Varyant is the more widely known name for the United Nations Avenue (), an avenue in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

that is well known for its winding route and vista of the city. The road connects Halil Rıfat Paşa Avenue in central Konak to İnönü Avenue in

Eşrefpaşa Eşrefpaşa is a popular and rooted neighborhood of İzmir within the metropolitan district of Konak (District), İzmir, Konak. It does not have an official status and delimitation and exists rather as a notion. Eşrefpaşa encompasses up to twenty ...

. The avenue was originally built as a two-way street, but the northern half was converted to a one way street, when Halil Rıfat Paşa Avenue was extended down to Bahribaba in Konak. Traffic heading up the hill use Varyant, while traffic heading down use Halil Rıfat Paşa Avenue. At the midpoint of the route, United Nations Avenue becomes a two-way street until its southern end at İnönü Avenue.

Overview

Construction of Varyant began on 1 December 1950. The route was originally built on several viaducts to help traverse the steep terrain. The land under these viaducts have since been filled up, leaving only the concrete barriers in place. A section of one viaduct, at the intersection with Halil Rıfat Paşa Avenue, can still be seen from Konak. The road was originally named ''Vali Rahmi Bey Avenue'' but was soon changed to ''United Nations Avenue'', in honor of the newly formed world organization. The section of road to Halil Rıfat Paşa Avenue was opened on 25 March 1952. The section of road to İnönü Avenue was opened within the next year or two; the exact date is not clear. The route was built with a 7° incline, a total width of and consists of six sharp curves. The total length of United Nations Avenue is and the difference in elevation is . The route begins in central Konak, splitting off from Halil Rıfat Paşa Avenue, near the western portal of the

Konak Tunnel Konak Tunnel () is a road tunnel in Konak district of in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was opened to traffic in 2015. The tunnel is situated in Konak, İzmir connecting the Mustafa Kemal Coastal Boulevard in Konak with Yeşildere Street in Yeş ...

. This section is of the route is for southbound (uphill) traffic only, as Halil Rıfat Paşa Avenue runs parallel for northbound (downhill) traffic. United Nations Avenue winds around the

İzmir Ethnography Museum The İzmir Ethnography Museum () is an ethnography museum in İzmir, Turkey. It contains a number of pieces of clothing and pottery from the Seljuq Empire, Seljuk period of Turkish history onwards. Admission to the museum is free. The building ...

until reaching its halfway point on the last visible viaduct at a height of above sea-level. Halil Rıfat Paşa Avenue intersects with United Nations Avenue and continues west to Halil Rıfat Paşa. South of the intersection, Varyant becomes a two-way avenue and continues south to İnönü Avenue. The route winds around two more sharp curves until reaching İnönü Avenue at the Bayramyeri intersection.

ESHOT Elektrik Su Havagazı Otobüs Troleybüs () or ESHOT is a bus service operating in the İzmir. ESHOT, along with İZULAŞ are the two main bus transit services in İzmir. Buses serve all districts, however, denser network presence attained in the ...

city buses use Varyant for bus routes from Konak to

Buca Buca (, ) is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 178 km2, and its population is 522,404 (2022). It is the biggest district of İzmir Province as terms of population. It covers the southeastern part of the agglom ...

and

Karabağlar Karabağlar () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 89 km2, and its population is 479,338 (2022). It is the second biggest district of İzmir Province as terms of population. It covers the south-central part ...

Articulated buses An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a singl ...

are too big for the sharp curves, thus mainly

midibus A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long. While used in many parts of the world, the mi ...

es and some

single-deck bus A single-decker bus or rigid is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essent ...

es run along United Nations Avenue.

References

{{İzmir Konak District Streets in İzmir