ALAÇATI, THE PLAYGROUND OF THE WIND

While swiftly advancing on the İzmir - Çeşme highway, suddenly your eyes catch the glimpse of modern windmills embracing the sky with their enormous white arms. Then, you recognize that the ancient and tired windmil stonemasonry buildings and bare wooden arms recall you to the land of the winds. When you smell the saline and calm scent of the sea in addition to all these, then you are in Alaçatı. There are two formidable options popping up and facing you in Alaçatı. You will either participate to the game of the colorful windsurfers running over the deep blue waters or you will enter into the multicolored streets reflecting the Anatolian culture, under the shadow of the weary windmills. But probably the sun rising above you will decide instead of you. You can instantly find yourself on the road leading to the small yacht port and Alaçatı bay.

Alaçatı bat is one of the numerous bays located on the Aegean shoreline, but two significant features of the bay makes it the haven of windsurfers; one of which is everlasting wind while the other is the depth not exceeding one and a half meters up to 60 - 80 meters away from the shore. Piri Reis, the famous Turkish mariner distinguished with his maps and qualification as a captain mentioned Alaçatı bay in his famous book "Kitab-ı Bahriye" (Book of the Sea) as "The sea is silent at Alacatı harbor" and intended to say that the bay has no waves. This means that, despite all the winds; the height of the waves within the bay doesn't rise too much to disturb the windsurfers.

During the summertime, the wind blows in Alaçatı from North with 15 - 25 knots. It is possibleto encounter windsurfers from 72 nations all around the world during the windy season starting on May and ending on October. There are some devotees coming with their caravans or tents and spending all season here, in Alaçatı, as well as others only coming by during competitions. The surf schools on the shore and the hotels and boarding houses both at the bay and in Alaçatı accommodate and host the fans of the sea and wind. The depth of Alaçatı bay not exceeding one and a half meters constitutes a good training ground for beginner windsurfers. The bay is a popular surfing center for both the masters and the rookies due to this feature. Here, you can see a master youngster training his girlfriend or sister for windsurfing. The shallow waters support and encourage the rookies while the sea breeze plays with the masters. Hosting numerous National and International competitions, the bay is also a good praetice range. Bora Kozanoğlu, champion of Turkey for 1998-1999 is one of the inhabitants of Alaçatı. You can watch him anytime playing with the sea and the wind or teaching things to newbie.

As the sea and the wind of Alaçatı, its narrow streets are also full of surprises. Two floor stonemasonry houses lining amongst the streets of rough cobblestone pavements bearing the maturity of long and formidable years... Genial faces of all ages looking around from their windows and juts. You witness the cultural riches of the region at the streets, mosque, antique shop, etc. of Alaçatı. Of course, the cultural riches arise from interesting history of Alaçatı. Çeşme region was the gate to the foreign trade of Ottoman Empire until XVI. century. The merehants from Genoa settling in the Sakız island abandons the region in 1566 upon conquest of the island by Ottoman Empire and Çeşme region indulges its commercial attraction to İzmir. Greek of Turkish citizenship from surrounding islands were brought to the region during 1850s in order to be employed for desiccation of the swamp to the south of Alaçatı and for working at the harbor. The Greek of Turkish citizenship from surrounding islands contribute to the construction of Alaçatı and settle here and start to engage with viniculture. Then, the immigrants from Yugoslavia and Macedonia settles in Alaçatı, but the raging war drags them into the depths of Anatolia. These immigrants retum after the War of Liberation together with immigrants from Thessalonica, Crete and Istanköy, whom bestow tobacco to the region.

It is possible to trace the signs of this historical ebb and tide in Alaçatı. The mosque in the market, the jutted stonemasonry houses, windmills are all witnesses to this mandatory cultural movement. The history of the region made it to become the land of lost dreams and sprouting hopes. Today, aniseed, olive, onion and artichoke are cultivated on the soil of Alaçatı adequate for agriculture. Furthermore, the tourism is another ascending aspect in the region and the population which is eightthousand during wintertime increases up to fifty thousand during summertime. Each year, Municipality of Alaçatı organizes International Festival of Youth and Children Theaters. Alaçatı is generous towards the persons with desire to enjoy the wind and the sea as well as the persons wishing to get acquainted with Anatolia. You'll enjoy meeting with him...