Manisa's Mount Sipylus

According to mytology, Mount Sipylus gets its name from the name of old mother goddess of Anatolia, Kybele (Spilene). Spilene is the mother of all the gods and goddesses as well as the blessing godess of plants, wild animals and human beings on the earth. There is a relief of her on stone in the Akpınar Region.

According to another source, the naming of Mount Sipylus during period of Magnesia

It was named as Sipylus because doughter of Menos, the of Tantalis, was left on this mountain and she was grown up by the wild animals. Later, Tantalus, the King of Magnesia had the Tantal Castle built here. However, when celebrating the completion of the castle, the king sacrificed his son in the feast offered by him to the Gods, and the Gods punished him by tying him in water up to his jaws so that he could not make use of the favors of the world. The place known as the weeping rock belongs to Niobe who weeps after her 12 beautiful children who were according mytology, killed by leto, the mothers of Apollo and Aartemis as a result of jealousy. Tantales Castle was found by Karl Humman in 1880 A.D. The Manisa city which is located at foot of Sipylus Mount is established by Magnete who were defeated in Trojan War. Was name Sipylus Magnesia.

This photo is Mount Sipylus ( called here Spil )  It is 1500 m . heights .

 

In addition to its recreational character, Mount Spil National Park, which has a special place among the Turkish National Parks due to its morphological, archaeological and mythological features, covers Mount Sipylus and its environs. In the Park, canyons, valleys, lakes, caves and over 120 types of flora peculiar to the region, in addition to animals such as rabbits, foxes and various species of birds can be seen. The tulip, which gave its name to a period in Turkish history before theRepublic, has its origin at Mount Sipylus where hyacinths, crocuses, cyclamen, wild carnations, poppies, daisies, and dog-roses are also found. In the photo you can see the wild horses in the mountain.

Among the various trees in the Park there are larches, clusterpines, spreading oak trees and plants such as spruces, junipers, heathers and daphnes which make up a wealth of rich natural beauty. In Mount Sipylus National Park there are 70 kinds of herbs.

In the park, which has a variety of animal species such as rabbits, foxes, pigs, deer, and squirrels, we can see gray partridges and rock partridges. The park, which shelters almost all kinds of singing birds in addition to all kinds of eagles, vultures and hawks, is a veritable birds' paradise.

Since the main aim is to preserve nature, infrastructure is not of great importance in the Park and therefore narrow paths are provided for walking. The Park, which has picnic areas and mountain bungalows, also has recreation facilities for visitors as well as rest areas.

Reservations are needed for the chalets which have a total capacity of 131 beds. The Park which can be visited every season of the year also has a mountain camp. Visitors can stay in their own tents or caravans for the night at a site allocated for this purpose.

The Park has no transportation problems, and thus draws the attention of people living in and around Izmir as well as those from Manisa.

Security and health facilities, planned to modernize the structure of the Park, are being built. With these facilities, which will not be completed until next season it is believed that the Park will attract more visitors.

 

The photo on the left is Manisa’s TARZAN which is taken in 1960’s. The other coloured photo is Our project group with their teacher .