderful couple takes pictures of me. They marvel at me being alone and say “don’t go alone anyway”. I can’t tell you that nothing will happen.
He Who Sets On The Road Will Not Be Alone
While they are leaving and I am enjoying the view, a car stops and comes out of the men to whom I delivered my bay during the day.. So they’re out. When you come to me and say “there was no chestnut, it stinged on my foot”, I realize that they are there.. I didn’t know if it was the world or small Foça, but I didn’t say there is no chestnut.. I describe how to get the chestnut out.
Meanwhile the day is setting magnificently.. They offer me a drink. Who said I was alone. On this journey, I repeat the routes I made 25 years ago with a motorbike when I was still a young girl, and observe what has changed or what has not changed as if time has stopped.. I am longing for it.
Foça is even more beautiful than I remember. Goodbye Foça, my heart loved this sea, this land where beautiful people live.. Now that I have sunk the day, it is time to move towards Ildır.. Let’s turn on the music on the way I fell without knowing that I would meet another Ali Abi and meet in the next article then, come on…
I have seen Foça Municipality so far Congratulations for the most beautiful promotional brochure. There are such beautiful descriptions that I want to buy the complete brochure and write it.
