Historic Çeşme

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A Brief Chronological History of Çeşme

Ancient Çeşme

The archeological site at Bağlararası discovered in 2001, marks the oldest known settlement of Çeşme, and confirms the town as one of the most important harbours of Anatolia throughout the bronze ages. The enclosed site is at Sk. 1037/1036, 150m southeast of Çeşme Marina.

c. 6,000 BCEarly bronze age site Çeşme-Bağlararası (Sk. 1037)
c. 800BCHomer was born in Ionia (Chios or Smyrna)
610 BCLydian rule
545 BCPersian rule – Cyrus the Great, destruction of Smyrna
c. 700 BC
453 BC
412 BC
Erythrai Ionian city, member of the Pan-Ionian League
Erythrai leaves the Delian League
Erythrai Revolt from Chios -Peloponnesian War
334 – 301 BCIonian independence under Alexander the Great
133 BCRoman rule – Çeşme named Cyssus
395-1371Roman/Greek Byzantine rule
1081-1097Admiral Çakabey temporarily captures Izmir, Çeşme & Chios
Izmir principality established, then returned to Byzantine
1204-1261Greek Byzantine Nicene Empire
1304-1566Genoese rule in Chois
1371Aydınoğlu Umur Bey recaptures Chios, Çeşme & Izmir

see also


Ottoman Çeşme

Çeşme was a key harbour both in the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire from the early exploits of Admiral Çakabey in the C11th through to the destruction of the Ottoman fleet by the Russians at the Battle of Chesme.

1371Aydınoğlu Umur Bey recaptures Chios, Çeşme & Izmir
1472 & 1501Çeşme attacked by Venetians
1508Sultan Beyazit II (1447-1512, Sultan from 1481)
Construction of Çeşme Castle
1528Süleyman the Magnificent (1494-1566, Sultan from 1520)
Construction of Çeşme Caravanserai
1566Grand Admiral Piyale Pasha (1515-1578)
Chios capture ends Genoese presence in the Aegean
5–7 July 1770Grand Admiral Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha (1713-1790)
Battle of Chesme
1780İlyaszade fountain (Sk. 2032) earliest existing fountain
Mar-Apr 1822Greek rebellion in Chios & Ottoman reprisal
1832Ayios Haralambos Church (Ataturk Blvd.)
1835Osman Ağa Mosque (Sk. 1015)
1842Hacı Mehmet Ağa Mosque (Sk. 1013)

see also


Turkish Republic Çeşme

During the Greco-Turkish War, it was among the final towns liberated, with the last Greek troops evacuating to Chios on 16th September 1922.

1912Balkan Wars Turkish refugees settle in Çiftlikköy
30 May 1913Treaty of London cedes Chios to newly independent Greece
1919-1922
15 May 1919
13-22 Sept 1922
16 Sept 1922
Greco-Turkish War / Turkish War of Independence
Greece captures Çeşme & Alacati
The Great Fire of Smyrna
Fahrettin Altay liberates Çeşme
23 July 1923Treaty of Lausanne, Greece/Turkey population exchange
1923-1938
30 June 1926
1-8 July 1926
Nov 1937
First president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938)
Atatürk, İ. İnönü & F. Altay dinner at Rasim Palace, Ilica, Çeşme
Atatürk stays one week in Ilica, Çeşme
Atatürk second visit to Çeşme on the yacht Lilias
1938-1950Second president Mustafa İsmet İnönü (1884-1973) born Smyrna
23 July 1949Karaburun–Chios earthquake
2010Çeşme Marina opened