Metropolis

Metropolis is an Ionian city located on the slopes of a hill between the Yeniköy and Özbey neighborhoods in the Torbalı district of İzmir. This hill, at an elevation of 142 meters and dominating the Torbalı Plain, was also chosen as the city's acropolis. The earliest findings discovered on the acropolis are inward-curved rim bowls dating to the Early Bronze Age. During the Middle Bronze Age, red-ridged bowls and gray-colored Northwest Anatolian ceramics, reflecting the common characteristics of the period, were identified on the acropolis. In the Late Bronze Age, findings indicating Hittite influence in the region were uncovered both in Metropolis and at Bademgediği Tepe (possibly Puranda?), located 7 km to the north.

The earliest signs of settlement in the surrounding area date back to the Late Neolithic-Early Chalcolithic Period. During the Protogeometric and Geometric Periods, Metropolis appeared as a small settlement. Ceramics reflecting this period have only been found on the city's acropolis. Throughout the 5th century BCE and the early 4th century BCE, a historical hiatus, similar to that observed in other settlements of the region, is evident in Metropolis. However, from the mid-4th century BCE onwards, life signs are traceable again through a limited number of ceramic fragments on the city’s acropolis and burial findings in the theater area.

The current grid-based urban planning visible in Metropolis is thought to have begun during the Seleucid era in the 3rd century BCE, a time when such city planning was prevalent throughout Anatolia, and to have accelerated during the reign of the Kingdom of Pergamon in the 2nd century BCE. The prosperity brought by the Kaystros (Küçük Menderes) River and the plain contributed to the region’s vibrancy throughout the ages.

The primary economic activity of the city was viticulture and wine production. Strabo mentions the renowned wines produced in Metropolis. Excavations have uncovered fragments of Nikandros group amphorae, which may have been produced in Metropolis or its vicinity, shedding light on the city’s commercial connections. Amphorae representing this group have been found not only along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts of Anatolia but also in places like Delos, Tenos, and Athens, as well as along the Black Sea coast, the Levant region, and Egypt, including Alexandria, Crocodilopolis-Arsinoe, Akoris, Tebtynis, and Bouto, throughout the 2nd century BCE.

The strategic importance of Metropolis is closely linked to the geographical features of the Torbalı Plain. Established at the western edge of the fertile Kaystros (Küçük Menderes) Basin, situated between the east-west oriented Tmolos (Bozdağlar) and Messogis (Aydın Dağları) Mountains, Metropolis had control over both the transit routes and the surrounding agricultural lands due to its dominant position over the plain. Moreover, it was located on the trade route connecting its neighboring major cities, Ephesos and Smyrna.