Levantine mansions of İzmir

The families who owned them, the notable visitors they hosted in these houses, their testimonial destinies through the historic events of the city, make them an important part of İzmir's common heritage.

Although the term "Levant" was used more frequently, as an imprecise geographical notion, in reference to the region considered to be starting from the easternmost shores of the Mediterranean Sea, roughly covering present-day Syria, the historic community generally known under the denomination of the "Levantines" gained prominence principally in Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon.

And although they usually shunned the term, it could be applied to settlers of British or American background as well, in function of their adoption of the elusive Levantine culture and lifestyle or integration into the local economy and social life.

Practically extinguished in the course of the political upheavals that shook Egypt and Lebanon in the 20th century, Levantine background and culture remains the most vivacious in Turkey, where it is considered one of the inherent elements of the overall social tissue.

The residences these new settlers built at that time, and most of which have come to our day and saw restoration, carry the prestigious names of former owners as Whittall, Maltass, Peterson, Giraud, Edwards, Belhomme, Pandespanian.

Pandespanian mansion is managed by the same university as a restaurant-café, while the more discreet residences of Steinbuchel and Giraud played important roles in Turkey's power spheres.

A persisting rumor attributes the unusual curve traced in Buca by the İzmir-Aydın railway, completed in 1866 and crossing right in front of mansions, to the influence of the Forbes family, who would have wanted it closer to their residence for easier rides.