The Heroic Vourla of Asia Minor
GREECE , 2022, 50’
Director: Irene Sarioglou – Producer: Hellenic History Foundation
Vourla or Vourlas (Urla in Turkish) was the second largest city on the coast of Asia Minor after Smyrna (İzmir). It was built near the ancient Greek city of Klazomenai (Clazomenae), east of Erythrae (Litri), of which it was the capital. Vourla was one of the most important cities in the Greek world in the early 20th century: an economic, intellectual, and administrative centre of a prosperous region with intensive commercial and industrial activity, and prolific intellectual life. In fact, for the Nobel Prize-winning poet George Seferis, although born and raised in Smyrna, it was only Vourla that remained indelible in his memory representing the true meaning of ‘home sweet home…’. The documentary examines the history of Vourla through various testimonies, enriched with extensive archival and photographic material.
