Agora of Smyrna (Izmir Agora) – Konak, Izmir
The Agora of Smyrna, also known as the Izmir Agora, is an ancient state agora situated in the modern city center of Izmir, in the Konak district, on the northern slope of Mount Pagos (Kadifekale). It lies between Kadifekale and the Kemeraltı bazaar, right in the heart of the historical urban core, and is regarded as one of the largest agoras in the world located within a modern city centre. Since 2020 it has formed part of the UNESCO Tentative List entry “The Historical Port City of Izmir.”
(Source: İzmir İl Kültür ve Turizm Md. (EN) – “Izmir Agora”; Wikipedia – “Agora of Smyrna”; Visit Izmir – “Agora of Smyrna”) :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}
The first agora on this spot was built in the late 4th century BC, when the city of Smyrna was refounded on Pagos hill after the time of Alexander the Great. Laid out on a rectangular plan with a large central courtyard surrounded by colonnaded stoas, it served as Smyrna’s administrative, political, judicial and commercial centre. In AD 178, a powerful earthquake destroyed much of the complex; it was then rebuilt with the financial support of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and most of the remains visible today belong to this Roman-period reconstruction.
(Source: İzmir İl Kültür ve Turizm Md. (EN) – “Izmir Agora”; Wikipedia – “Agora of Smyrna”; Ancient Smyrna – “Smyrna Agora”) :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}
Excavations have revealed the west stoa, the north stoa (basilica) with its impressive substructures, a bouleuterion, a mosaic hall, a Roman bath, and an Ottoman-period building and cemetery within the agora’s courtyard. The north stoa functioned as a basilica, and its lower vaulted corridors preserve hundreds of Greek graffiti – including names, short texts, game boards and sketches – constituting one of the richest collections of ancient graffiti known from the Roman world.
(Source: Ancient Smyrna – “Smyrna Agora”; Turkish Archaeological News – “Agora of Smyrna”; Lonely Planet – “Agora | Izmir Attractions”) :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}
Archaeological work at the site began in 1932–1933, making it one of the earliest organized excavations of the Turkish Republic. The first campaigns were conducted by Selahattin Kantar, director of the Izmir Archaeological Museum, together with German archaeologist Rudolf Naumann. Since 2007, excavations have continued under Prof. Dr. Akın Ersoy and his team, with the permission of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Today the remains form the Izmir Agora Open-Air Museum, integrated into the wider archaeological and cultural landscape of historic Izmir.
(Source: Turkish Museums – “Izmir Agora Open Air Museum”; Ancient Smyrna – “Smyrna Agora”; Wikipedia – “Selâhattin Kantar”) :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}
For visitors today, the Agora of Smyrna offers a rare opportunity to walk through a multi-period urban centre, where Hellenistic street grids, Roman public buildings, Byzantine and Ottoman layers, and even the nearby House of Sabbatai Zevi and Muslim cemetery together narrate the long, continuous history of Smyrna / Izmir as a Mediterranean port city.
(Source: Turkish Archaeological News – “Agora of Smyrna”; Wikipedia – “Agora of Smyrna”) :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}