Foça, İzmir Province, Aegean Region, Türkiye

🇹🇷 Foça is a town and district in Turkey's İzmir Province, on the Aegean coast.

The town of Foça is situated at about 69 km (43 mi) north-west of İzmir's city center. The district also has a township with its own municipality named Yenifoça (literally "New Foça"), also along the shore and at a distance of 20 km (12 mi) from Foça proper. For this reason, Foça itself is locally often called as Eskifoça ("Old Foça") in daily parlance. The town is built on the site of the ancient city of Phocaea (Φώκαια).

History The town of Phocaea (Φώκαια) was founded by ancient Greeks. Phocaea, named after the seals living in nearby islands, was founded by the Aeolian Greeks in the 11th century BC. Ionian Greek settlement in Phocaea, which was one of the most important settlements of Ionia at that time, started in the 9th century BC. Phocaeans, known as master sailors in history, also established many colonies in the Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea with their engineering development and success. Some of the important colonies that they had established in history are: Massalia, modern Marseille; Amisos in the Black Sea (now Samsun); Lampsakos in the Dardanelles (now Lapseki); Methymna (now Molyvos) on Lesbos; and Elea, now Velia (Italy); Alalia (Corsica).

In addition, Phocaeans were known as ones of the first in Ionia to mint "electron" coins using natural gold-silver mixture. Of course, this civilized progress affected many civilizations of that time and attracted them to Anatolia.

Phocaea was taken over by the Genoese in 1275 as a fief from the Byzantine emperor, and was an active Port during the Middle Ages, principally due to the region's rich alum reserves. The alum mines of Phocaea were conceded earlier by the Byzantines in 1267 to the Genoese brothers Benedetto and Manuele Zaccaria, who founded the Lordship of Phocaea. The Genoese controlled the city even during the Ottoman era due to the lease they had gained from the Byzantines in 1275. Another important Byzantine concession to the Genoese through dowry was the nearby island of Lesbos, given to the Gattilusio family as a result of the marriage between Francesco I Gattilusio and Maria Palaiologina, sister of Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos) in 1355. The possessions of the Gattilusio family eventually grew to include, among others, the islands of Imbros, Samothrace, Lemnos and Thasos, and the city of Aenos (modern Enez in Turkey.) From this position, they were heavily involved in the mining and marketing of alum, useful in textile production and a profitable trade controlled by the Genoese.

The city was mostly populated by Greeks until the Massacre of Phocaea carried out by the Turks during the Greek genocide. As a result, a large portion of the historic city was destroyed, and all the old churches were destroyed and mosques were built on top of them and the town subsequently became known as Foça. People who belonged to the local networks were radically different in their perception of the Greeks compared to the muhacirs who were alien to the local networks. The local communities favored the Greeks. Also, when the Greeks left, due to the massacre, their houses were occupied by muhacirs (forced Muslim migrants). Some of these Greeks returned later (1919) to their houses, when the Greek army arrived at the city. The muhacirs that lived there ran away when the Greeks returned. When the Greek army defeated (1922), according to a testimony of a muhacir, the Greeks who tried to escape with boats or other things "were stopped and the punishments they deserved were delivered to them in and around the harbor of Eski Foça".

Eski Foça stretches along two bays; a larger one named Büyükdeniz ("Greater Sea") and a smaller cove within that large one, named Küçükdeniz ("Smaller Sea"), where the medieval Foça Castle is also located.

Many parts of the district are under strict environmental protection, due to the value of the flora and the fauna, and the beauty of the small bays and coves, especially between Foça and Yenifoça. Therefore, a judicious way to get to know the district would be by boat tours regularly organized in partance from the town center. Because of the protective measures, new constructions are not permitted in many parts of the district and Foça is set to preserve its unique characteristic as composed principally of old houses.

The construction project for a 300-boat capacity marina in Foça is recently tendered and started, upon the completion of which the town is expected to open to more active international tourism.

Foça is the site of one of three marine protected areas established in Turkey for the preservation of the Mediterranean monk seal, a heavily endangered species of sea mammals.

The Turkish Navy maintains at Foça the home base of its two special operations units, Su Altı Savunma (SAS) and Su Altı Taarruz (SAT).

Health There is a state hospital in the district centre of Foça, specialist physicians come in certain branches on certain days of the week in the winter months, and there are physicians from 8-10 branches in the summer period when the population increases a lot. The emergency room of the hospital is open 24 hours a day and those who have severe illness when necessary are sent to hospitals in the centre of Izmir by ambulance. In addition, there are family health centres in Yenifoça, Gerenköy, Ilıpınar and Bağarası, 112 emergency stations in Yenifoça and the district polyclinic of Menemen State Hospital.

Attractions Today's Foça is protected from foreign mass tourism and insteadIzmir is a popular weekend and holiday destination for residents. The main reason for this is that the Turkish Navy is stationed in the region. The bay directly adjacent to the new port, thus greatly preventing the city from expanding along the coast.

Although holiday homes, some guest houses and two hotels have been built in Foça itself in the last two decades, the real weather has been preserved.

There are fish restaurants one after another in the picturesque harbor. This is the one who wants to escape the hustle and bustle of the big cityIzmir is where locals meet on weekends. The typical audience is from the upper Turkish middle class: teachers, artists, musicians, engineers meet here.

Those who vacation longer prefer Yenifoça, about 20 km north, which is not so spectacular in terms of scenery, but offers a sufficient number of hotels and resorts for local and foreign tourists.

Foça is also known for the Siren cliffs (islands) that Homer has already described in Odyssey. Today, however, the last monk seal in the Mediterranean is better known for being home to some. Therefore, the Siren Islands can only be monitored remotely. It is desolate and used by locals to release a small number of goats that can be fed liquid with very barren vegetation and morning dew, as the islands do not have natural water sources.