Assos (; grc-gre, Ἄσσος, la, Assus) is a beautiful small and historically important town on the
Aegean coast in the
Ayvacık district of
Çanakkale province
Çanakkale Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale.
Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province has a European (Thrace) and an Asian (Anatolia) part. The Eu ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. It is on the southern side of
Biga Peninsula
Biga Peninsula ( tr, Biga Yarımadası) is a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest part of Anatolia. It is also known by its ancient name Troad (Troas).
The peninsula is bounded by the Dardanelles Strait and the southwest coast of the Marmara Sea ...
(better known by its ancient name of the
Troad). Assos sits on the coast of the Adramyttian Gulf (Turkish:
Edremit Körfezi.
[Eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica](_blank)
p. 790.and used to offer the only good harbour along the of coast north of it which made it very important for shipping in the Troad.
During
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
's lifetime (1st century CE), the city was also known as Apollonia (Ἀπολλωνία).
Alhough the modern town is officially named Behramkale () or Behram for short, most people still call it by its ancient name of Assos. The settlement consists of ''İskele,'' a small harbour area consisting mainly of hotels housed in old warehouses, and Behramkale (Behram's Castle), the modern residential settlement on the hill above the harbour.
Assos' most famous resident was the Greek philosopher
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
but the
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
also refers to visits to the city by
Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...
and
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
().
Today, Assos is a holiday retreat amid ancient ruins. In 2017 it was inscribed on the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey
Below is the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey. (For the criteria see the selection criteria.)
Tentative List
Geographical distribution
See also
*List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey
The United Nations Educatio ...
.
![Assos_-_Stadtmauer_und_Nekropole](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Assos_-_Stadtmauer_und_Nekropole.jpg)
History
![Theatre@Assos(Turkey), April '09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Theatre%40Assos%28Turkey%29%2C_April_%2709.JPG)
The city was founded from 1000 to 900 BC by
Aeolian colonists from
Lesbos, who are said to have come from
Methymna. The settlers built a Doric Temple to
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
on top of the dominant crag in 530 BC.
[Points from Turkey]
From this temple
Hermias of Atarneus, a student of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, ruled Assos, the
Troad and Lesbos during the town's greatest period of prosperity. (Strangely, Hermias was actually the slave of the ruler of Atarneus.
[Eleventh editition of the Encyclopædia Britannica](_blank)
p790) Hermias encouraged philosophers to move to the city and one of those who answered the call was Aristotle, who came here in 348 BC and married Hermeias's niece, Pythia. Aristotle founded an Academy in Assos where he became chief amongst a group of philosophers, and together with them, made innovative observations on
zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
and
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
.
[Ancient Greece: Aristotle](_blank)
/ref> Assos' 'golden period' ended several years later when the Persians
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.
...
arrived and tortured Hermias to death.Aristotle then fled to Macedonia, which was ruled by his friend King Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
and where he became tutor to Philip's son, Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
. A modern statue of Aristotle greets visitors at the entrance to Assos.
The Persians were driven out by Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
in 334 BC. Between 241 and 133 BC, the city was ruled by the Kings of Pergamon. However, in 133 BC, the Pergamons lost control of the city and it was absorbed into the Roman empire.
According to Christian tradition, St. Paul visited the city during his third missionary journey (53-57 AD) through Asia Minor on his way to Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Acts 20 records that Luke the Evangelist and his companions ('we') "went ahead to the ship and sailed Troas Troas may refer to:
Places
* The Troad, historical name for a region in the northwestern part of Anatolia
* Alexandria Troas, a Hellenistic and Roman city in Anatolia
* Troaș, a village in Săvârșin Commune, Arad County, Romania
* Troaș, a r ...
] to Assos, there intending to take Paul on board ... and when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene".
From this period onwards, Assos shrunk to the small village it has remained ever since. From the Middle Ages the only relics are the Hüdavendigar Mosque and Bridge dating back to the second half of the 14th century.The mosque is on the hilltop near the ruined temple while the bridge is off the road to Ayvacık.
Modern archaeological discoveries
The ruins of ancient Assos continue to be excavated. In 2018, archaeologists discovered an undamaged Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
family grave with the name "Aristios" written on its cover. The grave contained the remains of a family of twenty-one. One of the family members was buried, while the remaining twenty were cremated and their ashes placed inside urn
An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
-like vases. The lids had been sealed with cement to prevent any foreign substance getting inside the urns.In 2018, archaeologists also discovered many strigils
The strigil ( el, στλεγγίς, translit=stlengis, probably a loanword from Pre-Greek substrate) is a tool for the cleansing of the body by scraping off dirt, perspiration, and oil that was applied before bathing in Ancient Greek and Roman cul ...
, some of them iron, but most of them bronze.
Archaeologists also uncovered a 2,200-year-old Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
lion sculpture and a 1,500-year-old stone oven dating back to the Byzantine period
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
.According to Professor Nurettin Arslan, the sculpture was unearthed from a structure used as an inn at that time, and one of the Byzantine period findings contained a cooking stove with three pots.
The pillars from the ancient port lay in the harbour for over a millennia. Eventually they were probably sold.
Attractions
On the acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
238 m above sea level stand the remains of the Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...
Temple of Athena, which date back to 530 BC. Six of the original 38 column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
s remain. On a clear day the view from the temple extends to nearby Lesbos in the south, to Pergamum in the southeast and to Mount Ida
In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida'' ...
in the east. The Tuzla River flows to the north. To the northwest, two massive Hellenic columns still mark the entrance to the city.
West of the acropolis stands the well preserved 4th century BC city wall and main gate with towers. An ancient paved road leads northeast through the gate to the ruins of a large 2nd-century BC gymnasium, a 2nd-century BC agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
and a bouleuterion. Further south toward the seashore is a 3rd-century BC theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
built for 5,000 spectators.Also on the hillside are the remains of a cemetery full of broken sarcophagi which were able to eat flesh, according to Pliny, hence their name.
In the early 1900s the contents of the Temple of Athena were moved to museums like the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
. Among the artworks found here were images of mythical creatures and heraldic events.
Lower Assos has is a small pebbly beach. Although the narrow road to İskele, the ex-fishing harbour, is steep and with sheer drops, a constant stream of cars and minibuses passes up and down it from dawn to dusk.
Notes
References
*Nurettin Arslan - Beate Böhlendorf-Arslan, Living in the Rocks Assos an Archaeological Guide, Istanbul 2010. .
*Haiko Türk: ''Die Mauer als Spiegel der Stadt''. Neue Forschungen zu den Befestigungsanlagen in Assos, in: A. Kuhrmann - L. Schmidt (Ed.), Forschen, Bauen & Erhalten. Jahrbuch 2009/2010 (Berlin/Bonn 2009) p. 30-41, .
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Towns in Turkey
Aeolian colonies
Former populated places in Turkey
Buildings and structures in Çanakkale Province
History of Çanakkale Province
Tourist attractions in Çanakkale Province
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey
Fishing communities in Turkey
Geography of Çanakkale Province
Greek city-states
Populated places in ancient Mysia
Populated places in ancient Troad
New Testament places
World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey