Mount Yamanlar

Mount Yamanlar
View of the Gulf of İzmir from Mount Yamanlar
Highest point
Elevation	1,076 m (3,530 ft)
Geography
Location	Yamanlar village, Karşıyaka, İzmir, Turkey
Geology
Mountain type	Shield volcano

Mount Yamanlar (Turkish: Yamanlar Dağı) is a mountain in İzmir, Turkey, located within the boundaries of the Greater Metropolitan Area of the city.

Easily accessible from Izmir, Yamanlar is a popular excursion spot for the inhabitants of the city. It is served by a steep, well maintained road. A village of the same name as the mountain (Yamanlar) is found on its slopes, on the road to the summit. The village administratively depends on İzmir's metropolitan district of Karşıyaka and is at a distance of 20 km (12 mi) from Karşıyaka center.

The summit commands an expansive view of the Gulf of İzmir from the northeast and there are amenities such as bungalows for visitors. A crater lake called "Karagöl" (meaning "Black Lake" in Turkish) is located near the summit, and is usually associated with the accounts surrounding Tantalus, the region's first known ruler. Because of this the lake's name is sometimes also called by his name.

The mountain is an extinct volcano. Although it is geologically separate from the neighboring mass of Mount Sipylus (Spil Dağı), their flora, fauna and history have very much in common, and the two mountains have sometimes been viewed as extensions of each other.

The name "Yamanlar" literally translates to "the capable ones", although the adjective "yaman" also has a number of negative connotations. The name is likely derived from the name of a monastery built in the beginning of the 13th century by John III Doukas Vatatzes. The monastery must have been named "Amanariotissa" or "Mary of Amanara", and was founded on the western slopes or foothills facing Smyrna of the Mount Nif, which itself was one of the mountains called in ancient times, hence the name of the principal monastery, Lembos. An impression about the status of the village in Mount Yamanlar, then called "Genikon" or "Jenikou" is created by a document of the 13th century written by the inhabitants by which they donated to the monastery of Lembos another monastery, that of Amanariotissa, which was located within their territory.