One of the first places to visit during Alaçatı trips is the magnificent Çeşme Castle, which has become the symbol of Çeşme, to which the town is affiliated. Built in 1508 during the reign of Beyazıt II, in a position overlooking the sea, Çeşme Castle is an architectural masterpiece that has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Temporary List.
Alaçatı is famous for its beautiful stone houses lined up on its narrow streets. The vast majority of the stone houses, which have become the symbol of both Çeşme and Alaçatı, were meticulously built by Greek masters. The two-story Alaçatı stone houses, built with stone and wood materials specific to the region, are among the places frequently visited by local and foreign tourists to take photos.
The touristic town of Şifne, neighboring Alaçatı, attracts thousands of people every year with its clean beach, thermal hotels and hot springs. Şifne, the health center of Çeşme, is known to be good for dozens of ailments and is rich in minerals, so you can both relieve the tiredness of your trip and find healing for your ailments in its waters.
The first place you should visit to have a pleasant trip and find dozens of local products is the famous Alaçatı Market, which is set up in the town center every Saturday. You can buy many products from colorful handmade jewelry to local textiles, Alaçatı-themed souvenirs to organic foods and Aegean herbs at the Alaçatı Market, and hand-woven rugs are especially popular with foreign tourists.
In addition to its centuries-old stone houses and windsurfing schools, another important symbol of Alaçatı is its historical windmills with stone architecture. The cute windmills, which have become the symbol of Alaçatı and are visited by local and foreign tourists to take photos, were built in the mid-1800s and adorn postcards with the fascinating sunrise and sunset views they offer from their location.
Many priceless historical treasures from the Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods were found in the Ancient City of Erythrai, one of the 12 major Ionian cities established in the Aegean region and where archaeological excavations have been carried out since the 1960s. One of the permanent addresses of guided nature tours organized in Alaçatı in the spring and summer months, the Ancient City of Erythrai is among the places worth seeing with its historical treasures lying within the borders of Ildırı Village in Çeşme.
Çeşme Museum, which houses priceless artifacts inside Çeşme Castle, the symbol of Çeşme and one of its oldest structures, is the first place you should visit to see the historical and cultural richness of Çeşme, which has a history spanning thousands of years. Many historical artifacts from the Genoese to the Ottoman period are lined up in the stone rooms of the magnificent Çeşme Castle.
Pazaryeri Mosque, which started service with the conversion of the Ayios Konstantinos Church, which was built as an Orthodox Greek Church in 1874, into a mosque in the 1900s, attracts the attention of both local and foreign tourists as a mosque with classical church architecture.
Another impressive Greek structure you can visit in Çeşme, where Greeks and Turks lived together until the population exchange, is the Aya Haralambos Church, built in 1832. The historical church, which was restored to its original state in 2012 and turned into a culture and art center, is frequently visited, especially by foreign tourists, with its stone exterior architecture and impressive interior decorations meticulously designed by Greek masters.
