The Aeolians, the first Greek settlers, were eventually taken over by their Greek rivals the Ionians. The Ionians were followed by the Lydians who destroyed the city around 600BC before a brief recovery following Alexander the Great’s arrival in 334 BC.
After his death, Alexander’s generals followed his wishes and re-established Smyrna on Mount Pagos in Kadifekale, and the city then prospered under the Romans.
It was destroyed by an earthquake in 178 AD but later reconstructed and became a major commercial port during the Byzantine Empire. After the Byzantines, the city had a turbulent time under the Arabs, Seljuks, Crusaders and Mongols, until Mehmet I incorporated it into the Ottoman Empire in 1415.
Under Suleyman the Magnificent, Smyrna became a thriving and sophisticated city and a huge trading center, despite its frequent earthquakes. It was a cosmopolitan city , with a Greek Orthodox majority along with Armenians, Jews and Muslims. Numerous languages could be heard in the streets, spoken by locals and visiting traders.
Following World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, and on the basis of the majority Greek population in the area, Greece was granted a mandate over Izmir from the Allies. Athens took control over the whole of the Aegean region.
Rising tensions led the outbreak of war as the Greeks purshed further into the heart of Anatolia in an attempt to unite the Greek communities of Asia Minor. Led by Kemal Ataturk the Turkish army launched a counter-attack and seized the city.
Ataturk formally took Izmir on 9 September 1922 (now celebrated as the day of the city’s liberation). Soon thereafter (beginning 13 September) 70% of the city burned to the ground. The ‘Great Fire’ ended multinational authority of the city and the Greek and Armenian populations were expelled.