Surroundings, Sardis

80km/50mi away on the northeastern side of the Bozdaglari lies the town of Alasehir. The surrounding area is reminiscent of Tuscany. The "Bright Town" now occupies the spot where King Attalos II Philadelphos founded the town of Philadelphia (later Neokaisereia) as a frontier fortress. It is mentioned in Revelations (1:11 and 3:7) as one of the Seven Churches of Asia and was the last Byzantine outpost in Asia Minor before succumbing to Bayazit I in 1390. Substantial remains of the medieval town walls can still be seen and there are some sulfur baths close by.

A good 10km/7mi south of the Bozdag pass, the old town of Birgi spreads up both sides of a deep valley cut by a stream. The town was probably constructed in the 14th century with building materials plundered from the ruins of Pyrgium (or Dio Hieron) of which nothing now remains. In the middle of the 14th century Ibn Battuta described "Birgui" as the summer residence of Prince Mohammed, but the most impressive sights in the town today are the magnificent 18th and 19th century houses. The Cakiraga Konagi, a particularly handsome large town house in the traditional style is currently being expertly restored and in the near future it will be opened to visitors as a "show house". The town center set on a hill is dominated by the five-aisled Ulu Cami (1312), an early Seljuk mosque in the kufa style with a rectangular, transverse prayer room, a flat wooden roof and plain rows of columns ("Wood Mosque"). The pulpit staircase displays some tasteful carvings which demonstrate the "kündekari" technique.

This small, peaceful town, Torrhebia in antiquity, (1,030m/3,378ft) on the northern bank of Lake Gölcük is a typical summer village for the more prosperous town-dwellers and farmers from the lowlands and makes a good starting point for walks in the mountains or to the remains of ancient Hypaepa near Datbey lower down towards the southwest. Most of the lavish summer villas are clustered around the west and north banks of the lake (rowing boats) inside a ring of magnificent pine forests. The lake was created by a landslide which blocked off the valley to the north.

The town of Ödemis was founded in late Ottoman times and developed from the splendid Kabazakalogullari property, constructed at the end of the 13th century, which is situated nearby to the south beneath the ruins of Roman Hypaepa. The lively market town contains many fine 19th century town houses. Much of its wealth derives from mining deposits of antimony, mercury and copper.

The administrative center of Tire 60km/37mi south of Bozdag occupies a site close to old Teira (northeast on a hill; Torrebia or Arkadiopolis in antiquity) which was relinquished in favor of Tire after the Turkish conquest. In 1308 Ephesians settled in Teira and during the Middle Ages the town was an important caravan stop. The remains of five caravanserais from the Ottoman years can still be seen in the town: Bakir Han, Dellaloglu Hani, Kulu Hani, Lüftü Pasa Hani and Savran Hani. The most interesting of these buildings, a large two-story complex with an arcaded inner courtyard, is situated south of the railroad station diagonally opposite the eight-domed central bazaar. Around 1453 Mehmet II (the Conqueror) forced 65,000 inhabitants of Tire to migrate to Constantinople and the old capital of the Kaystros valley (Little Maeander, Küçük Menderes) suffered badly as a result.