Ayvalık

The region has a typical Mediterranean climate with mild and rainy winters and hot, dry summers.

Archeological studies in the region have shown that Ayvalık and its environs were inhabited in the prehistoric era. Joseph Thacher Clarke believed that he had identified Ayvalık as the site of Kisthene, which was mentioned by Strabo as a ruinous place beside a harbour beyond Cape Pyrrha.[5] However, Engin Beksaç of Trakya University preferred to site Kisthene at Kız Çiftlik, near the centre of Gömeç.

Panoramic view of Ayvalık's town centre.

In his survey of the prehistoric and protohistoric settlements on the southern side of the Gulf of Adramytteion (Edremit) carried out in the 1990s and early 2000s, Beksaç studied the Ayvalık region. The survey identified several different settlements near the centre of Ayvalık which appear to relate to the Early Classical period. However, some settlements near the centre of Altınova were related to the prehistoric period, especially the Bronze and Iron Ages. Kortukaya was identified in the survey as one of the most important settlements in the area and one that aids in the understanding of the interaction between the peoples of the interior and of the coast. The same is true of Yeni Yeldeğirmeni, another settlement near the centre of Altınova.

Beksaç identified traces of a hill fort on Çıplak Island (Chalkys). Some Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age pottery fragments related to the Aeolians were also found here. Two tiny settlements, near the centre of Ayvalık, formed part of the peraia of Mytilene.

Historic map of Ayvalık by Piri Reis.

Seafront with old Greek houses in Ayvalık harbour.

Houses on Cunda Island, the largest of the Ayvalık Islands.

View from fish restaurant in harbour of Cunda Island.

Pordoselene, on the eastern side of Cunda Island, near the sea, was another important settlement in Antiquity. All the archaeological data was related to the Classical and Medieval Ages.

During the Byzantine period, the constant threat posed by Arab and Turkish piracy prevented the islet settlements from growing larger. Only Cunda Island could maintain a higher level of habitation as it is the largest and the closest islet to the mainland.

After the Byzantine period, the region came under the rule of the Anatolian beylik of Karasi in the 13th century. Later it was annexed to the territory of the Ottoman beylik (principality), which would become the Ottoman Empire.

In 1770 the Ottoman navy suffered a major defeat against the Russians at Çeşme. The Ottoman admiral Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha and the men who survived the disaster were lodged on their way back to the capital Constantinople by an Ayvalık priest. Hasan Pasha did not forget the kindness shown to his sailors in their hour of need, and when he became Grand Vizier, he granted virtual autonomy to the Greeks of Ayvalık in 1773, paving the way for it to become an important centre of cultures for that community during the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Until 1922 Ayvalık remained an almost entirely Greek settlement.

The then British Ambassador Lord Strangford reported that Osman Pasha accepted the submission of the Aivaliotes, until he could get fresh instructions from Constantinople. However a squadron of Greek insurgents appeared, persuading the inhabitants to hope that it had come to their rescue, and that another revolt might meet with greater success. They accordingly rose en masse, and about fifteen hundred Turks were killed. But the appearance of the squadron turned out to have been merely accidental and it soon sailed away. The Turks then recovered their courage, and an indiscriminate massacre of the Greeks followed.

As of 1920, Ayvalık's population was estimated at 60,000.[6] Its small port was used to export soap, olive oil, animal hides and flour.[6] The British described Aivali (Ayvalık) and nearby Edremid (Edremit) as having the finest olive oil in Asia Minor[6] and reported large exports of it to France and Italy.[6] This industry suffered during the First World War due to the deportation of the local Christian population (some of whom fled to the nearby Greek islands), who were the main producers of olive oil.[6] Alarmed at the decline of the industry, the Turkish government brought back 4,500 Greek families in order to resume olive oil production.[6] But although these repatriated Greeks were paid wages, they were not allowed to live in their own homes and were kept under official surveillance[6]

Ottoman era Greek houses in Ayvalık.

On 29 May 1919 the town was occupied by the Greek Army, only to be reoccupied by the Turkish forces under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on 15 September 1922. Some of the population managed to escape to Greece. However, many of the local men were seized by the Turkish Army and died on death marches into the interior of Anatolia. Among the victims were the Christian clergy and the local metropolitan bishop, Gregory Orologas.[7][8]

Following the Turkish War of Independence, the Greek population and their properties in the town were exchanged for a Muslim population from Greece, and other formerly held Ottoman Turkish lands, under the 1923 agreement for the Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey. Most of the new population consisted of Greek Muslims from Mytilene (Lesbos), Crete and Macedonia. Until recently Greek could still be heard being spoken in the streets. Many of the town's older mosques are Greek Orthodox churches that have been given a new use.

Paterica Cove

Both Ayvalık and Cunda have a rich heritage of lovely old stone houses built by the lost Greek population and still often called collectively Rum Evleri (Greek Houses). There are also a number of large and imposing Greek Orthodox churches, some of which have been converted into mosques. In the centre of town the Ayios Yannis Kilise became the Saatlı Cami (Clock Mosque) while Ayios Yorgis became the Çınarlı Cami (Plant Tree Mosque). The Taksiyarhis Kilise (Church of the Archangels) is now a museum. The Faneromanı (Ayazma) Kilise is derelict.[15]

On Cunda there is another fine Taksiyarhis Kilise (Church of the Archangels) which was very obviously once at the very heart of the local community.

Cunda Island has a number of meyhanes with a very Greek feel to them as well as the Taş Kahve (Stone Teahouse) overlooking the harbour. In the back streets of Ayvalık the Şeytanın Kahvesi (Devil's Teahouse) is similarly Greek in atmosphere. It featured in a Turkish TV series called İki Yaka Bir İsmail (Two Continents, One İsmail).[15]

Both Ayvalık itself and Cunda Island have attractive fishing harbours full of colourful boats. A few restaurants sell the papalina (whitebait) which is a local speciality.[16]

The ruins of three important ancient cities lie within a short drive of Ayvalık: Assos and Troy are to the north, while Pergamon (modern Bergama) is to the east. Mount Ida (Turkish: Kaz Dağı), which played an important role in ancient Greek mythology and folk tales, is also near Ayvalık (to the north) and can be seen from many points in and around the town centre.

The Gulf of Edremit and the coastal resort towns of Dikili (near ancient Atarneus) and Foça (ancient Phocaea) are also within driving distance for daily excursions.