5 places to visit in the Bayraklı district of Izmir: Bayraklı Mound, Folkart Towers and Bayraklı Business Centre and Smyrna Ancient City (Tepekule). Plan your trip to Bayraklı with local food, practical tips and transport information.
Bayraklı is the second smallest district of Izmir by area. It is the new city centre of Izmir, with many skyscrapers.
History
The founders of the first Izmir were a people living in the Bronze Age around 3000 BC, and they lived in Bayraklı. The Tepekule mound was the first settlement founded by the earliest citizens of Izmir, known as Luwi or Lelej. Bayraklı became a district on 22 March 2008, when it separated from Karşıyaka district. The Aegean Sea earthquake of October 2020 caused loss of life and property in the district.
Economy and Development
When the New City Centre project accelerated between 2007 and 2011, Bayraklı was made a district and became Izmir’s new centre. Folkart Towers, Turkey’s second pair of twin skyscrapers, was built in the district with an investment of 150 million dollars. Izmir City Hospital, built within the district boundaries with an investment of 1.6 billion Turkish lira, opened in 2023.
History and Culture
Excavations have confirmed that the people who founded the first Izmir lived in Bayraklı. The Tepekule mound in Bayraklı is considered the first settlement, founded around 5,000 years ago. Although Smyrna is not a prominent archaeological site for tourism, it is an open-air museum showing the history of the modern city.
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