Soke

                 

Geographical Location and Climate

                  Surface area: 1356km2

                  Altitude: 23m

                  The Population Including its towns and villages is almost 150.000

                  Soke is 50 km far away from Aydın.

                  Neighbour towns of Soke:

             Koçarlı is on the east ,Milas is on the south ,Didim is on southwest ,Kuşadası and Selcuk are on the northwest, Germencik is on the north.

              The west of Soke land is Aegean Sea. Soke is founded on the valley and on the two sides of Soke Stream between Samsun and Silver Mountain and on the plain of Soke Land.

Five Finger Mountain is on the southeast of the town, the north / northwest of the western extension of the Aydın Mountains, Mount Samsun is on the west of the town


               Söke has a typical Mediterranean climate. Summers are hot and dry, winters are mild and rainy. Soke does not almost have rainfall in summer. December, January and February are the rainy months. Rainfall is usually in the form of rain and There is rarely snowfall Characteristic Vegatation of Soke is Mediterranean Vegatation. They are maquais On the highest altitudes of the mountains, There are larch and pine trees, on mountain slopes there are olive trees, on the flat areas there are figs, citrus fruit trees Growing plants grown on the plain of Soke are particularly cotton, wheat, barley, oats, corn, sunflowers.

It’s 10 km. to İzmir-Aydın highway, 54km. to Aydın, 90km. to İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport and 10 km. to İzmir. Besides using the highway you can also use the seaway and railway transportation to İzmir , Aydin and Denizli.

Soke is one of the most important cotton production areas in Turkey. Soke’s economy is based on agriculture and industrial production, providing 70 % annual gross domestic product, based on agricultural production. Soke has a high potential with 59 industrial foundations based on agriculture industry in 9 separate production units, 93 foundations based on agricultural products processing and evaluation , operating in 12 different categories , 15 cooperatives operating in six different subjects.

             In Aydin, total 3,621,296 acres of land identified as suitable agricultural land. It is separated as 1% agricultural treasure land , 0.5% of the empty agricultural treasury land , 0.1% of the land in dispute between the farmers with the treasury, 0% 2 Glebes. 23% of total agricultural land is owned by the town of Soke

              The most prominent agricultural product is cotton in the aspect of cultivated area in terms of size and economic contribution provided by the county agricultural products. Sunflower, wheat, corn and fodder crops are also grown in a visible level in the town.
Olives and olive oil production in the district are extensive. In addition, orange, mandarin, fig and pomegranate are important for fruit production .

 

Industry and Mining

There are 144 workplaces in Gaye Small Industrial Estate and There are 360 workplaces in Soke Small Industrial Estate.


        Basement rocks of the Massif schist is represented by marble and serpentinites. The most important structural factor affecting the region is the Menderes graben.

 

Aydin-Soke-Sazlıköy geothermal area:

The outcropping sources around Sazlı ,which is on the east of Soke , are indicated with the name of the region as . Discharge of water resources is very high. Sazlıköy irrigation water as irrigation water produced from groundwater. Source temperature is 27 º C.

TOURISM:


Ilyas Aga Mosque (Grand , Bazaar Mosque):


It is in the centre of Soke, The construction date is unclear. It was demaged in 1821 and reconstructed by Aga of Soke İlyaszade Ilyas Aga. It is Square shaped in Baraque style , domed, and has the last community local, a single minaret.


Haci Ziya Bey Mosque (Ihlasiye Mosque)


It is in the centre of Soke. New Mosque. It was built by Haci Ziya Bey built in 1895. It has eclectic style structure.


Stone Bridge:

It was built by Ramadan Pasha in 16the Centry on Meander river

Azap Lake :
  It is near Sarıkemer.There is a natural living environment of aquatic birds in the lake, There are some ancient structures around it. There is no protection status of the lake.


Bafa Lake

Lake Bafa, located between the cities of Aydın and Muğla- is a  lagoonal lake of which the size is 6400 hm and the eastwest width is about 15.3 km and the north-south width is about 4.5 km. The region around the lake is 50 km and its altitude is 10 m and it is 17 kilometers away from the sea. The remaining portion of Aydin 26 km ². There are some historical artifacts in the lake.

Latmos bay was the city's harbor of Heraklia in BC 4 and lost its connection with Aegean sea because of alluvial deposits brought by the Great Menderes River and the Aegean sea . and become the largest lake in salt of Aegean District. It had no value for maritime trade after Latmos Bay turned to the lake. Thus, once the region was very rich, the area become uninhabited. This Forgotten continued until the Byzantine period. Some of the monks and priests who fled the Arab invasion began to live around the Lake. At least the presence of thirteen known monastery on the islands and around the lake is known. Some parts of the ruins still exist. The monasteries abonded in 11 and 12 centuries. In addition mountain monastery, some of the monks lived in places naturally formed in rocks.These places decorated with frescos , some of them has survived until today. However, not only religious images were placed in these caves, at the end of researches since 1980, Prehistoric time Cave Drawings (8000-10000) were found in the caves.

Dilek peninsula-Great Menderes Delta National Park:


Named as a botanical garden or a nature museum, Dilek peninsula-Great Menderes Delta National Park is one of the remarkable areas of Turkey. The National park is located in the South Aegean coastal zone area, The national Park shows a harmonic of the natural, historical and cultural appeals, All of these turn the area as an open-air museum. It is located in the boundaries of Kusadası and Soke towns of Aydın Provience .It is 28 km far from Kusadası, 34 km far from Söke, 41 km far from Selçuk 41 km,138 km far from Cesme, 133 km far from Bodrum,

Ancient towns near Söke are Priene, Miletus, Panionion and Epheous

Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Management, Adnan Menderes University Vocational School, 4 nursery schools, 40 Primary Schools, A private primary school and 13 High schools, a Trainable Mentally Disabled School (Practice School-Elementary Education), A Public Education Center, 1 Soke Guidance and Research Centre, 1 Teacher's House and Evening School, 9 Private Courses, 10 different Private Courses and The Söke Branch of the Ministry of Education. All of them provide training for individuals who will increase Turkish Society above the level of contemporary civilization.

 Especially Adnan Menderes University Vocational School, 8 vocational high school are important institutions for training of qualified and skilled people for industry and agriculture

Education in new faculty

Student began to study at the faculty building which was built by Charitable contributions of Söke. Faculty of Management will be opened in 2013 and some programs of The Vocational School passed here. 300 students began to the education here. Dr. Mustafa Çetin, The Associate Director of The Vocational School , explained that The surrounding of the Faculty will be the land of the new campus .

Health Services in Soke are established with Söke Hospital with 250 beds , 12 health centers, a mother and child health centre and a tuberculosis dispensary.