Ayvalik
Encyclopedia
Ayvalık (ˈajvaɫɯk) is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean
coast of Turkey
. It is a district
of the Balıkesir Province
.
It was alternatively called (Κυδωνίες - Kidonies) by the town's formerly indigenous Greek population, although the use of the name Ayvalık was widespread for centuries among both the Turks
and the Greeks .
and olive
trees. Ayvalık is also surrounded by the archipelago
of the Ayvalık Islands
on the sea and by a narrow peninsula in the south named the Hakkıbey Peninsula. Ayvalık is the southernmost district of Balıkesir
. Gömeç
, Burhaniye
and Edremit
are other districts of the Balıkesir Province which are situated on the Aegean shores and they are lined up respectively to the north. The region is under the influence of a typical Mediterranean climate with mild and rainy winters and hot, dry summers.
in antiquity. The ruins of three important ancient cities are within a short driving distance away from Ayvalık: Assos
and Troy
are to the north, while Pergamon
is to the east. Mount Ida (Turkish
: Kaz Dağı) which plays an important role in ancient
Greek mythology
and folk tales (such as the cult of Cybele
; the Sibylline books
; the Trojan War
and the epic poem Iliad
of Homer
; the nymph
Idaea (wife of the river god Scamander
); Ganymede
(the son of Tros); Paris
(the son of Priam
); Aeneas
(the son of Anchises
and the goddess Aphrodite
) who is the protagonist of the ancient Roman
epic poem Aeneid
of Virgil
) is also near Ayvalık (to the north) and can be seen from numerous areas in and around the town center.
Various archeological studies in the region prove that Ayvalık and its environs were inhabited as early as the prehistoric ages. Joseph Thacher Clarke believed that he had identified it as the site of Kisthene
, mentioned by Strabo
as a place in ruins at a harbour beyond Cape Pyrrha
Kisthene was further identified by Engin Beksac of Trakya University
, as Kiz Ciftlik, near the centre of Gomeç.
The Ayvalık Region was studied by Beksac in his survey of the Prehistoric and Protohistoric settlements on the Southern Side of the Gulf Of Adramytteion. The survey showed different settlements near the centre of Ayvalık which appear generally to relate to the Early Classical Periods. However, some settlements near the centre of Altınova were related to the Prehistoric Period, especially the Bronze and Iron Ages. Kortukaya, identified by Beksac, in his survey project in the 1990s and early 2000s, aids understanding of the interaction between the peoples of the interior and of the coast. Kortukaya is one of the most important settlements, along with another settlement, Yeniyeldeginmeni, near the centre of Altınova.
Traces of a hillfort were identified by Beksac on Ciplak Ada or Chalkys. Some Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Pottery fragments related to the Aeolians were found on the same island. Two tiny settlements, near the centre of Ayvalık were settlements in the Peraia of Mytillini.
Pordoselene, near the centre of Ayvalık, was also an important settlement ın Antiquity. The remnants, were on the eastern part of the Island of Cunda or Alibey, near the sea. All the archaeological data was related to the Classical and Medieval Ages.
The constant threat posed by piracy
in the region during the previous ages did not allow the islet settlements to grow larger and only Cunda Island
(alternatively known as Alibey Island, known among the Greeks as Moschonisia, literally "The Perfumed 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 and was later annexed to the territory of the Ottoman
beylik (principality), which was to become the Ottoman Empire in the following centuries.
The locals contributed with their economies to the Greek struggle for Independence, including the famous Psorokostaina.
Until 1922, Ayvalık was almost entirely by populated by Greeks
. Anecdotal evidence indicates that, immediately after the defeat in the naval Battle of Chesma
(Çeşme
), the Ottoman admiral (later grand vizier) Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha
and his men from the ships who survived the disaster were lodged on their way back to the capital by a local priest in Ayvalık who did not know who they were. Hasan Pasha did not forget the kindness shown to his sailors in the hour of need, and when he became Grand Vizier, he accorded virtual autonomy to the Greeks of Ayvalık, paving the way for it to become an important cultural center for that community in the Ottoman Empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The town was controlled by the Greek Army on 29 May 1919 and consequently taken again three years later by Turkish forces under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
on 15 September 1922. Following the Turkish War of Independence
, The Greek population and their properties in the town were exchanged by a Muslim
population from Greece
and other formerly held Ottoman Turk lands under the 1923 agreement for the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations. Most of the new population that replaced the former Greek community were Muslim Turks from Mytilene
, Crete
and Macedonia
. One could still hear Greek spoken in the streets until recently. Many of the town's mosques are Greek Orthodox churches that have been converted into Muslim mosques.
Today, Ayvalık and the numerous islets encircling the bay area are popular holiday resorts. The most important and the biggest of these islets is Cunda Island
(Alibey Island) that is connected to Lale Adasi, and thence to the mainland, by a bridge built in the late 1960s. This is the first and currently the oldest surviving bridge in Turkey that connects lands separated by a strait
.
In September 1998, an international music academy was established in Ayvalık where students receive master-instructed classes for violin
, viola
and cello
. It brings together students from all over the world and gives them a precious opportunity to work with distinguished masters of their branch.
USA-based Harvard University and Turkey's Koç University have established a joint project in Cunda Island of Ayvalık and run a Harvard-Koç University Intensive Ottoman & Turkish Summer School every summer.
Ayvalık also has two of the longest sandy beaches of Turkey which extend as far as the Dikili
district of İzmir
nearly 30 km (19 mi) in the south. These are the Sarımsaklı and Altınova beaches.
In recent years Ayvalık has also become an important point of attraction for scuba
divers with its underwater fauna
.
Ayvalık and its environs are famous for the highly appreciated quality of olive oil
production.
Today, the population of Ayvalık is close to 30,000, which significantly increases during the summer due to tourism. Ayvalık is also close to Bergama
(ancient Pergamon
) which is another important attraction for tourists with its ruins, dating back to antiquity
.
With its rich architectural heritage, Ayvalık is a member of the Norwich
-based European Association of Historic Towns and Regions (EAHTR)
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
coast of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. It is a district
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
of the Balıkesir Province
Balikesir Province
Balıkesir Province is a province in midwestern Turkey, having coastlines on both the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean. Its adjacent provinces are Çanakkale to the west, İzmir to the southwest, Manisa to the south, Kütahya to the southeast, and Bursa to the east. The provincial capital is Balıkesir City...
.
It was alternatively called (Κυδωνίες - Kidonies) by the town's formerly indigenous Greek population, although the use of the name Ayvalık was widespread for centuries among both the Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
and the Greeks .
Geography
Ayvalık is a district in Turkey's Balıkesir Province on the Aegean Sea coast, facing the Greek island of Lesbos. It is situated on a narrow coastal plain surrounded by low hills to the east which are covered with pinePine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
and olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
trees. Ayvalık is also surrounded by the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
of the Ayvalık Islands
Ayvalik Islands
Ayvalık Islands are the group of islands around Ayvalık district of Turkey in Balıkesir Province in the Northeastern Aegean Sea. There are 22 islands and numerous rocks in the group, with Cunda Island, now a peninsula, being the largest. People live only on Cunda and Lale Islands. Cunda and Lale...
on the sea and by a narrow peninsula in the south named the Hakkıbey Peninsula. Ayvalık is the southernmost district of Balıkesir
Balikesir
Balıkesir is the capital city of Balıkesir Province. Balıkesir is in the Marmara region of Turkey and has a population of 265,747 inhabitants. Old name is Karesi or Karasi.- History :...
. Gömeç
Gömeç
Gömeç is a town and district of Balıkesir Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. Its former name was Armutova before becoming a district. The ancient city Kisthene is located in Gömeç. The population is 4988 . The mayor is Naim Kocabıyık ....
, Burhaniye
Burhaniye
Burhaniye is a town and district of Balıkesir Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. The district is located on the Aegean coast and is known for its olive oil.Burhaniye has a port and a museum of archeology and Turkish national movement...
and Edremit
Edremit
Edremit may refer to:* Edremit , Balıkesir, Turkey* Edremit , Van, Turkey* Edremit, Turkish name for Trimithi, Northern Cyprus...
are other districts of the Balıkesir Province which are situated on the Aegean shores and they are lined up respectively to the north. The region is under the influence of a typical Mediterranean climate with mild and rainy winters and hot, dry summers.
In antiquity
Ayvalık was located in the ancient region named AeolisAeolis
Aeolis or Aeolia was an area that comprised the west and northwestern region of Asia Minor, mostly along the coast, and also several offshore islands , where the Aeolian Greek city-states were located...
in antiquity. The ruins of three important ancient cities are within a short driving distance away from Ayvalık: Assos
Assos
Assos , also known as Behramkale or for short Behram, is a small historically rich town in the Ayvacık district of the Çanakkale Province, Turkey....
and Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
are to the north, while Pergamon
Pergamon
Pergamon , or Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC...
is to the east. Mount Ida (Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: Kaz Dağı) which plays an important role in ancient
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
and folk tales (such as the cult of Cybele
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
; the Sibylline books
Sibylline Books
The Sibylline Books or Libri Sibyllini were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the Republic and the Empire...
; the Trojan War
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
and the epic poem Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
; the nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
Idaea (wife of the river god Scamander
Scamander
In Greek mythology, Scamander was a river god, son of Oceanus and Tethys according to Hesiod. Scamander is also thought of as the river god, son of Zeus. By Idaea, he fathered King Teucer....
); Ganymede
Ganymede (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Ganymede is a divine hero whose homeland was Troy. Homer describes Ganymede as the most beautiful of mortals. In the best-known myth, he is abducted by Zeus, in the form of an eagle, to serve as cup-bearer in Olympus. Some interpretations of the myth treat it as an allegory of...
(the son of Tros); Paris
Paris (mythology)
Paris , the son of Priam, king of Troy, appears in a number of Greek legends. Probably the best-known was his elopement with Helen, queen of Sparta, this being one of the immediate causes of the Trojan War...
(the son of Priam
Priam
Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous".- Marriage and issue :...
); Aeneas
Aeneas
Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...
(the son of Anchises
Anchises
In Greek mythology, Anchises was the son of Capys and Themiste . His major claim to fame in Greek mythology is that he was a mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite . One version is that Aphrodite pretended to be a Phrygian princess and seduced him for nearly two weeks of lovemaking...
and the goddess Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
) who is the protagonist of the ancient Roman
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
epic poem Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
of Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
) is also near Ayvalık (to the north) and can be seen from numerous areas in and around the town center.
History
Cisthene (Mysia)
Cisthene or Kisthene was a coastal town in ancient Mysia; its mines were a source of copper.Its location is not certain, but it is generally considered to be near modern Ayvalık on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey.- External links :*...
, mentioned by Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
as a place in ruins at a harbour beyond Cape Pyrrha
Kisthene was further identified by Engin Beksac of Trakya University
Trakya University
Trakya University , aka University of Thrace, established on July 20, 1982, is a state university located in Edirne, at Turkey's European part Eastern Thrace....
, as Kiz Ciftlik, near the centre of Gomeç.
The Ayvalık Region was studied by Beksac in his survey of the Prehistoric and Protohistoric settlements on the Southern Side of the Gulf Of Adramytteion. The survey showed different settlements near the centre of Ayvalık which appear generally to relate to the Early Classical Periods. However, some settlements near the centre of Altınova were related to the Prehistoric Period, especially the Bronze and Iron Ages. Kortukaya, identified by Beksac, in his survey project in the 1990s and early 2000s, aids understanding of the interaction between the peoples of the interior and of the coast. Kortukaya is one of the most important settlements, along with another settlement, Yeniyeldeginmeni, near the centre of Altınova.
Traces of a hillfort were identified by Beksac on Ciplak Ada or Chalkys. Some Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Pottery fragments related to the Aeolians were found on the same island. Two tiny settlements, near the centre of Ayvalık were settlements in the Peraia of Mytillini.
Pordoselene, near the centre of Ayvalık, was also an important settlement ın Antiquity. The remnants, were on the eastern part of the Island of Cunda or Alibey, near the sea. All the archaeological data was related to the Classical and Medieval Ages.
The constant threat posed by piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
in the region during the previous ages did not allow the islet settlements to grow larger and only Cunda Island
Cunda Island
Cunda Island, also called Alibey Island, is a small island in the northwestern Aegean Sea off the coast of Ayvalık, part of Balıkesir Province of Turkey. With an area of 23 km², it is by far the largest island in the Ayvalık Islands group. It is located 16 km east of Lesbos, Greece...
(alternatively known as Alibey Island, known among the Greeks as Moschonisia, literally "The Perfumed 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 and was later annexed to the territory of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
beylik (principality), which was to become the Ottoman Empire in the following centuries.
Until 1922, Ayvalık was almost entirely by populated by Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
. Anecdotal evidence indicates that, immediately after the defeat in the naval Battle of Chesma
Battle of Chesma
The naval Battle of Chesma took place on 5 -7 July 1770 near and in Çeşme Bay, in the area between the western tip of Anatolia and the island of Chios, which was the site of a number of past naval battles between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice...
(Çeşme
Çesme
Çeşme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula...
), the Ottoman admiral (later grand vizier) Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha
Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha
Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha or Hasan Pasha of Algiers was an Ottoman captain, Grand Admiral , Grand Vizier and general of the late 18th century....
and his men from the ships who survived the disaster were lodged on their way back to the capital by a local priest in Ayvalık who did not know who they were. Hasan Pasha did not forget the kindness shown to his sailors in the hour of need, and when he became Grand Vizier, he accorded virtual autonomy to the Greeks of Ayvalık, paving the way for it to become an important cultural center for that community in the Ottoman Empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The town was controlled by the Greek Army on 29 May 1919 and consequently taken again three years later by Turkish forces under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
on 15 September 1922. Following the Turkish War of Independence
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
, The Greek population and their properties in the town were exchanged by a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
population from Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and other formerly held Ottoman Turk lands under the 1923 agreement for the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations. Most of the new population that replaced the former Greek community were Muslim Turks from Mytilene
Lesbos Island
Lesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island. It is separated from Turkey by the narrow Mytilini Strait....
, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
and Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
. One could still hear Greek spoken in the streets until recently. Many of the town's mosques are Greek Orthodox churches that have been converted into Muslim mosques.
Modern Ayvalık
Cunda Island
Cunda Island, also called Alibey Island, is a small island in the northwestern Aegean Sea off the coast of Ayvalık, part of Balıkesir Province of Turkey. With an area of 23 km², it is by far the largest island in the Ayvalık Islands group. It is located 16 km east of Lesbos, Greece...
(Alibey Island) that is connected to Lale Adasi, and thence to the mainland, by a bridge built in the late 1960s. This is the first and currently the oldest surviving bridge in Turkey that connects lands separated by a strait
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
.
In September 1998, an international music academy was established in Ayvalık where students receive master-instructed classes for violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
and cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
. It brings together students from all over the world and gives them a precious opportunity to work with distinguished masters of their branch.
Ayvalık also has two of the longest sandy beaches of Turkey which extend as far as the Dikili
Dikili
Dikili is a coastal town and a district of İzmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The district is quite picturesque both along its shoreline and in its interior parts, and is a popular summer resort. The center town of Dikili is situated at about north of İzmir, served by a good road...
district of İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
nearly 30 km (19 mi) in the south. These are the Sarımsaklı and Altınova beaches.
In recent years Ayvalık has also become an important point of attraction for scuba
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
divers with its underwater fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
.
Ayvalık and its environs are famous for the highly appreciated quality of olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
production.
Bergama
Bergama is a populous district, as well as the center city of the same district, in İzmir Province in western Turkey. By excluding İzmir's metropolitan area, it is one of the prominent districts of the province in terms of population and is largely urbanized at the rate of 53,6 per cent...
(ancient Pergamon
Pergamon
Pergamon , or Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC...
) which is another important attraction for tourists with its ruins, dating back to antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
.
With its rich architectural heritage, Ayvalık is a member of the Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
-based European Association of Historic Towns and Regions (EAHTR)