According to the accounts of the ancient writer Pausanias, while Alexander the Great was hunting in the Nemesis Sanctuary, he became exhausted and fell asleep under a majestic plane tree. In his dream, Nemesis appeared and instructed him to move the city to Pagos Hill (Kadifekale). Although it is not definitively known whether Alexander the Great visited İzmir during his Eastern Campaign, the city was moved from Bayraklı to the slopes of Kadifekale during his era. This decision was likely influenced not only by the growing population but also by the fact that the slopes of Kadifekale offered a more suitable defensive position for the city.
After the death of Alexander the Great, during the reign of Lysimachus—one of Alexander’s generals who ruled over Macedonia, Thrace, and Anatolia—construction and development activities began in Smyrna. The ancient city flourished and reached its peak during the Roman Empire. In the 2nd century CE, Smyrna’s level of development made it a rival to cities such as Ephesos and Pergamon.
The ancient city of Smyrna, with its intersecting streets and avenues and monumental structures at their intersections, was an important city reflecting the urban planning principles of its time. Extending along the east-west axis from Pagos Hill to the ancient harbor (present-day Kemeraltı) and along the north-south axis from Basmane to Değirmentepe, only a few remnants of the city walls have survived to the present day.
The Agora, located at the city’s center and still accessible today, served as a public space where numerous social, cultural, political, and commercial activities took place. In addition, like many other prominent cities of the period, Smyrna was home to structures such as temples, a theater, a hippodrome, hammams, and fountains.
Today, the remnants of the ancient city of Smyrna can be encountered while ascending from Kemeraltı to Kadifekale, situated in the heart of the modern city. Artifacts unearthed during ongoing excavations led by Prof. Dr. Akın Ersoy can also be seen on-site.