» Day 9 - Kusadasi / Izmir (Ionia/lydia) (B,L,D)

We enter the land of the Lydians, a people not mentioned in any source dating to the 2nd millennium BC, that emerged in the midst of Cimmerian and Scythian invasions, also thanks to the disintegration of the great Phrygian Kingdom around the 7th century BC. They probably were the same people as the Meonians, referred to by Homer; their first mythological king was Tantalus and their last Cresus. We visit capital Sardis, situated on the Sart Stream. We continue to Smyrna (today's Izmir) and we visit the Ethnographic Museum, which displays artefacts of popular origin and refined collections of traditional costumes. We visit the Agora, or market place, built under Alexander the Great and restored by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius after the earthquake of 178 AD, a period that the majority of buildings and monuments dates back to. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Izmir.