Watery Cemetery - A Story in History

What would you think if you were asked what an ancient Roman bath and a cemetery or a tobacco store have in common? The area just opposite the Kâtipzade Masjid, one of the well-known corners of Konak, stands out as the place where an interesting story in the history of Izmir took place...

While looking at old maps of Izmir, my eye falls on the small cemetery in Konak: On the detailed maps of Izmir prepared by Charles Edward Goad for insurance companies and published in June 1905, it reads: ‘Cimetiere Turc’ (Turkish Cemetery). Curious, I search for it on even older maps. The same thing appears on the Lamec Saad city plan dated 1876. I go back a little further, to the 1856 map by Luigi Storari, the Italian engineer who prepared the first city guide of Izmir, and what I see is the same. Just north of the Government House, opposite the Kâtipzade Masjid, there is a cemetery hidden among so many different buildings...

It is difficult to know how long this area, which was called “Sulu Cemetery” by the locals, probably because of the water under the sea surface, has been so, but we know that it was used as a Muslim cemetery even in the early years of the Republic. According to the information we have, it was a small Turkish cemetery on the edge of Yemiş Bazaar in the mid-19th century. Who knows, maybe it had been like that for a long time, but we can identify it for the first time on 19th century maps. Moreover, it was located just opposite the Kâtipzade Masjid, which was built in the mid-18th century, a century earlier. And if you do a little more research, you can find out that the graves of the Kâtipzade family were once here. Furthermore, although it is not known exactly when it disappeared from the city's skyline, it is believed that Sulu Cemetery disappeared in the 1930s or 40s; this loss remains an enigma in the mists of history.

It is known that after the cemetery was removed, a large tobacco store was built in its place, but information about how and by whom is very limited. However, you can still find the signboard “İzmir Alston Tobako Kompani” on the wall next to the entrance door of the building and a large photograph of the İzmir branch of this former American tobacco company. With its simple architecture, this store must have been one of the buildings bearing the traces of the modernism of the period.

---

“The Câmi’-i atik neighborhood must have been in or near the Hisar-önü location where the current Hisar mosque is located. As a matter of fact, if we pay attention to the fact that a Frankish cemetery is mentioned here and that the part of Izmir that falls to the east of this neighborhood is called the Frankish neighborhood, the matter will become clearer.”

---

Frankish Cemetery? Things got even more confusing... However, according to this foundation, the soap houses mentioned in this foundation must have been located further east of this area, not in the neighborhood where the Sulu cemetery is located.

Eventually, the Kaptan Mustafa Pasha business center completed its economic life after serving for years. In 2015, the Directorate of Foundations, the owner of the property, put out a tender for its renovation. The company that won the tender had started work in 2016 when, during excavation work with construction equipment, historical remains were found on the floor of the building and construction work in the area was halted. With the decision of the Izmir Regional Council for the Protection of Cultural Assets No. 1, drilling was carried out in the area and the remains were examined. After the excavations and examinations in the region under the supervision of Izmir Archaeology Museum, it was concluded that the structures that emerged were the remains of the Smyrna Port Baths of the Ancient Roman period and these remains were dated between the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. On the other hand, after the historical ruins were unearthed, the area was flooded in a short time. The groundwater filled the entire excavation area to such an extent that it was decided to carry out work to drain the ground water. Thus, the foundations of the Ancient Roman harbor can be seen in all their splendor. 

Undoubtedly, there was a sea and a harbor in this area in the 2nd century AD. In Roman times, as was the custom, those arriving by ship would go to the baths to get clean. Let's not forget that the harbors had a special importance as a meeting point for land and sea traffic and as the biggest gate of the city to the outside. In accordance with this importance, we can also assume that they were equipped with architectural works and sculptures for representational expression. On the other hand, we should not forget that there were cemeteries near the harbors during the Roman period. It is also possible to assume that the tombs near the harbor bays were built to show the glory and fame of those who were there and to spread it to the society.

We do not know exactly in which century the Roman Baths were demolished and replaced by a cemetery. Ancient harbors buried under modern buildings make it almost impossible to study them using traditional archaeological methods. Therefore, it is very difficult to trace the ancient harbor. Izmir's urban development from Antiquity to the early Middle Ages is also largely unknown. Only the approximate extent of the city in antiquity, the newly constructed harbor and Agora in the late 2nd century AD, is partially known. But when we look at this whole story again, it is clear that we are facing a relic that will change the history of Izmir. The first concrete finds of the ancient harbor of Smyrna, for which there are no concrete traces left behind and whose location is only guessed, are the foundations of this Roman Bath. This discovery is undoubtedly very important for the development of Izmir's culture and tourism, and is extremely important in terms of completing the missing parts of the city's identity.