Map - Özdere

Özdere is a small Turkish coastal settlement and resort town in the Menderes district of İzmir Province, along the Aegean Sea coast. It has a permanent population of around 15,000 people, which can rise to nearly 100,000 during the summer as a result of its popularity amongst tourists.

It is located approximately 40 km northwest of the nearby resort town of Kuşadası, 45 km south of Menderes, the district seat, and 65 km to the south of İzmir, the provincial seat. The town is situated in close proximity to numerous historical sites and is accessible via the Kuşadası-Selçuk-Seferihisar-Urla provincial road.

The area was settled and cultivated long before Turkish administration of the area, which is reflected in the several historical names the town once bore. During the Ottoman period the town was known as Kesri. In the 1960s, the village underwent a considerable increase in density and population and started to be generally referred to by its current name, Özdere. On June 3, 1979, a municipality was established in Menderes district under this name, with the official borders of the town being drawn. It is currently unincorporated as a result of the municipality's dissolution in 2008.

With a temperate climate and favorable location, the town is a local center of tourism, which its economy is primarily and steadfastly centered upon. The customs and culture revolve around the behaviors of local business owners, the attire of residents, and its cuisine. Although several pharmacies and doctors practice in the area, as of 2015 the town no longer has an independent municipal health department (sağlık ocağı), and such affairs are operated and administered by the district. Numerous schools are located within or near the town and its vicinity.

The ease of access to the town makes the administration of several shuttle buses and share taxis by the province and from central İzmir to Özdere and its beaches possible. Dolmuş and coach buses also operate from the İzmir bus station and from other nearby towns such as Kuşadası and Seferihisar. The town can be reached from the İzmir Adnan Menderes International Airport, where rental car services and taxis can be used to the reach the town center, its neighborhoods, and nearby areas. Ferry and yacht services can be found at several harbors within and near town.

The areas surrounding the Gulf of İzmir and Karaburun Peninsula have been settled since prehistoric times, with the earliest settlements near Özdere dating to 5,000 BC. During the peak of the Bronze Age, during around the 2nd millennium BC, the nearby lands were referred to as Kasura by resident Hittite clans, evidenced by the findings of ancient Arzawan structures and engravings atop the mountains of the peninsula. After Ionian settlers and surveyors arrived in the area, numerous cities were built and several temples and sites of worship erected within the vicinity of Özdere, which they named Dios Hieron. Nearby Ionian sites include the sanctuaries and cities of Claros, Notion, Teos, Lebedos, Colophon and Myonnessos. In Myonnessos it is possible unearthed ancient coins were minted with the inscriptions MY, although it is more likely that this occurred in Myus, also in Ionia but much farther south. During this period, the historian Herodotus is also said to have visited the city on his travels across Asian Ionia and Anatolia.

The coastal settlement of Dios Hieron thrived through the era of Hellenistic and Roman conquests of western Anatolia. Previously overshadowed by nearby cities, Dios Hieron increased in population and status. The city was situated along an important trade route from Ephesus, passing through Claros until the route reached Teos. In Ionian times, the trade route was even more significant, as their Ancient Olympic Games were hosted in Teos and provided access to the games via the route through the plains of the fertile Aegean Region. During the late 1st millennium BC and the early 1st millennium CE some of the most commonly used measurements of distance between the ancient sites of Ionia were made by the geographer Strabo, measuring approximately 120 stadia between Colophon and Lebedus and 70 between Colophon and Ephesus. The first evidence of Turkish settlements in the area date to the 14th and 15th centuries. Subsequently, after the compromised Byzantine Empire lost many of its former territories to the Seljuk Turks, the fall of the Sultanate of Rum led to the partitioning of Asia Minor into small, loosely associated Anatolian beyliks, or principalities. One of these beyliks was the Principality of Aydın, which at the time reigned over a large, southern portion of modern-day Izmir Province and the entire Karaburun Peninsula, as well as the lands of the future province of its namesake. The region which Özdere is located in today was discovered and settled in 1329 by the Aydinid and future Emir (Prince) of Aydın Umur Bey, and at the time was named the village of İpsili. Doğan Bey, who also aided in the expedition, is the namesake of the current town, just west of Özdere today. During the annexation of the principality by the growing Ottoman Empire, which was once a beylik in itself, the areas surrounding İpsili were expanded, and as a result, the village of Kesri, sometimes referred to as Kesre, was constructed and founded. The village continued to grow and remained under the same name until the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, when the influence of modern Turkish led to it being renamed Özdere. This period was characterised by a large scale urbanization effort with a significant population increase, which in turn prompted the district of Menderes to establish the municipality of Özdere within itself.