Çandarlı Kalesi stands in the town of Çandarlı, on the coast in the Dikili district of İzmir, 120 kilometres north of the city. The provincial governorate records one thing about it: that Çandarlı Halil Paşa, the celebrated grand vizier of Murad II, had it rebuilt — so the castle is older than the name it now carries.
Çandarlı is worth the detour on its own account, and the area around it holds more than the castle: the finds from the ancient settlement of Pitane, which stood here, are displayed at the Bergama Archaeological Museum, and the district has clean beaches, thermal springs, crater lakes and caves at the villages of Merdivenli and Deniz, and forest running down to the Madra stream.
When to go
- Climate
- Across İzmir as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 8.9 °C in January to 28 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in April, May, September and October; rainfall is heaviest in December (146 mm) and lightest in July (4 mm). Long-term means for 1938-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
