We’ve had Izmir as Turkey’s nomination for 2025 for a while, but I am beginning to doubt that. First, there’s this report that puts Zerzevan forward for 2025. And then there was my own visit to Izmir in May 2023, where I didn’t see any sign of preparation while the candidates for 2023 and 2024 (Gordion and Iznik) have been clearly polished to look their best for foreign visitors.

I only spent a late afternoon and evening in the center of Izmir (and stayed overnight). It has quite a different vibe from other Turkish cities – it’s a real port city, a bit more scruffy and chaotic. As usual, I had made a list of things to see, and they all turned out to be in a small area consisting of Konak Square and the adjacent Kemeralti bazaar. The market turns into a lively restaurant and café zone during the early evenings as well, although most of it closed again by 8 p.m.

The eyecatcher at the square (besides the well-known Clock Tower) is the small octagonal mosque. Dating from 1755, it has fine blue tilework. It’s so small that it looks more like a tomb. At the same square, there is a large yellow neoclassical building, which is the City Hall. Local people seem to enjoy the square for an evening stroll, and there are plenty of benches to rest on and pigeons to feed.

The reception at my hotel had given me a paper tourist map that also included markers for a number of (former) synagogues in the Kemeralti area. I tried finding them but did not succeed in the maze of streets. Nine of them have been restored with funding by the WMF in 2004. Their current status can be found here,  they seem to open rarely though one or two are still used for services such as the Bet Israel Synagogue.

Overall, a ‘thumbs-down’ as (a) I saw nothing outstanding, (b) Turkey’s description of the potential OUV is so flowery that my hinky meter went off the scale (such as: “It has a “multi-time”, in other words, a “multi-era” heritage” or “an unequaled witness to the impact of multiculturalism on architectural structures and forms”) and (c) then there’s also the problematic claim of multiculturality as described well by Nan in his review.