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On a hot summer night, a long line forms near the waterfront in Eski Foça, a small town on Türkiye’s Aegean coast.
Laughter and chatter fill the air as tourists wait their turn to buy Saku’s Dondurma, the local ice cream.
This is a city shaped by thousands of years of history and conquered by dozens of civilizations, yet it still feels protected from the turmoil of the modern world. Oizan Çaklife, Foça’s director of culture and social affairs, says this is partly because “unlike other cities in Turkey, construction is not allowed” and it retains the atmosphere of an old fishing town.
Whether in a tavern, at the beach or by the water, “sharing memories, sharing grief, sharing kinship” forms a bridge between the past and the future, he says.
To understand Eski Foça, it helps to look to its past. Also known as Phocaea in Greek, it was an important Ionian settlement. The Ionians were Greeks who ruled the western coast of present-day Turkey from the 9th to 7th centuries BC, forming a confederation of 12 cities on the Aegean coast. They developed a powerful naval fleet and established colonies as far away as Corsica, but in the 15th century they were conquered by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Genoese, and finally the Ottoman Empire.
According to Çaklife, the Ottomans called the region Focatein, meaning “Two Foca,” to distinguish between Eski (old) Foca and Yeni (new) Foca, which are about 20 kilometers apart.
The ancient Greek writer Homer, in his epic poem about Odysseus, king of Ithaca, mentions a town alternately called Phaecia, Faiacia, and Shelia as the final stop on Odysseus’ epic ten-year journey.
Eski Foça, with its large natural cove, is surrounded by Foca Adalar (six uninhabited islands) and Siren Kayalklar (Siren Rocks), a volcanic formation that many believe matches Homer’s description.
Orhan Boachi, a second-generation boat captain who takes tourists on day trips to the rock, is one of them.
“Orak Island, the largest island, is where the siren went off,” he says.
“The siren was a type of mermaid with the head of a woman and the body of a bird. Legend has it that the siren would seduce passing sailors with a seductive cry, but the storm whipped up by its wings would cause the ship to crash against a rock, causing it to sink and drown.”
It is said that Odysseus ordered his crew to tie him to the ship’s mast and fled.
Today, day-trippers rely on Boaci to get close to Siren Rock, a strikingly white surface smoothed by wind and waves. Some travelers swear they can still hear sirens as the wind blows through the stones and the sea laps against the hull.
There is still debate as to whether Eski Foca was really Odysseus’ final destination.
In contrast, there are no Mediterranean seals in the waters off Eski Foça. The seal, known as Foka in Turkish, gives the town its name. It is an endangered species that lives only on the coasts of Turkey, Greece, and northwestern Africa, and is said to exist in small numbers on the Foça Islands. Humans are prohibited from setting foot on the island, and ships are not allowed to approach it.
Boati said sightings are rare because the coastline is dotted with caves where seals can take refuge. Some locals associate it with a legend from Celtic and Norse folklore about a creature who sheds its seal skin and becomes a human.
Once back on land, visitors can stroll along the bay, relax on the public beach, or stop by a nearby beach club before exploring the town’s history. Fatih Mosque was built in 1455 on the orders of Sultan Mehmet, the conqueror of Constantinople, and stands near the late Qayalar Mosque, an example of Ottoman architecture.
Until the early 20th century, Eski Foça had a mixed population and was “a cosmopolitan port town, mainly Greek, Turkish, Levantine, and a few Jewish families,” Chaklife said. The inhabitants lived in harmony, supported by a trade in grapes and alum that was exported throughout the Ottoman Empire.
This situation changed with the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. At this time, Greeks born in Türkiye and Turks born in Greece were forced to migrate according to their ethnicity. This is something the Bogus family has experienced as well.
“I am the grandson of a family that came to Eski Foça in 1924 from the village of Myrina on the Greek island of Lemnos during a population exchange,” he says.
The next wave of newcomers arrived in the 1950s, when Club Med opened Türkiye’s first holiday resort nearby. Later, French tourists were joined by those from Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, but in recent decades international tourists have shifted to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
Today, Eski Foça primarily attracts day trippers from Izmir and Turkish tourists who want to enjoy peace and tranquility. On Sundays, they gather at the weekly market, Yeruz Pazar, to buy locally produced jams, olive oil and other foods.
As the days cool, visitors stroll through streets lined with restored stone Greek houses. It is now lined with boutiques and coffee shops. At sunset, tables fill at Kavala Bistro Wine Bar, a converted 1881 Greek mansion, before moving to a seafood restaurant along the waterfront. After dinner, end your evening with a walk to Besh Capilar Carré, a Genoese castle restored by the Ottomans in the 17th century.
A day trip to Eski Foca can change forever.
Now a longtime resident, Çaklife was born in Turgutur, Manisa province, and trained as a classical musician, specializing in the ney, the Turkish flute.
“I’ve been here for two days,” he says. “But I’ve lived here for about 25 years. My wife was one of those who came and stayed for two days.”
He believes they did not leave because they stepped on a black stone. This is part of a local legend about lovers from feuding families.
“The boy was forced to work in the city against his will, and the girl sat on a black stone waiting for him for months, and finally died in tears while waiting for her lover,” he says.
“The people of Eski Foca were so moved by her story that they crushed black stones and scattered them around the city, hoping that no one who steps on them would ever leave again, and that the pain of separation like this would never be experienced again.”
No one knows the exact location of the stone fragment, but the legend lives on.
