Foça

Foça

Location: Turkey (Izmir region)
Village type: Bungalows
Opening date: 1967
Closing year: 2004

A little background: The agreement between Club Med and a pension fund for the establishment of a holiday village in Foça was signed in 1965. The first building permits were issued on September 16, 1966. Land belonging to the public treasury was expropriated by the pension fund. The municipality of Foça also donated land it owned, as well as land belonging to the forestry administration.

Jean Weiler , whom you now know well (if you have read my pages on Agadir and Cadaques) comes to Foça and begins to prepare the corresponding plans.

To his interlocutor who was questioning him about Foça:

He compared it to the seaside resort they built on the Costa Brava. He said he envisioned a holiday village for Foça that would be entirely compatible with the environment, with at least one olive tree, either scattered at varying distances, not merging to form a monolithic landscape, or spread out in a very balanced way within nature, composed of clusters of units. The elders of Foça, the farmers, the villagers, would go one by one to each other, chat, and meet; they would also exchange ideas about the wind direction, the weather in summer, winter, and spring, and how people lived. Taking into account all these ecological, sociological, and economic studies, and considering the topographical situation, the architect was searching for what he could create here that would be both the most beautiful and the most permanent

Tali Bey, a Turkish architect working for the pension fund, collaborated with the club's design office on the plans. The construction of the village was entrusted to Tali Köprülü.
Like Agadir, which had opened a year earlier, Foça was a permanent village. Each small bungalow had its own bathroom, toilet, and shower.

The lease was initially for a term of 15 years. It was renewed in 1982, allowing operation until 2005.
The original lease agreement itself stipulated certain conditions: at least 75% of the village's capacity had to be reserved for guests holding a foreign passport. Club Med was also required to pay the rent in foreign currency.

The village opened on June 25, 1967. The first village chief was Avner. Scuba diving, sailing, tennis, and yoga were among the sports offered. A wide range of excursions to explore Turkey was also available to guests

Initially, the village did not have the large swimming pool located in the center of the village. This was built a few years later in 1970.

Throughout its operation, Foça remained one of Club Med's flagship villages. Today, photos and videos circulate showing a site degraded by time. Projects were indeed developed by developers, but none have yet come to fruition.   

Village chiefs:

Avner Gruszow opened the village in 1967, and the following year Didy Blitz took over as village chief.
The summer season of 2004 was the last before the village closed.