Manisa

Kemer Village

Kemer Village has the potential of being one of the most significant tourism centres of Salihli in terms of its historical background, its well-preserved settlement fabric and domestic architecture. It is an important rural settlement being prominent with its commercial aspect in the past. The village, which was a significant area for bonito and animal trade in the past, lost substantially the appearance of a traditional town. Saddle-making, shoe-making, forging, blacksmith, veterinary, hairdressing; dressmaking, grocery and drapery were among the trade and manufacturing activities which have been maintained for a long time in the village. The most important agricultural products of the village are sesame oil and halva. The most important evidence of the trade activities of the village is the warehouses where the tunny fish brought from the surrounding villages are stored and the fruit and vegetable depots. The architecture of the village still looks like a town.  An ancient trade road existed between Kemer Village and the plain, traces of which can be seen today. To the North of the village, there are the ruins of a castle and there are ceramic remains that are thought to belong to an ancient settlement named Nardi/Nardis. The ancient marble remains with Greek inscriptions in Kemer Village lend support to this identification.

Gökeyüp Pottery

The Kula and Salihli districts have a long history of ceramic production. The majority of the area's archaeological discoveries date to the Roman era, while there are also artifacts from the Hellenistic and prehistoric periods. Several of these discovered artifacts are made of clay. These artifacts indicate that the pottery methods in the region at the time were well developed.

One of the significant sites in Anatolia where pottery has been created for generations is Gökeyüp Village. More than 100 homes in Gökeyüp continue a centuries-old tradition of creating pottery. The continued usage of antiquated methods for creating pottery and humans is highly noteworthy. The fact that traditional methods of manufacturing pottery are still used in Gökeyüp Village and that people still use their hands to create pottery is highly significant. Clayed soil and mica schist are used in Gökeyüp Village to create pottery. First, the mica-schist is broken up with a knob to create powder, and only then is it combined with clayey soil. After that, mud is created from the combined components. A traditional wood fire is used to burn the wet pottery after it has been formed from mud using traditional methods on hand spun potter’s wheels. Clayed soil is referred to as "gummy soil" and mica schist is referred to as "Mengele" in the village.