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Ancient Assos |
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 Sunday Patola gets off the beaten track to the captivating harbour and fishing
village of Behramkale, built where the powerful city of Assos once stood.
Not far from Troy is the ancient city of Assos and the charming stone
village of Behramkale. This is a quiet place to stop as you make your way
down the Aegean coast. Artists, actors and academics from Istanbul come here
to relax, away from the crowds. Just before Behramkale you will cross a 14th
century Ottoman bridge. From the bridge you will see the acropolis of
ancient Assos.
Immigrants from Lesbos in the first millennium BC first inhabited Assos.
Various civilizations throughout history ruled it. The period of its
greatest glory was in the 4th century BC when a eunuch named Hermeias, who
was a student of Plato, ruled the city. Philosophers and scientists,
including Aristotle, went there to live and study.
Assos declined during the Hellenistic period and by the beginning of the
Byzantine period it was only a tiny hamlet.
The temple of Athena (goddess of war and handicrafts) was built in 530 BC.
It has been mostly destroyed with only a few columns and the platform of the
acropolis remaining. Nonetheless, the acropolis is well worth a visit as the
view of the Aegean coast and the island of Lesbos is one of the best in
western Turkey.
The city walls of Assos were one of the most impressive fortifications in
Turkey. The walls were 3kms long and 14m high. Some parts remain standing
today.
Assos was famous in antiquity for its sarcophagi (“flesh eater”). These
stone tombs consumed the flesh within 40 days due to the caustic material
they were made from. The tombs were exported to many places.
Regular dolmuses run to Assos from Canakkale and Ayvacik.
Sunday Patola came to Turkey from her home in Canada in 2000. After
exploring Turkey far and wide, she fell in love with the lush countryside
surrounding the ruined city of Ephesus and made it her home. Sunday is
currently co-managing Attila's Getaway in Selcuk and spends her summers
there. www.atillasgetaway.com
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