The Mediterranean port of Izmir was once Turkey’s most cosmopolitan destination. While it lost its crown in the 1920s, it’s still full of historical charm and its fortunes are rising once again.

When I found out that I’d be traveling to Izmir, Turkey, I didn’t quite know what to expect. Fellow travelers had often regaled me with tales of the beauty and vibrancy of Istanbul, or the ...

Most visitors to the spectacular ruins of Ephesus fly into Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city—and hightail it out of town as fast as possible. Shame on them. And on me.

For much of its history, Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, was arguably the center of the world. Halfway down the Aegean coast, Smyrna, as Asia Minor ancients called it, was where East met ...