Foça

Foça stands on the site of Phokaia, the Ionian city whose sailors founded Massalia - modern Marseille - around 600 BCE, along with colonies across the western Mediterranean. What survives of the ancient town is modest: a rock-cut tomb known as Taş Kule outside the town, stretches of wall, a theatre. What draws people is the town itself, a working fishing port with a horseshoe harbour, stone and timber houses from the Greek period along the lanes behind it, a Genoese castle and a row of fish restaurants on the quay. Offshore lie the Siren Rocks, the islets that tradition identifies with the sirens of the Odyssey, and the surrounding waters are a protected area for the Mediterranean monk seal - one of the rarest marine mammals in the world, resident in caves along this coast, and very seldom seen. Boat trips run round the islands in summer. Foça is a slow-city member and quieter than the Çeşme peninsula.

What you actually see

• The horseshoe harbour - fishing boats and quayside restaurants.
• The old lanes - Greek-era stone houses behind the front.
• The Siren Rocks - the islets offshore, visited by boat.
• Taş Kule - the ancient rock-cut tomb outside town.

When to go

May to June and September to October. August fills the harbour and the prices; winter is quiet with many restaurants closed.

Honest expectations

Ancient Phokaia is barely visible - come for the town, not the archaeology. Monk seals are protected and effectively never seen by visitors; boat operators promising sightings are overselling. Summer weekends are busy.

Nearby

İzmir is about an hour south; Bergama and Pergamon are north.