Yeşilova Mound

About Yeşilova Mound

Yeşilova Mound is an archaeological settlement in Bornova, İzmir, where evidence of human occupation reaches back about 8,500 years, to around 6500 BCE. Its distinctive value is the long sequence preserved in one mound: the site records occupation from the Neolithic period through the Bronze Age and into the Roman period. The visitor centre connects this layered ground with interpretation from the excavation team. Yeşilova is therefore experienced as a changing settlement landscape, where different communities left traces of their lives, rather than simply as a collection of objects in a conventional museum.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

What's inside

The visitor-centre programme combines exhibition rooms, an excavation house, archaeology workshops and a reconstructed Neolithic Village. The exhibition rooms introduce discoveries from Yeşilova Mound, while the excavation house shows how fieldwork and research relate to the evidence on display. Workshops give the visit an active educational dimension. The reconstructed village provides a tangible setting for imagining life during the mound’s earliest occupation. The visitor-centre guide identifies 14 distinct settlement phases, so the experience helps visitors follow change through time instead of seeing Yeşilova as one undifferentiated prehistoric site.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

How long to spend

Allow about 90 minutes to two hours for a first visit to Yeşilova Mound. That range leaves time for the exhibition rooms, excavation house, reconstructed Neolithic Village and any archaeology workshop included in the arranged programme. The exact pace depends on the sequence chosen by the excavation team, the amount of specialist explanation and the size of the group. Visitors who want to read displays closely or ask questions should allow the longer end of the range. Because the experience combines interpretation, discussion and reconstructed spaces, it is not only a quick look at exposed archaeology.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Season and crowds

It does establish that visits are arranged by appointment in groups and include specialist guidance from archaeology members of the excavation team. Plan around a confirmed appointment if you want to see the visitor-centre programme in its organised form. This arrangement is particularly relevant for schools, families and tour groups, because the sequence of explanations, questions and workshops is coordinated for each party. The appointment format also gives the specialists a clear setting in which to explain the excavation.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Tickets

The operator’s visitor-centre information records free admission, so there is no entrance charge to include in the visit budget. The free admission statement belongs with the organised visitor-centre programme: the available information describes group visits by appointment, with guidance from archaeology specialists from the excavation team. Published programmes allow groups of up to 60 people. Independent travellers should therefore treat appointment coordination as the essential arrangement, even though admission itself is free. The recorded admission applies to the operator-described programme and does not establish separate prices for any unrecorded activity.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Getting there

The visitor centre is at Karacaoğlan Mahallesi, 4076 Sokak Sonu, Bornova, İzmir. By public transport, take municipal bus 59 between Bornova Metro and Kemer and get off at the Yeşilova Höyükü stop. By car, follow the İzmir–Aydın motorway towards Bornova, take the Otogar exit and continue by following the Yeşilova Höyüğü signs. The supplied municipal guide provides the bus route, stop and road approach, while the street-end address identifies the visitor-centre destination. Use the centre’s full address when confirming the arranged appointment and navigating within Bornova.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

What to watch out for

The main practical point is that Yeşilova Mound is presented through an organised group programme by appointment, with specialist guidance from the excavation team. Published programmes allow groups of up to 60 people. Do not treat the site as an automatically available walk-in stop when planning a day in Bornova. During the visit, keep the group together for explanations and workshops, follow staff directions around the archaeological setting and allow the arranged sequence to set the pace. The appointment format matters most for school groups and organised tours, but it also affects smaller parties travelling independently.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Photography

Photography at Yeşilova Mound is most meaningful when it records the relationship between interpretation and reconstructed settlement life. The exhibition rooms provide the chronological context, the excavation house shows the research process, and the reconstructed Neolithic Village offers the clearest setting for imagining the earliest phase represented at the site. Follow instructions given by the excavation specialists during the appointment, and keep photography from interrupting explanations, workshops or the group’s movement through the visitor-centre programme.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Where it is

• 1 hr 30 min

  73 min walk · Konak

  İzmir Museum of History and Art

  • High
  • Museum
• 1 hour

  78 min walk · Konak

  Kültürpark

  • Must see
  • Nature site
• 1 hr 30 min

  81 min walk · Konak

  İzmir Atatürk Museum

  • Must see
  • Museum

External links

• View on Wikidata