OLIVE ROAD

Balıklıova-Çatalkaya-Mordoğan

Distance: 26 km

Starting point elevation: 3 m

Highest point: 16 m

Difficulty level: 1
 
Transportation to the beginning of the course: In order to reach Balıklıova, which is 69 km away from Konak, take the Karaburun exit on the İzmir-Çeşme highway. Turn right from the IYTE roundabout, towards Gülbahçe. You can get to Balıklıova by following the roundabout.
 
If you prefer to get there by public transportation, you can take the metro or the public bus to the Fahrettin Altay (Üçkuyular) bus terminal. You can get the minibus to Balıklıova or the public bus of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality numbered 735.
 
Details of the course: There are four abandoned plants in Balıklıova as well as the ruins of a Byzantine plant. The roof of the Balıklıova rendering plant is destroyed but two of the olive pressing stones and basins are in good condition. The stones that you will see in the garden are the ones that had once been used at the plantation. In the other three plants, you can only see broken basins and mortars.
 
There are also Byzantine ceramics around the Byzantine plant. The floor tiles that are assumed to be made with local stones and the press stone of the ancient plantation are well preserved. It is believed to have worked with a single stone system and rotated by donkeys.
 
You will see a structure consisting of both an olive oil plant and a mill at the 6th km of the old Karaburun road going from Balıklıova. It is not so easy to get to the building due to the shape and incline of the land. Today, only four walls of the structure which was once used as a store by the locals remain.
 
As you proceed to Karaburun, you will see the Çatalkaya sign at the 8th km. There is an inscription over the minaret of the mosque at the Çatalkaya village center, dating back to 1314. There is a plant in the village which used to function with a four stone system and was shut down in the 1980s. You can see the press and lifting jack components in the plant. After your visit to the plant, you can go right at the Ortadoğulular Complex and proceed ahead.
 
You can visit the Tariş Olive Oil Plant of the Peninsula in the Karaburun direction. The village cooperative handed the factory building over to Tariş which, until 1995, had worked with the stone press system.
 
In 3 km, towards Karaburun, there is the Dilek spring (Narcissos) and the Ayşe Kadın Mosque.  As soon as you take the turn towards the old Mordoğan village, you will see the Morköy Olive Pressing Plant that was active until 2010. There are two old olive trees in its garden; one of which is assumed to be 1500-2000 and the other one more than 1000 years old.
 
Along the road, you can see many old olive trees whose ages vary between 300 and 2000. In 2 km you will arrive to the Ayşe Kadın mosque dating back to the 14th century. There is an old basin in its yard which was formerly used as a mill stone. You can see the remains of a rendering plant at the village center of old Mordoğan, consisting of only the floor tiles and the press stone.
 
There are many fountains along the course as well as accomodation and shopping alternatives. 

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