Assos Travel Guide

 WulfstanTraveller Says:  The modern village of Assos is an attractive, picturesque village made of beautiful, nicely crafted and decorated stone houses. It includes the Iskele area on the water (see my tip on that) and another portion, mostly houses and a mosque, on the hill at the ancient... 

 WulfstanTraveller Says:  Just north of Assos/Behramkale (southern Canakkale Province) next to the road between it and Ayvacik is a 14th-century Ottoman Bridge. Although no longer used on the main road, it is, like most Ottoman bridges, in excellent condition due to its solid construction. It is... 

 Willettsworld Says:  If you continue to travel downhill along the road from the theatre, you'll come to the small harbour. From antiquity until the 1950s this was a small but busy commercial port, with two bakeries, two hotels, warehouses for the acorns collected from local forests and a customs... 

 Willettsworld Says:  The 5,000 seat theatre, lying to the south of and below the Agora, was built entirely from local andesitic rock. Typical for a construction in the Greek age is the union of a location on a natural slope with the orientation towards a panoramic view and this theatre has one... 

 Willettsworld Says:  The city hall of Assos has a square ground plan. The roof was carried by four columns standing inside the building. The entrance to the building is situated on the west towards the Agora, where the space between the columns was closed off by a balustrade. The other three... 

 Willettsworld Says:  The Stoae, two corridors with columns, located to the south and north of the Agora, were constructed to protect people from rain and sun and served as meeting points for traders, merchants and the wealthy. The north Stoa had two storeys and was 111.52m long and 12.42m wide.... 

 Willettsworld Says:  This is the most important space of an ancient city which was a public area where people could meet to conduct economic and political transactions. The Agora required only an open space in which the population could convene. The Assos Agora was located between the eastern... 

 Willettsworld Says:  At the west entrance to the Agora is a prostylos temple with dimensions of 16.50 x 10 m., resting on a podium. Only the foundations of the building, that is thought to have been converted into a small church after the 5th century AD, have remained until today. 

 Willettsworld Says:  This complex consists of a large courtyard surrounded by several buildings and shady roofs. Before the 4th century BC, the site where boys were trained in sports, music, literature and philosophy had been located in a wooded area. According to an inscription, the gymnasium... 

 Willettsworld Says:  The Necropolis stretches from east of the city to the west, however, only the area outside the western gate has been excavated and studied. The oldest graves are pithos (large clay vessels) burials. The dead were placed inside in a foetal position and usually such vessels... 

 Willettsworld Says:  The acropolis of Assos, built on a hill dominating both sea and land is about 238 metres above the sea-level and is surrounded by walls about 3Km in length. The hill offers spectacular views of the Aegean sea and the nearby Greek island of Lesbos. 

 Willettsworld Says:  This is the main site at the top of the hill in the acropolis of Assos. It is the only Archaic temple in the Doric Order known so far in Asia Minor. Erected between 540 and 530 BC, the building was in use into the Hellenistic age. The dimensions of the temple are 30m by... 

 Willettsworld Says:  After you enter through the entrance gate that's on top of the hill beside the old village, one of the first things you'll come to are the old cisterns which was were water was stored in ancient times. 

 Willettsworld Says:  This small mosque sits right at the top of the hill, looking down over the surrounding countryside to the north and the old village of Behramkale below. It has the same name as the old stone bridge that lies just to the north, off the main road that leads to the old village... 

 Willettsworld Says:  Both the village of Behramkale and the ancient Assos are protected by walls and fortifications that go on for around 3km. If you climb up to the top of the hill, through the old village, then you'll see several towers. There is also an old gateway that leads into Assos from... 

 Willettsworld Says:  This statue of Aristotle stands at the entrance into the old town, at the junction where the road that leads up into the old town joins the road that heads north. Reason why it's here is because between 384-387 BC, Aristotle, Plato’s most famous student, was invited to Assos... 

 MalenaN Says:  Before leaving Ayvacik for Behramkale/Assos I did not check what time buses for Bursa left. It could have been good as there is not much information about that in Behramkale.By the harbour (Iskele) I found a ticket boot selling Truva bus tickets. They had a bus from Ayvacik...