Origin of The Name
There are numerous stories about the name Alaçatı. According to some, Alaçatı is the name only for the harbour area which is about two kilometers from the old town. Some claim that the name for the town was Agrilia, and there is also another name Alaca At (Red Horse) used for the whole area. Their claim is based on a story, that the ruler of Alaçatı had a red horse to ride. When riding the horse, bystanders would refer to him as "Alacaatlı (the man with the red horse)", in time the name was somehow changed to Alaçatı. According to some Greek sources the name Alatsata come from the Greek word alas (άλας) meaning salt. The region was named because of the nearby salt lakes.
During the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, Turkish refugees from Greece were settled here, and ever since then the name Alaçatı has been adopted both for the town and the harbour area. The harbour area was the export port of İzmir until World War II. After the war the harbour's use declined, and the bay, in which the harbour was, is now popular with windsurfers.
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