AYVALIK…

Olive/olive oil production has maintained its existence for many years in the Ayvalık region where it is the capital of olives and olive oil for centuries. You will see an olive tree all around and feel the smell of olives to whatever corner you go… Ayvalık seems like a verdant olive sea…

Ayvalık is also a fast growing tourism centre which comes to the forefront with each passing day… In this respect it is becoming widely known not only within the borders of our country but also around the world.

Ayvalık is indeed placed in a very special geography and a highly convenient destination… It eminently deserves all kinds of attention thanks to its delicately preserved culture, unique architecture, extraordinary nature, very clean air, 100 kilometres long coastal line, glittering sea, very fine sand, spectacular bays, poetic islands, underwater structure with a fascinating beauty which offers a diving opportunity year-round, its atmosphere which inspires artists and rich cuisine.

Monte Ida invites you for a pleasant Ayvalık tour for you to discover at close hand its idiocratical features and unique beauties…

FACTORY CHIMNEYS SALUTING THE SKY

Narrow but breezy streets stretching along to the sea, picturesque houses on each side of these streets, old factories whose chimneys salute the sky, soap workshops of historical value, warehouses leaning on to each other, luminous mosques assuring peace to the people, churches where the local ‘sarmısak’ stone –renowned for its strength and beauty- has been ornamented like an embroidery, fairy tale like wind mills which have been incarnated one by one, fish restaurants one after the other, lively night clubs, cafes bustling with people, cute shop stores extending out onto the pavements, colourful souvenir stalls…

SWALLOWS FLY THROUGH THE COFFEE SHOPS

The colourful Perşembe Pazarı (Thursday Bazaar) where everything can be found, the villagers’ markets that is a heaven for the tasteful and curative herbs, At Arabacıları Meydanı (Horse Carriage Square) worth seeing, the cool Taş Kahve (Stone Coffee Shop) in which swallows fly, the Şeytanın Kahvesi (Devil’s Coffee Shop) which itself is a history, Camlı Kahve (Glassed Coffe Shop) with its intimate regulars visitors and spacious world, the Sebze Hali (Wholesale Vegetable Market) which is a bearer of abundance with its colourful greengrocer stalls, the Antikacılar Çarşısı (Antique Bazaar) which carries yesterday to tomorrow, the Meyhaneciler/Tenekeciler Sokağı (Tavern Keepers/ Tinsmiths’ Street) which exhilarates its visitors with its options affordable for everyone, the Zeytin Müzesi (Olive Museum) established inside a historical factory, the small but rich Ticaret Tarihi Galerisi (History of Commerce Gallery)…

ITS RED CORALS JUST LIKE A DREAM

A sun which rises fantastically and sets magnificently, a very fertile sea, red corals indifferent from a dream awaiting diving lovers in the depths of the sea, the Dolap Boğazı (Strait) which sways people into a day dream with its flashing lights, Turkey’s first strait bridge, boat tours which give the utmost in entertainment, mysterious islands that arouse curiosity with their interesting names, tranquil bays, lonely piers, hills calling for adventure, insatiable strolls by the moonlight…

GARDENS RESEMBLING PARKS WHERE NIGHTINGALES SING

Old but assumptive olive trees, great pine trees which display all the tones of the colour green, palm trees with a robust stance, noble rosebays, courtyards which breathe with the etesian breeze, grapevines which spout from the corner of a door climbing towards upper floors, decorative balconies full of ivies, the elderly with divine and heavenly faces who sit at these balconies watching the passers by, long and interesting doorstep conversations, park like gardens, roses, daises, poppies, crowflowers, basils, lilacs, jasmines, nettles, nightingales singing cheerfully in the morning while jumping from one tree to another…

CATS WITH BIG EARS WAIT FOR FISH AT THE SHORE

Carefully cleaned fishing boats that yield bread money, nets meticulously repaired, fishermen who prepare fishing lines next to the walls, cats with big ears waiting for “freshly caught fish” across from the fishing boats, north-east winds which high tide and froth up the sea when breaking out, small motorboats travelling between Ayvalık-Cunda with their engines making a chugging noise, race-loving and smiling dolphins, noisy seagulls diving crazily into the sea, moonlight beams playing with each other on the sea water…

HERBS AND FISH COMPETE FOR TASTE

Chicory/baby’s tears/nettle/stifno and many other varieties of herbs, curd cheese dessert, mihaliç cheese, Cretan roasted white chickpeas, Ayvalık toast, Kozak grape, mastic coffee, bagel/cheese/tea, sage, verjuice, lokma deep fried dough dessert soaked in sugar syrup, pine nuts, almond on the rocks, sea bream, red mullet, two banded bream, coral, porgy, sea bass, bogue, calamary, octopus, shrimps, blackthorn, cockle, mugwort, glass wort, pan fried sprat, oyster with cheddar cheese, stuffed squash blossoms, fishballs, rissole, kakavya fish dish, fava mashed feaves, crystal like olive oil, home made olives…

KÜÇÜKKÖY STANDS FOR RICH CULTURE WHILE SARIMSAKLI STANDS FOR GLITTERY SEA

Küçükköy with streest that smell of history: An architectural structure dating back to the 14th -15th century, rich forests, glittering sea, sun as a source of health, a rich cuisine culture unique to Bosniaks, delicious home made pastries with mince/cheese/eggplant/squash, Sarımsaklı with its kilometres long coastal line and world standard beaches, Şeytan Sofrası (Devil’s Table) resembling a huge table from where you see the sea in whichever direction you look…

ONCE YOU SEE ALTINOVA YOU WILL NEVER FORGET IT

Altınova, only 13 kms. away from Ayvalık: A spotlessly clean coastal, pleasant and cool picnic and promenade areas scattered within the forest, fertile soil up to 40 thousand decars, cotton, potato, water melon, sugar beet, grain, drinking water with the taste of spring water, Agean fish with snow white meat, always fresh sea products…