First Glance

Assos (Behramkale) is a little village that belongs to the city Ayvacik which lies 87 km to the south of Canakkale. One of Assos' most interesting features is that it has been continuing being an inhabited village since ancient times.

The village is situated within the 4 km long ramparts of Ancient Assos. At the highest point, which is at 238 metres, you will find the main ancient attraction which is the Pallas Athena temple built in doric order around 600 years B.C. In 1981 an archeological team has started excavating Assos and its surroundings, which they have been continuing up to today. Their archeological efforts have led to the discovery of a necropolis, amphitheatre, and an agora.

Since Assos attained the protected status of an archeological site, the village of Assos was moved outside the ramparts.

Assos has been ruled consecutively by the Lesbonians, Persians, Romans and Byzantines, after which it came under Ottoman hegemony from the year 1330 on.

Amongst Assos' various famous inhabitants the most illustrious one is Aristoteles, who lived here for three years in which he founded a philosophy academy.

The charming and little marina of Assos has been in use since old times. Until the '50s of the nineteenth century it functioned as an export station for Oak tree fruit. The stone buildings that used to be storage houses for the Oak tree fruits have been turned into boutique hotels and restaurants serving different kinds of fresh fish.

In the village people live on the cultivation of olives, fruits and vegetables and the breeding of animals. Even though the villagers live so close to the sea they have no ties to anything related to the sea and its possibilities. Surprisingly, in the whole village merely two families make a living by fishery.