[Mella]

Kadifekale (literally "the velvet castle" in Turkish) is the name of the hill and of the castle situated on top of the same hill in İzmir, Turkey. It was named in the antiquity Mount Pagos.

It is located south of Konak square 2 kilometers away from the seashore and commands an amazing general view of a large part of the urban area of İzmir.

On top stands the impressive ruins of a castle and its walls, built by Lysimachos, a "successor" (diadochus) of Alexander the Great, later a king (306 BC) in Thrace and Asia Minor.

Next to it one finds the ruins of the cisterns built during the Roman period and renovated during the Byzantine period. They formed the centre of the water network of Smyrna. The ruins of this network are still preserved in the agora in downtown Izmir.

Women from southern Turkey have set up their looms and weave everything from glasses cases to rugs as you watch. Their work can be quite lovely, worth taking home as a souvenir.

Photos by: Nejdet Duzen