Welcome to the Ephesus-Mimas Route

efesmimasharıta

The Ephesus – Mimas route is the popular name for the roads that trace the history of the settlement of the peninsula of İzmir, starting from 8000 years ago. There are walking and cycling routes, some with olive and vineyard themes, to investigate. The blue route links the land to the wide blue sea beyond.

Ephesus (now called Selçuk) and Mimas (now the Karaburun peninsula) gave their names to this route, which passes through Selçuk, Menderes, Seferihisar, Güzelbahçe, Urla, Çeşme and Karaburun districts. The route includes all manner of natural, historical and cultural remains.

For the first time in İzmir, from the ruins of the Ionian civilization to Ottoman artifacts, a period of thousands of years, the entire history of the peninsula is exhibited in these newly-created walking and cycling routes. Along the Ephesus-Mimas route, you will find the six cities of Ionia, linking the various sections. The cities are: Ephesus (Ephesus-Selçuk), Kolophon (Değirmendere-Menderes), Lebedos (Ürkmez-Seferihisar), Teos (Sığacık- Seferihisar), Klazomenai (Urla) and Erythrai (Ildırı-Çeşme). Phokaia (Foça), another Ionian city, is connected to Karaburun via the blue route.

The walking routes, consisting of 49 tracks with a total length of 709 km, start in front of the Temple of Artemis in the ancient city of Ephesus; they end in Mimas, the mythological name of Karaburun.

The bicycle routes (totaling 773 km) have been created with EuroVelo standards in mind: the 190 km section of the bicycle route between Cesme Port – Artemis Temple is made to EuroVelo (European Bicycle Network) standards. The olive route, named after ancient trees and olive presses en route, passes through the districts of Güzelbahçe, Çeşme, Seferihisar, Menderes and Selçuk. The vineyard route covers a total of 151 km of roads and links Selçuk, Seferihisar, Menderes, Urla, Karaburun and Çeşme.

For all route information regarding the Ephesus-Mimas route: http://rota.yarimadaizmir.com