Güzelçamlı, Turkey

History

The history of Güzelçamlı dates as far back as 700 BC. In the Ionian era, the locality was the convention center of the Ionian city states and was named Panionium. The Ionians had formed a federation consisting of 12 Ionian cities and also held games here to mark their gatherings. During excavations in 1957 and 1958 an antique theater was uncovered, which had 12 rows of seats carved out of rock. Many famous battles were fought in this area, including the Battle of Mycale between the Greek and Persian forces.

During the Ottoman period, the town was often called Rumçamlısı (Greek Çamlı) or Tsagli (Τσαγκλι) and was entirely populated by Greeks. In the last phase of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) (on 7 September 1922), with the Turkish army approaching, the town population had fled by boats and took refuge in the nearby island of Samos , after which the town had remained empty for about two years. In 1924, it has been re-populated by Turks from Leftere, near Kavala, under the scope of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The settlement's name was changed to Güzelçamlı, and after having had the status of a village for seventy years, Güzelçamlı was declared a township with its own municipality in 1992.

From the History section of Güzelçamlı on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.