Tire

Tire lies on the southern side of the Küçük Menderes valley, where the wooded slopes descend toward the fertile plain. Under the Aydınid rulers it became an important town of western Anatolia, with markets, mosques and endowed buildings. Its commercial centre drew together the products of the surrounding countryside and goods passing between the interior and the Aegean.

Ottoman rule preserved Tire's importance as a market and administrative centre. Merchants supplied the imperial capital by both land and sea, and the town's bazaar developed around inns, shops and religious foundations. In 1544 the former grand vizier Lütfi Pasha built a Friday mosque in Tire and established an endowment whose commercial properties helped support it. The mosque and market show how trade and charitable patronage shaped the growing town. Income from the endowment's commercial activity supported its religious purpose, binding the prosperity of the bazaar to the upkeep of the foundation.

The buildings of the Aydınids and Ottomans stood side by side in Tire's streets. Dervish lodges, schools and baths served the communities of the town and its villages, while local craftsmen worked in the busy covered town market. Tire's position in the valley allowed it to remain a centre of exchange after the dynasty that first promoted its growth had disappeared.