After a week at anchor and still no sign of the southerly wind abating, we head for the Setur Ayvalik marina for the weekend to top up the water tanks and have a much needed shower before heading off to explore the town of Ayvalik.
Before the establishment of the Turkish republic, the market town of Ayvalik was a prosperous place of tanneries, mills and factories. In its heyday 20,000 people, mostly Greeks, lived here, working in 22 olive oil factories, 30 soap factories and 80 mills. 600 ships docked at its little port every year. All this commerce came to a grinding halt when the forced population exchange of the 1920’s sent the town's Greek residents to live in Crete, and Turks from Crete, Lesvos and Macedonia arrived to settle in Ayvalik.
The town has never recaptured its former importance although much of the old architecture of the town still remains. The streets behind the quay are lined with boarded up stone warehouses and factories, some with faded Greek lettering still visible over the door. The newly arrived Turks added a minaret to the Greek Orthodox churches to convert them to mosques.
The cobbled streets are steep and narrow, overlooked by typical Greek and ottoman style houses, now decaying gently, many of them empty. There’s very little sign of the sort of gentrification and development that’s taken place in Alacati. We liked the fact that it’s still a working town with very few airs and graces.
We didn't want to disturb this guy's siesta so we lug our bags of fresh provisions back to the marina on foot instead. When we head back to our anchorage on Monday, we think - just maybe - we can head south on Thursday.
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| Smart waterfront properties on the way to Ayvalik |
Before the establishment of the Turkish republic, the market town of Ayvalik was a prosperous place of tanneries, mills and factories. In its heyday 20,000 people, mostly Greeks, lived here, working in 22 olive oil factories, 30 soap factories and 80 mills. 600 ships docked at its little port every year. All this commerce came to a grinding halt when the forced population exchange of the 1920’s sent the town's Greek residents to live in Crete, and Turks from Crete, Lesvos and Macedonia arrived to settle in Ayvalik.
The town has never recaptured its former importance although much of the old architecture of the town still remains. The streets behind the quay are lined with boarded up stone warehouses and factories, some with faded Greek lettering still visible over the door. The newly arrived Turks added a minaret to the Greek Orthodox churches to convert them to mosques.
The cobbled streets are steep and narrow, overlooked by typical Greek and ottoman style houses, now decaying gently, many of them empty. There’s very little sign of the sort of gentrification and development that’s taken place in Alacati. We liked the fact that it’s still a working town with very few airs and graces.
We didn't want to disturb this guy's siesta so we lug our bags of fresh provisions back to the marina on foot instead. When we head back to our anchorage on Monday, we think - just maybe - we can head south on Thursday.
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