Aliağa is a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The town is situated at about north of Izmir. Aliağa has a large
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
, mainly for
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
and
bulk cargo
Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities.
Description
Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude o ...
. Its economic activity is based on tourism, shipbreaking, and an
oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...
.
Overview and history
Aliağa lies in the heart of ancient Aeolia. The town was named after a member of the influential Karaosmanoğullarıayan family, Karaosmanoğlu Ali Ağa, who owned an estate here. It was a township in Menemen district in 1937 and became a municipality in 1952. It finally separated from Menemen and became a district on 21 January 1982.
The remains of the ancient city of Myrina are within the boundaries of the district, located at about fifteen km north of Aliağa centre. Another ancient site is the yet unexplored
Gryneion
Gryneium or Gryneion ( grc, Γρύνειον), also Grynium or Grynion (Γρύνιον), Grynia or Gryneia (Γρύνεια) and Grynoi (Γρῦνοι), was a city of ancient Aeolis. It was located 40 stadia from Myrina and 70 from Elaea. In ea ...
, near Şakran township on the peninsula, to the south of the center town, also at a distance of . Visitors also often use the road from Aliağa to visit the remains of Aigai in Yuntdağı in
Manisa Province
Manisa Province ( tr, ) is a province in western Turkey. Its neighboring provinces are İzmir to the west, Aydın to the south, Denizli to the southeast, Uşak to the east, Kütahya to the northeast, and Balıkesir to the north. The city of Ma ...
.
In 2021, a monastery and floor mosaic have been found during an illegal excavation. Archaeologists believe that the monastery was used in the 4th century to the 14th century.
Economy and geography
The D.550 roadway runs through the city, between Muğla-
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...
and also to
İzmir
İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...
. Aliağa is also connected to İzmir by İZBAN, a commuter railway operating around İzmir. İZBAN operates 15 daily trains from Aliağa Railway Station to
Alsancak Terminal
Alsancak railway station ( tr, Alsancak garı) is one of the two main railway terminals in İzmir and is the second-oldest railway station in Turkey, after Kemer, being completed in 1858.ESHOT operates the 740 bus line to İzmir as well.
Ship-breaking
There are several facilities for dismantling and scrapping ships.
The 2020
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
sped up the process of ship recycling because owners of idled cruise ships looked to stem the
red ink
Rubrication is the addition of text in red ink to a manuscript for emphasis. Practitioners of rubrication, so-called ''rubricators'' or ''rubrishers'', were specialized scribes who received text from the original scribe. Rubrication was one of s ...
Petkim
Petkim Petrokimya Holding A.Ş. is the leading petrochemical company of Turkey. Founded on April 3, 1965, the main plant complex is located in Yarımca, Izmit. From 1985 on a second complex has been constructed in Aliağa, İzmir.
Specializin ...
Gryneion
Gryneium or Gryneion ( grc, Γρύνειον), also Grynium or Grynion (Γρύνιον), Grynia or Gryneia (Γρύνεια) and Grynoi (Γρῦνοι), was a city of ancient Aeolis. It was located 40 stadia from Myrina and 70 from Elaea. In ea ...