Mount Yamanlar ( tr, Yamanlar Dağı) is a mountain in

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 ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, located within the boundaries of the Greater Metropolitan Area of the city. Easily accessible from Izmir, Yamanlar is a popular excursion spot for the inhabitants of the city. It is served by a steep, well maintained road. A

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

of the same name as the mountain (''Yamanlar'') is found on its slopes, on the road to the summit. The village administratively depends on İzmir's metropolitan district of Karşıyaka and is at a distance of from Karşıyaka center. The summit commands an expansive view of the Gulf of İzmir from the northeast and there are amenities such as bungalows for visitors. A

crater lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fill ...

called "Karagöl" (meaning ''"Black Lake"'' in Turkish) is located near the summit, and is usually associated with the accounts surrounding

Tantalus Tantalus ( grc, Τάνταλος ) was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his punishment in Tartarus: he was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the wate ...

, the region's first known ruler. Because of this the lake's name is sometimes also called by his name.

Mountain

The mountain is an extinct

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

. Although it is geologically separate from the neighboring mass of

Mount Sipylus Mount Spil ( tr, Spil Dağı), the ancient Mount Sipylus ( grc, Σίπυλος) (elevation ), is a mountain rich in legends and history in Manisa Province, Turkey, in what used to be the heartland of the Lydians and what is now Turkey's Aegean R ...

(''Spil Dağı''), their flora, fauna and history have very much in common, and the two mountains have sometimes been viewed as extensions of each other.

Etymology

The name "Yamanlar" literally translates to ''"the capable ones"'', although the adjective ''"yaman"'' also has a number of negative connotations. The name is likely derived from the name of a monastery built in the beginning of the 13th century by

John III Doukas Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...

. The monastery must have been named "Amanariotissa" or "Mary of Amanara", and was founded on the western slopes or foothills facing

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

of the

Mount Nif Mount Nif, tr, Nif Dağı, (elevation: ) is a mountain in the district of Kemalpaşa, towering over the district center (''formerly also called Nif''), located immediately to the east of the city of İzmir, in western Turkey. It was one of th ...

, which itself was one of the mountains called Olympus in ancient times, hence the name of the principal monastery, ''Lembos''. An impression about the status of the village in Mount Yamanlar, then called "Genikon" or "Jenikou" is created by a document of the 13th century written by the inhabitants by which they donated to the monastery of Lembos another monastery, that of Amanariotissa, which was located within their territory. MountYamanlar WildHorses IzmirTurkey

On the other hand, Amanara, the root name referred to in the word Amanariotissa, being non-

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, conjectural attempts have been made to explain the structure of the word through syncope, with the end corresponding to the

Luwian language Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya'' (also spelled ''Luwia'' or ''Luvia'') � ...

adjective ''"ura" (big)'', and the first part attachable to the deity name Amun or to proper nouns such as Amana and Amanus Mountains inter alia, transmitted here either through a Luwian connection once again or through the cult of Ammon well known to have been introduced into

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

at an early period or by the same token that led to the appellation of the ancient city of Larissa, within eyesight from the northern flank of the mountain, as " Egyptian Larissa", or to an interaction of these possibilities.

History

Mount Yamanlar was the location of the first recorded settlement which controlled the Gulf of İzmir circa 1440 BC, founded by

and possibly named " Naulochon", deriving its wealth from the mines of the region. On the steep southeastern slopes of the mountain, there is a "Tomb of Tantalus" dating from this very early period in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

n history. This tomb was explored by Charles Texier in 1835, while other schools place Tantalus's tomb, as well as the lake associated with his story, to other localities found on Mount Sipylus. The first location of

(''Old Smyrna'') was also at the foot of Mount Yamanlar on what was at the time a small peninsula.

Recent past

The same Bayraklı slopes was also where landslides caused by

flash floods A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ...

that had occurred on 3–4 November 1995 had claimed at least 61 lives in the slum-type residences that had mushroomed at the time in the area, and had caused material damage exceeding 50 million US Dollars. Incidents of a similar nature occurred also in autumn 2001 adding five more casualties to İzmir's toll of disaster victims. A better planned and managed urbanization along the silted slopes of the mountain, by preserving its historic heritage at the same time, is an ongoing concern for the city as a whole.

Footnotes

Resources

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamanlar İzmir Mountains of Turkey Volcanic crater lakes Landforms of İzmir Province