Kusadasi is an important tourist city in Turkey, located near other tourist cities such as Marmaris, Bodrum, Izmir and others, and this proximity doubled the importance of tourism to this city.

The tourist attractions in Kusadasi are very beautiful, tourists come to visit this city from different countries of the world, especially in the spring and summer.

If you are traveling to Kusadasi for a nice summer vacation, we recommend going a few kilometers south to the Dilek Peninsula National Park.

Dilek Peninsula National Park has many hiking trails and quiet sandy beaches, which are a great place to explore.

This park is considered one of the most important natural places in Turkey, where the blue sea extends on the outskirts of the park along with the wonderful landscape, making Dilek National Park one of the most famous tourist attractions in Kusadasi.

In this article, we will take you on a tour to learn more about this park.

Introduction to Dilek National Park

Dilek Peninsula National Park, is located 32 km south of Kusadasi in a small town called Guzelcamli in the province of Aydin (Aydın), Turkey.

This park covers an area of ​​27.598 hectares, 6 kilometers wide and 20 kilometers long, and many consider its beach to be the most beautiful beach in this area.

Dilek National Park is located on a mountainous land divided into sections by some valleys, and the park includes sandy beaches and valleys in addition to natural, historical and cultural attractions.

Some consider Dilek Peninsula National Park a piece of paradise for its enchanting beauty, and if you want to relax, this place will bring you incredible deep peace.

Whether you love hiking or getting some peace and relaxation on the beach, Dilek Peninsula National Park will be perfect for you.

Dilek Peninsula National Park is a great place to take a picnic with friends or family, due to its clean environment, stunning scenery and calm beaches.

This park will provide you with everything you need for a picnic. Some of the picnic facilities in the park include benches & picnic tables, toilets, showers and many other facilities.

Even if you don’t plan on hiking, you can spend the day in one of the beautiful and comfortable beach cafes enjoying a cup of Turkish tea, or sample some Turkish dishes at the wonderful restaurants of Dilek National Park.

If your trip to Kusadasi coincides with one of the most important events in your life, such as your wedding anniversary, birthday or any other important event, or if you want to spend an unforgettable romantic moment with your spouse, Dilek Peninsula National Park will provide you with the necessary facilities to spend a special and fun time.

This park contains many beautiful beaches, such as Kalamaki Beach and many other beaches, the most important beaches in Dilek National Park are Icmeler Beach, Kavakli Beach and Karabiner Beach.

Attractions of Dilek Peninsula National Park

Take a nature tourism along the shores of the park

The park has many beautiful beaches, where you can lie for hours on the golden sands of these beautiful and calm beaches.

Enjoying the nice and hot beach sun in the summer, and reading a book you love can also be a good idea while relaxing on the beach.

Walking and exploring the park

If you are bored of reading books and sunbathing, you can walk in the park and go on a fun adventure to see nature and mountains, as Dilek Peninsula National Park has many long hiking trails that take you to magical places.

Other fun activities that you can do in this nature include photography, visiting the flower garden and watching cute wild animals.

Great Menderes Delta

The Menderes Delta, with an area of ​​16,613 m², is located south of Kusadasi and is one of the most important places for migratory birds in the Aegean Sea. It has many beautiful landscapes as well as a lot of fish.

Do a lot of fun activities

Dilek Peninsula National Park has many options for tourists, you can swim on the quiet beaches or stroll among the chestnut trees in the vast forests, as well as the possibility of cycling and wandering among the pine trees.

You can also do great challenges like rock climbing, in addition to all these activities, if you are a fishing lover, Dilek National Park will provide you with the possibility of fishing.

Boat tour

You can take a boat to reach the pristine waters of Dilek National Park from Kusadasi or Guzelcamli.

As this peninsula is located near the Greek island of Samos and overlooks magnificent bays.

In addition, marine animals will undoubtedly attract your attention, as you can sometimes see beautiful dolphins swimming along the boat.

The Cave of Zeus

It is true that Dilek Peninsula National Park is a natural attraction, but there is also an archaeological site belonging to the time when the peninsula was called Mycale.

At the entrance to the Cave of Zeus in the Dilek Peninsula National Park, you will be drawn to the presence of a cold and pure water pool, tourists who come for a tour of this park usually take a little bath in the Cave of Zeus.

There are many legends about this cave, as some legends say that Zeus bathed in this cave, in addition to the fact that the Virgin Mary also went to this cave, as there is a house of Mary located near the park in the city of Ephesus.

Whatever the story of this cave, make sure to visit it during your Kusadasi tour and your trip to Dilek Peninsula National Park.

Enjoy watching wild animals on the south coast of the park

The southern shores of Dilek Peninsula National Park are quite different, as it is home to mainly flamingos, with another 208 species of birds that can be seen at different times of the year.

There are 76 species of birds that lay their eggs in this area, along with other wild animals in the area, which are so accustomed to the presence of humans that they reach the coast, and if you are lucky enough, you can even see wild horses on the hills in front of the beach.

Diverse vegetation of Dilek National Park

The diversity of vegetation in the peninsula is just like the diversity of wildlife.

Dilek mountain (1,237 m) has caused many changes in temperature between the northern and southern parts of the peninsula, which means that it is a plant habitat comprising 4 different regions.

Apart from the plant species specific to the Aegean, there are other plants belonging to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Best time to visit Dilek National Park

Spring and summer are the best times to visit Dilek Peninsula National Park, as Kusadasi trekking times are peak times but prices are a bit higher at this time of the year.

If you are looking for a cheap tour to Kusadasi, early autumn is the way to go, but in other seasons this tourist city is cold and there are fewer trips to it.

How to get to Dilek Peninsula National Park

Buses run from Kusadasi to Dilek Peninsula National Park once every half an hour and at very reasonable prices.

You can also reach the park by boats that operate daily from 10 am to 5 pm, and you can also use taxis.

The post Dilek Peninsula National Park – Witness the pristine nature of Kusadasi appeared first on Move 2 Turkey.

There is no doubt that everyone has heard the name of the Seven Wonders of the World once in life.

The wonders that are located in seven parts of the earth known as the masterpieces of architecture and art in the world.

The seven wonders of the world today are divided into two kinds: the seven ancient wonders and the seven new wonders.

In this regard we will talk in this article about one of the seven ancient wonders, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus in Kuşadası.

So join us to provide you with a comprehensive explanation about this temple.

Introduction to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, Kuşadası

This building was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, located in the distance between İzmir and Kuşadası, on Mount Ephesus.

This temple is considered the first temple made of marble, according to studies.

The interesting thing is that using marble to design and build this building made us see an enormous glow in the Temple of Artemis when the sun rises.

If we want to explain the history of this temple, we must say that the construction of the Temple of Artemis dates back to the time when the Ephesus in Kuşadası was part of the ancient Greek empire.

Who is Artemis?

The Greeks had believed in many gods, one of them was called Artemis. Artemis was also called in Roman mythology “Diana”.

In order to worship this god, a temple called the Temple of Artemis was built in this area.

History of the Temple of Artemis

In honor of Artemis, the king of Lydia built this temple and placed a statue of it inside it.

It was designed and implemented by the architect Chersiphron and his son Metagenes, It was completed around 550 BC in “Ephesus”, and it is one of the most beautiful and most distinguished temples in the world.

On the night of July 21, 356 BC, a man called Herostratus burned the temple in his attempt to immortalize his name in history.

And when Alexander the Great entered Asia Minor he went to Ephesus in 333 BC, and rebuilt the destroyed parts of the temple again until the temple regained its glory like before.

In the year 262 AD the temple was destroyed a second time greatly by the Goths, and the inhabitants of Ephesus pledged to rebuild the temple.

And in the fourth century AD most of the population entered Christianity, and the temple lost its status, which caused it to be forgotten.

In the end, 400 AD, the temple was completely destroyed by John Chrysostom (a saint from Constantinople), leaving nothing but ruins.

After that, Ephesus was abandoned and remained so until the nineteenth century AD.

In 1864, the British Museum excavated the area hoping to find the ruins of the Temple of Artemis.

And after five years of searching, they found the remains of the Temple of Artemis under 25 feet of swamp clay.

In fact, few of the artifacts that had been found there were transferred to the British Museum in London. I bet you didn’t see that coming

A little bit of marble was also taken from the Temple of Artemis and was used for the construction of other buildings, as they used some of its remains in the restoration of the Church of St. John in Ephesus and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

In recent years, we have witnessed many efforts to revive and introduce people to the antiquities of the ancient world, including the Temple of Artemis.

And this has caused the return of this temple to be popular again among the people as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Important and unique features of the Temple of Artemis

If we want to know more about the beautiful and distinctive Temple of Artemis and provide a full explanation about this place, we must say that this temple is the first temple in history to be built of white marble, which made us witness the exceptional beauty and glory of this place.

Also, in order to build this temple, an attempt was made to use a mixture of Greek and Asian architecture, which makes this place the most beautiful among other buildings built by the Greeks and is considered one of the most important buildings built in the era of the ancient Greek Empire.

Architecture of the Temple of Artemis

In order to understand the architecture of this temple, it is necessary to pay attention to several important points for the construction of this building.

127 pillars were made in this place, and each of these pillars was about 20 meters high, and they gave an exceptional beauty to this building.

But the importance of architecture of this building lies in the fact that this place was built many years before the emergence of modern architecture, as building 127 columns at a height of 20 meters was not an easy task at all.

In fact, this is the reason that made this temple one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The marble surrounds the platform of the temple, which leads to a high balcony with a height of about 260 to 430 feet.

And 36 temple pillars are distributed in the front, the length of the temple is about 110 meters while its width is about 55 meters.

The construction of the temple took approximately 125 to 200 years to be fully completed.

And the basic base of the temple was rectangular in shape like most temples in that period of time.

It was built in a swampy land with no danger of earthquakes.

If we want to understand this building further, it is necessary to point out a very important thing related to the location of this structure.

In fact as we said the Temple of Artemis is located in the Ephesus area in Kuşadası, which is a marshy area, so it was very difficult to build a building and also use transportation like wagons at that time.

Although that, we were able to see wagons passing through this area to transport the temple building materials, a lot of wagons got stuck in the mud.

However the Greeks were able to solve this problem and use the carts to transport the materials in the best way possible.

The temple contained several beautiful and classic paintings decorated with silver and gold inside, and there were also many different statues of warrior women in this temple.

All this excellence in interior and exterior architecture made the Temple of Artemis very beautiful.

But unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, this building was gradually destroyed and today only a few traces remain of it.

How to get to the Temple of Artemis

If you are planning to visit the Temple of Artemis, then you need to travel to Turkey and start your journey from İzmir or Kuşadası.

In both cities there are several buses and taxis that you can use to reach the Temple of Artemis and visit this beautiful and distinctive building.

Location Temple of Artemis

Atatürk, Park İçi Yolu No: 12, 35920 Selçuk / İzmir, Turkey

The post Temple of Artemis in Turkey – One of the seven wonders of the ancient world appeared first on Move 2 Turkey.

The Kusadasi city in Turkey is one of the most crowded and popular entertainment destinations at the present time.

The sandy beach of Kusadasi and the moderate sun are the most important things that attract tourists to the city, and make it the best entertainment destination for many tourists.

Although Kusadasi is famous for its beaches, the attractions of the city are not only limited to the beaches, but this coastal city has many different and fun attractions.

Some of these attractions have entrance tickets, others do not! If you choose the Kusadasi tour for your summer trip, join us here to know the Tourist Attractions you can visit for free in Kusadasi.

Introduction about Kusadasi, Turkey

Kusadasi is one of the most beautiful cities in Turkey and the world, and Kusadasi means “bird island”.

This Turkish city is very beautiful and has an ancient and exciting history, so let us offer you the best tourist attractions that you can visit for free in Kusadasi.

1- Going to the beaches of Kusadasi

Kusadasi is literally a city of beautiful and pleasant beaches, and there is no one who does not travel to this city without visiting one of its distinctive beaches!

Because going to the beaches of Kusadasi is one of the most important tourist attractions that you can visit for free in this city.

We will offer you the best beaches of Kusadasi to give you the option to choose the most suitable for you.

Ladies Beach

One of the most famous beaches of Kusadasi is Ladies Beach, which is called (Kadınlar Denizi) in Turkish.

Although anyone can get to the beach now, there was a time when only women were allowed on this beach.

Visiting this beach is free, but if you want you can also use the beach cafes and restaurants that were provided for you in Kadınlar Denizi, you need to pay some small costs of course

Another great thing about this beach is that it is guarded from 7 am to 8 pm, and guards provide security for everyone there.

Downtown Beach

This beach is located between the marina area and the port, and it is the closest beach to the center of Kusadasi and this what makes this beach very popular,

As it is close to many hotels and facilities in Kusadasi, it is one of the tourist attractions that you can visit for free in Kusadasi.

Silver Sand Beach

Silver Sand Beach is another beautiful beach that you can visit for free in Kusadasi and is considered as one of the best and high rated beaches in the city.

You can reach this beach from Kusadasi city center by minibus.

Long Beach

This 18 km long beach has different sections, all of which welcome those who come to Kusadasi, and it is one of the best free Recreational beaches in Turkey.

Currently, most of the front portion of the beach is used and there are several popular and interesting water parks around this beach. So get ready for a whole new and exciting experience in Kusadasi.

Diamond & Gold Beach

This beach, with an interesting and strange name, is located in Aydin City, and it is one of the tourist attractions that you can visit for free in Kusadasi, and it is also one of the good beaches of this city.

On the way to this beach, you can also visit Nazili Bazaar, and if you ever feel hungry and want to get a nice meal, this is the way to go, as there are some really good beach cafes and restaurants on Diamonds and Gold Beach.

Love Beach

Love Beach isn’t just a beach for sunbathing! On this beach there is the possibility of boating. (now you know where it got its name)

There is also an interesting and high-quality cafe and restaurant on this beach, which also serves Turkish breakfasts.

In short, everything that makes you happy and enjoyable is on the love beach in Kusadasi.

2- The historic city Priene

The historic city Priene is the most popular attraction in Kusadasi, which is one of the tourist attractions that you can visit for free in Kusadasi.

Priene is actually a very old residential area in the city, as it dates back to ancient Greece, and was designed in the ancient Greek architectural style.

The city of Kusadasi was completely destroyed by the flooding of the Meander River in the 2nd century,

and as a result, the city of Priene was also destroyed, after that, the city became completely deserted and no one lived there.

Now, visiting this city has become one of the amazing and free attractions in Kusadasi.

You can visit the Athena Hall and the famous Priene Amphitheater, which still retains some of its ancient shape.

The Priene amphitheater contains 6,500 stone seats, and the runway covers a very large area.

3- Kusadasi Grand Bazaar

Of course you need to go to any market for shopping, but the Kusadasi Grand Bazaar is just a whole other story, it is so beautiful that it is considered as one of the most famous attractions of this city, and it is also one of the tourist attractions that you can visit for free in Kusadasi.

This market consists of two separate parts and thus it is one of the largest markets in Turkey, there are about 5000 different stores in this market selling many different things.

If you are planning to buy anything from this city, then this market is a good choice for you, as you can find souvenirs, clothes and everything that comes to mind.

Also, the vendors in this market are able to speak many languages, so you will not have any problem communicating with them.

4- Basilica of St. John

The Church of Saint John in Kusadasi is another place we will introduce to you as another tourist attraction that you can visit for free in Kusadasi.

The story of this famous church is that a famous saint and priest spent the last years of his life in the historic city of Ephesus.

After his death, his body was buried next to the place where this church was built. This church was built after 300 AD, about the fourth century AD.

The church was small at first, but over time it was modified and expanded, stone and brick were used in building this church.

Whereas, after 200 years of building this church and at a time when the church was in ruins, it was rebuilt further by order of the Emperor of Greece.

Marble was also used to decorate the new church building, most parts of this church were built in the fifth century AD.

During the Ottoman era, this church was used as a mosque for some time.

5- Kirazli Village

One of the free attractions in this city is Kirazli Village, one of the best places to visit.

This village, full of various farms, is one of the greenest areas in Kusadasi that can be fun to visit.

The best time to visit this village is in the afternoon, as this village is located at a distance of 10 km from Kusadasi.

In this village, if you like you can buy fresh and organic products from the locals or from Kirazli’s daily markets.

Do not forget to enjoy walking in the narrow streets and between the thatched houses or completely white houses.

This village is one of the free tourist attractions in Kusadasi, and it is always ready to host tourists in all seasons of the year.

6- Dilek Peninsula National Park

Dilek Peninsula National Park is suitable for those who love nature tourism, a trip to Delek Park is another free tourist activity in Kusadasi that we offer you.

This area is full of paths suitable for hiking, and you can also climb mountains here.

This park is located 32 km south of Kusadasi and covers an area of ​​28,000 hectares.

In Delek Park, there are many picnic facilities that seek your comfort while attending this park.

You can also see many beautiful landscapes in Dilek Park, also known as Delek National Park.

Of course the beautiful and clean Delek Beach is one of its best features, we recommend this park for a picnic or a full nature tour in Kusadasi.

7- The historic city Miletus

Miltus is a small city located in Kusadasi and is one of the tourist attractions that you can visit for free in Kusadasi.

The Seljuks lived in this historic city until the fourth century AD, but the Roman Emperors completely rebuilt this city.

In Miletus there are many attractions, some of which are free and some of them are low-cost to visit.

and in fact, to visit the Baths and the Miletus City Museum, you have to pay a very small entrance fee.

but visiting the Byzantine castle and the remains of the Apollo Hall in Miletus is completely free.

8- Didyma

Didyma is historically considered to be of great value to the Greeks, and therefore it is one of the best tourist attractions that you can visit in Kusadasi.

By visiting this city, you can get better acquainted with classical ancient Greece.

So if you are interested in ancient history and especially the history of Greece, make sure to visit Didyma.

Read more about the best places to visit for free in Istanbul

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