Smyrna: The Rise of an Ancient City. In the early years of the twentieth century, Smyrna—present-day İzmir—was one of the most vibrant and cosmopolitan cities of the Eastern Mediterranean. Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Turks, and Levantines shared narrow streets, elegant mansions, and bustling quays, forming a unique urban culture shaped around trade, faith, and daily life. Smyrna: The Rise of an Ancient City reconstructs the social, cultural, and economic texture of this extraordinary port city through a detailed historical narrative. Drawing on archival documents, testimonies, and rare visuals, Bülent Şenocak reveals Smyrna's distinctive identity by tracing the intertwined worlds of merchants, clergy, diplomats, and ordinary citizens. With a vivid narrative style and rigorous historical analysis, the book captures the rhythm of a city where multiple languages were spoken, different traditions lived side by side, and the Mediterranean spirit permeated daily life. Standing at the intersection of history and memory, this work treats Smyrna as a living, breathing city while also revealing how its legacy has been carried beyond time.
This book constitutes the first volume of a broader two-book study focusing on the modern history of Smyrna and İzmir, laying the historical and cultural groundwork for the major transformations to be addressed in the sequel.