Yesilyurt (Buyuk Cetmi) Village where Manici Kasri is located, is at the foot of Mount Ida.

Mount Ida (or Kaz Dagi in Turkish, 1767m./5797 ft.), in the north west of Turkey, is an imposing land mass to the north of the Gulf of Edremit providing a fine view of the Marmara and Aegean seas. On this natural wonder which dips from east to west into the Aegean Sea lie several ancient ruins and cities.

History's first beauty contest was held there. According to Greek mythology the gods watched the battle of Troy from there. The goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, also fell in love there. Visiting Manici Kasri will introduce you to the beauty of nature, festivals, rich cultural mosaic, and the pleasant Turcomen people of Mount Ida (Kaz Dagi).

With its unparalleled scientific and scenic wealth, Mountain Ida was granted National Park status in 1993. Deep canyons and unnamed waterfalls compliment the wild beauty of Mount Ida.

Mount Ida (Kaz Dagi) is featured in Homer's Ilyad as well as in the works of Azra Erhat and famous Turkish writer Halikarnas Balikcisi (Fisherman of Halicarnassus - Mr. Cevat Sakir Kabaagacli). It is the birthplace of Zeus, father of the gods, who is placed under the protection of mountain nymphs by his mother Rhea to avoid being eaten by his father Cronos. This is the reason for Zeus' love of the mountain and its being his chosen vantage spot for watching the battle of Troy.

According to the mythology, Priam, wise king of Troy, obeys an oracle and leaves his son Paris on Mount Ida (Kaz Dagi) to be devoured by wolves and birds. Paris is found and reared by a bear and spends the most wonderfulyears of his life on the mountain of springs and waterfalls in the arms of the water nymph Oinone. Paris judges the world's first beauty contest in favor of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty who falls in love on Kazdagi with the shepherd, Ankhises, and gives birth to Eneas, one of the greatest heroes of the Trojan war.

Every year in the third week of August, visitors flock to Sarikiz (Golden Maiden) Tomb on the Sarikiz peak of Mount Ida. All the Turcomen visitors to this open tomb light candles, write in the tomb's note book or collect small stones around the tomb to make a wish.

You can listen a variety of stories about Sarikiz (the golden maiden) from the village people. According to the villagers Sarikiz helps those in trouble as when she ran to the sea to bring handfuls of water to the mountain top for her aged parents to drink. If you see a shooting star be aware that this is the arm of Sarikiz reaching into the bay for water. There are different versions of the Sarikiz story ranging from the spiritually symbolic to the surreal, but we recommend you to chat with the villagers by yourself to understand this culturally rich region better.

Visitors to this mountain of legends should not leave without calling at the ethnographic museum in the Turcoman village of Tahtakuslar.

In addition to the mythological wealth of Mount Ida and its environs there are also important archaeological ruins to explore:
Assos in Behramkale, Antandros Gargara and Lamponeia near Altinoluk, the city of Neandreia near Ezine, Alexandria Troas in Odun Iskelesi and the ruins of Skepsis and Gebrene near Bayramic are some of the principal sites of the region.

And a nice detail; Scientists named the first asteroid which was explored that had a satellite as IDA for the sake of that mythological mountain. The picture on the left was taken by the space craft Galileo in 1992.