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This week, we detour to the Aegean’s thinking person’s escape — Urla — on our way from Izmir to Cesme. Urla — once ancient Klazomenai, birthplace of the philosopher Anaxagoras — is home to vineyards, olive groves and slow-burning culture.

While Cesme and Bodrum are busy inflating beach bills, Urla quietly serves Michelin plates in perfect ceramics, reminding us that good things (and good wines) take time. We’ll take you to a stone-walled culture hub and a great historian’s tale of three cities. Start packing!

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Thanks for reading,

Nazlan (@NazlanEr on X)

P.S. Have tips on Istanbul’s culture scene? Send them my way at nertan@al-monitor.com.

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1. Leading the week: Young and unhiddden

“Untitled” by Duygu Aydogan, epoxy, clay and dried leaves. (Photo Nazlan Ertan)

BASE, the Istanbul-based art platform spotlighting fresh graduates since 2017, has taken the plunge into the Aegean. Its latest project, “BaseSelected × UrlaDam,” brings 32 alumni into the stone-wrapped calm of UrlaDam Art Gallery. “Dogada Sakli” (Hidden in Nature) explores the interplay between stillness and movement in a nature that we increasingly feel estranged from.

Emre Evcimen builds resin-and-paint worlds (pictured below) that feel like the Little Prince’s asteroid B-612 for grown-ups — dystopian and barren. Nesligul Cebesoy’s “There Away” turns........

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