Smyrna

smer'na, the chief commercial city of Asia Minor. It is situated at the head of the gulf of that name forty-five miles from the Mediterranean. Ancient Smyrna is not without importance in the history of Greece and Rome. The church at Smyrna was a favorite with the apostle St. John and played its part nobly in the sufferings and martyrdoms of the early Christians. The modern city has a population of about 200,000, half Greek. It is located in a beautiful amphitheater of green hills, but the city itself except for a broad quay and brilliant bazaars is unattractive. The streets are crooked and dirty. Franks, Armenians, Turks, and Greeks live in separate quarters. The merchants of Smyrna purchase large quantities of cotton and woolen goods, coffee, sugar, iron, coal, hardware, lumber, glass, butter, petroleum, and leather, which they sell locally or distribute by means of railroads and the numerous caravan routes which radiate from the city. Smyrna is the fig city of the world. In 1909 110,000 camel loads or 49,500,000 pounds of figs were marketed here. The chief articles of merchandise produced in this region for export are olive oil, licorice, barley, tobacco, gum arabic, opium, sesame, raisins, figs, cotton, and wool. The carpets and rugs of Smyrna are noted. With the dawn of better days, Smyrna is on the way to rank as a city of world-wide commercial importance. See Figs