The Smyrna Quay

The Smyrna Quay presents the buildings of this legendary 3 km-long strip of land on the waterfront of the Ottoman port city of Smyrna as a continuous architectural, topographic and historical ensemble. 

The Quay became an iconic symbol of Smyrna (modern-day Izmir), synonymous with the progress, cosmopolitanism and wealth of its inhabitants, throughout the 47 years period which spanned its existence, from its completion in August 1875 to September 1922. It was then that this glorious sight was lost in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish war (1919-1922), after the recapture of Smyrna by the Kemalist forces and the Great Fire that followed. 

Most of the Quay buildings were destroyed by fire, and many of those that escaped the fire fell prey to the reconstruction of the city. Very little of the original waterfront remains intact.

The authors have used commercial and travel guides, maps and postcards, as well as computer tools, in order to digitally restore the façades of all buildings of the Smyrna Quay to their original appearance. These reconstructed images form the core of this book.



They have studied hundreds of Quay postcards and panoramas, depicting grand mansions, theatres, cafés, consulates, clubs and hotels, as well as the bustling port, administration buildings and agencies. All these showed aspects of the public and private life in an Anatolian city, where the European west wind blew strongly for centuries.  Particular attention is paid to the lives of the inhabitants of the Quay - a dynamic, multi-ethnic society. 

Original research using new techniques shows Smyrna’s Quay as it was. Illustrations include architectural plans and reconstructions as well as photographs and photomosaics. 620 illustrations, 140 drawings. 2-volume set, paperback, slip-cased.   

Volume 1: Residential and Recreational Sections, 396pp; Volume 2: Commercial and Administrative Sections, 356pp. Greek language text.