KOCAELI CITY GUIDE

Kocaeli is the city that takes place on the highway and railroad connecting Istanbul to Anatolia. The name of the city was Nicomedeia in the times of Roman Empire. Today it is a very industrial center for Turkey. The Saatçi Ali Efendi Mansion in the city, which is a very interesting example of 18th century Ottoman Civil Architecture, had been restorated and now being used as Ethnography Museum.

Pişmaniye" which is the local dessert of kocaeli is made by giving the sugar the shape of fibre. Hereke, which is a district at the east side of Kocaeli is a very important carpet production center. The carpets of Hereke are very famous all around the world for their beauty and high quality. These carpets are the most expensive carpets of the Istanbul Carpet Markets. Kerpe, Kefken and Kovanağzı, at the north of Kocaeli near Black Sea, are places that ecstatic places with their sores and small and comfortable hotels.

Sites of Interest

Kuzuyayla and Fındıklıtepe forest recreation areas, Bayramoğlu, Karamürsel, Kefken and Kerpe coasts, Ballıkayalar, Eskihisar Castle, Hannibal's Grave, Pertev Mehmed Pasha and Çoban Mustafa Pasha mosque complexes, Orhan Gazi, Mehmed Bey (Fevziye) and İmaret mosques, Sultan Süleyman Bridge, Yalı and Mehmed Bey baths and Yenihamam and Küçükhamam, Canfeda Kethüda Kadın and Mısıroğlu fountains, Sultan's mansion, İzmit Watch Tower, İzmit, Yarımca and Osman Hamdi Bey Museums.