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[See the following:
Old Tire: http://www.tireliler.com/eski_resim.html
New Tire: http://www.tireliler.com/resim.html ]


x0x A warm welcome at Tire

By Omer Kokal

Apollo used to amuse himself playing the lyre on
Mount Tmolos (today Bozdag) overlooking the plain of
the Kucuk Menderes River. The god was convinced that
his music was unsurpassed in beauty. But the shepherd
Marsyas who played his flute while watching over his
flocks on the pastures of the same mountain was also
a skilled musician. One day Apollo decided that two
musicians were too many for one mountain, and invited
Marsyas to compete with him before a panel of
adjudicators.

When both musicians had finished playing and it was
time to judge between them, only King Midas of
Phrygia voted for Marsyas. Apollo was so angered at
the king's decision that he declared him to be
ignorant of music and turned his ears into those of a
donkey. Then, his rage still unassuaged, he had the
poor shepherd flayed alive. About two thousand years
ago a sculptor portrayed Marsyas suffering the
torment of this dreadful punishment. Today this
statue can be seen in the modest little museum at
Tire. But the ancient city of Tire was neither small
nor modest.


The history of the city goes back to the time of the
Lydians, when it was known as Tyrha, meaning castle.
The city was of great importance for Lydia, because
of its strategic position on the major trade route
between Ephesus and Sardis. Tire first came under
Turkish rule with the Aydinogullari emirate in the
13th century, followed by the Ottomans from 1426
onwards. During this period the ancient trade road
from Ephesus took a new course to Izmir and Manisa
after leaving Tire.

Although the city has become a backwater today, such
famous figures as Timur (Tamerlane), Seyh Bedreddin
and Suleyman the Magnificent visited it in the past.
Jews from Palestine were settled here during the time
of Alexander the Great, people from Ephesus arrived
under the AydinoGullari ruler Sasa Bey, and Bekta$i
mystics in the early part of the 19th century. Then
during the population exchange of the 1920s, Turks
from Crete settled here. These waves of new settlers
combined with thriving commerce over many centuries
meant that arts and crafts of many kinds flourished.
Felt makers, rope makers, saddlers, tinsmiths and
clog makers still produce their wares by traditional
methods in rows of shops in the centre of the town.
The architecture and cuisine also reflect the
multicultural influences of Tire's past.

The traditional houses of Tire are gaily painted in
colours including indigo blue, sunshine yellow,
cherry red, and leaf green. These tiny houses are
freshly painted every year, and as you wander through
the streets you are sure to encounter someone
painting their house. The town is bejewelled by no
less than 41 historic mosques dating from the 15th to
18th centuries, and their minarets, each decorated
differently, shape the distinctive skyline.
Specialities of the Tire cuisine include meatballs
and dishes of various vegetables gathered wild from
the fields and hills and cooked with olive oil.
Making use of wild plants of many kinds, such as
nettles, endive, chicory and fennel, reflects the
influence of Cretan Turks on the local cuisine.

The favourite local dessert of unsalted whey cheese
with black mulberry jam wins the hearts of visitors
too.

Another surprise awaiting you is a game called
karambol, similar to billiards and known nowhere else
in Turkey. It is played on a concrete area measuring
about 13 x 4 metres surrounded by boards 20
centimetres in height, and the players strike the
balls with their fingers. No one in Tire has any idea
where or when the game originated. Tuesday is market
day, and the market fills almost every street of the
town, recalling its past as an important commercial
centre. You will not notice time passing as you
explore this fascinating market, looking at the
stalls filled with tempting arrays of fruits and
vegetables, and locally produced goods. The market is
so famous that people come here to shop from Izmir,
Selcuk, Kusadasi and elsewhere in the region. When
you need a rest from wandering through the market,
take a seat at one of the outdoor coffee houses
shaded by great plane trees and order a Turkish
coffee that will refresh you immediately. The coffee
houses also serve the traditional nargile or
waterpipe, which outsiders might try for the sake of
tradition or fashion, but local people enjoy as a
restful accompaniment to conversation. The people of
Tire love to converse and are always ready to chat to
strangers. You can learn many interesting things
about the town from them, such as the fame and
strength of Tire rope, which was used to haul Ottoman
ships overland from the Bosphorus into the Golden
Horn during the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul in the
15th century, or the fact that Ottoman coins were
struck at the imperial mint located here from the
15th until the 18th century. Something you will
discover neither from books about Tire nor from
conversing in the coffeehouses, but rather sense if
you observe the town carefully, is that it shares
characteristics with each of the three successive
capitals of the Ottoman Empire: It nestles in trees
and greenery like Bursa, abounds in mosques like
Edirne, and is built on seven hills like Istanbul.

* Omer Kokal is a photographer and freelance writer.

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