By Lisa Morrow, CNN
(CNN) — On hot summer nights, a long line forms near the waterfront of Eski Foça, a small town on Turkey’s Aegean coast.
Laughter and chatter fill the air as travelers wait for their turn to buy sakız dondurma, the local ice cream.
It’s a town shaped by thousands of years of history, conquered by dozens of civilizations, yet it still feels sheltered from the chaos of the modern world. One reason, says Oğuzhan Çakırefe, director of culture and social affairs for the Foça municipality, is that “unlike other cities in Turkey, construction hasn’t been allowed,” preserving its old fishing town vibe.
Whether in taverns, at sea or along the waterfront, “shared memories, shared sorrows and kinship,” form a bridge between the past and the future, he says.
To understand Eski Foça, it helps to look to its past. Also known as Phocaea in Greek, it was an important Ionian settlement. The Ionians, a Greek people who ruled the west coast of modern-day Turkey from the 9th to the 7th centuries BCE, formed a league of 12 cities along the Aegean coast. They developed a powerful naval fleet and established colonies as far away as Corsica before being conquered by the Persians, then Alexander the Great, the Genoese and finally the Ottomans in the 15th century.
Çakırefe says the Ottomans called the area Foçateyn, meaning “two Foças,” to distinguish between Eski (Old) Foça and Yeni (New) Foça, about 20 kilometers apart.
Ancient Greek writer Homer, in his epic poem about Odysseus, King of Ithaca, refers to a town alternately called Phaeacia, Faiakia or Scheria as the last destination in Odysseus’ epic 10-year journey.
Eski Foça, with its large natural bay, is ringed by the Foça Adalar — six uninhabited islands — and the Siren Kayalıkları, or Siren Rocks, a volcanic formation that many believe matches Homer’s description.
Orhan Boğaç, a second-generation boat captain who takes visitors on day trips to the rocks, is one of them.
“The largest island, Orak Island, is where the sirens sang,” he says.
“The sirens were a type of mermaid with the head of a woman and the body of a bird. According to legend, they sang seductively to lure passing sailors towards them, where a storm, whipped up by their wings, caused them to crash their ships into the rocks, sink and drown.”
Odysseus is said to have escaped by ordering his crew to tie him to the mast of his ship.
Today, day-trippers rely on Boğaç to steer close to the startlingly white Siren Rocks, their surfaces smoothed by wind and waves. When the wind whistles through the stone and the sea beats against the hull, some travelers swear they can still hear the sirens’ call.
Sirens or seals?
Whether Eski Foça was truly Odysseus’ final destination remains debated.
In contrast, the existence of Mediterranean seals in the waters off Eski Foça is not. The seals, known as foka in Turkish, lend their name to the town. They’re an endangered species only found on Turkish, Greek and north-western African coasts, and there is said to be a small population of them living on the Foça Islands. Humans aren’t allowed to set foot on the islands and boats don’t get too near.
Because the coastline is dotted with caves where the seals can shelter, sightings are rare, says Boğaç. Some locals even link them to legends from Celtic and Nordic folklore about creatures that shed their seal skins to become human.
Back on land, visitors