Konak & Gulf of Izmir

“The poplars of Izmir, their leaves come falling down…” So begins that slow, solemn zeybek. But why speak of poplars and falling leaves to tell of a city? Perhaps because Izmir is a city that has shed its leaves and grown green again for centuries… Along this shore, stretching from the foot of Kadifekale to the Kordon, so many leaves have fallen, so many springs have come; yet each time the gulf has looked upon its city with the same patience.