Kuşadası, Turkey

Kuşadası is a town of roughly 120,000 residents on Turkey's Aegean coast, about 95 kilometers south of İzmir. Its name translates to "Bird Island," taken from a small islet now joined to the mainland by a causeway. On that islet stands a fortress built in 1613 by the Venetians and Byzantines, while inland the 1635 Öküz Mehmed Pasha caravanserai served as a fortified inn for Ottoman merchants. The town functions as the main port of access to the UNESCO-listed ruins of Ephesus, founded in the 10th century BC and located 19 kilometers east, where the Library of Celsus has stood since 117 AD.