Mount Ida (Turkey)
Mount Ida (, pronounced , meaning "Goose Mountain", Kaz Dağları, or Karataş Tepesi, Greek: Ίδα) is a mountain in northwestern Turkey, some southeast of the ruins of Troy, along the north coast of the Edremit Gulf. It is between Balıkesir Province and Çanakkale Province. Geography Mount Ida is a lightly populated upland massif of about 700 km2 located to the north of Edremit. A number of small villages in the region are connected by paths. Drainage is mainly to the south, into the , also known as Edremit Bay, where the coast is rugged and is known as "the Olive Riviera." However, the Karamenderes River (the ancient Scamander) flows from the other side of Mount Ida to the west. Its valley under Kaz Dağları has been called "the Vale of Troy" by English speakers. Currently a modest 2.4 km2 of Mount Ida are protected by Kaz Dağı National Park, created in 1993. The summit is windswept and bare with a relatively low tree line due to exposure, but the slopes of this mountain, at the edge of mild Mediterranean and colder central Anatolian climate zones, hold a wealth of endemic flora, marooned here after the Ice Age. The climate at