The beauties of ancient Assos

Trekking downhill from the village of Behramkale I could hardly believe my eyes. Lined up along the jetty and looking straight out to sea were a handful of lovely old stone warehouses converted into hotels. With nothing else to mar the beauty, it was that very elusive thing, a truly picture-postcard setting. Times being hard, however, business was slack and it didn't take much bargaining to land myself a corner room with sea views on two sides; the memory of that room has never left me. Fast forward more than a decade and a half, and the secret of Assos is well and truly out. It remains one of the most delightful corners of the northern Aegean, although they'd laugh you out of court if you thought your could barter your way into a bargain in high season nowadays.

Getting to Assos without your own transport is not as easy as it might be, and the dual nature of the settlement there can lead to some confusion. Minibuses run there from Ayvacık, the small market town 25 kilometers to the north, but some insist on dropping you in the upper village of Behramkale, the modern name for Assos, when what most people want is a speedy descent to old Assos (i.e., the harbor). In many ways this is no bad thing though since the harbor hotels have priced themselves out of most people's pockets. Up in Behramkale, however, you can still land a reasonably priced bed in a pretty little pension created out of the honey-colored local stone.

You'll know you're nearing Assos/Behramkale when you spot the graceful humpbacked Hüdavendigar Bridge standing in splendid isolation in the fields beside the road. This then divides with the right fork descending to the harbor and the left winding up to the village. Dump your bags and keep on climbing, and you'll arrive at the very top of “Assos” beside the remains of a temple to Apollo dating back to 540 B.C. This clumpy structure with its crude Doric capitals was built by settlers from Lesbos -- clearly visible across the sea -- who dropped anchor here in the eighth century B.C.

The temple is the most familiar relic of ancient Assos, although other remains trickle down the hillside, including a theater with a spectacular view which is sometimes accessible to visitors. Once upon a time these remains were all hemmed in by a sturdy wall, probably dating back to the fourth century B.C. and studded with towers. Lengthy stretches still survive and can be admired as you stroll down to the harbor. Inside these walls an interesting experiment was carried out in the fourth century B.C. when Hermias, a eunuch pupil of the Greek philosopher Plato, gained power and decided to put into practice some of his teacher's ideas about the perfect city-state. To help him in his endeavors he invited Aristotle to come and live here from 347 to 344, a period during which he became so enamored of Assos that he wound up marrying Hermias' niece Pythia. Unfortunately for the philosopher-kings the Persians still had their beady eye on Western Anatolia. As they descended on Assos, Aristotle fled to Lesbos; poor Hermias was tortured to death.

Its period in the sun rapidly over, Assos slumped into insignificance and didn't really recover even after Orhan Gazi occupied it for the Ottomans in 1330. A pretty little mosque was added to the settlement during the reign of Murat I Hüdavendigar (1359-89), which is also when the bridge seems to have been erected. The mosque tends to get overlooked in the rush to visit the temple, however, which is a shame since it's a fine example of early Ottoman architecture, the materials from which it was constructed clearly filched from a much older Byzantine church.

Pottering about in Behramkale, then wandering down the hillside admiring the ruins is part of the fun of a visit to Assos, but really this is a place to come to just to unwind and gaze out on the perfect azure sea. For those who get twitchy if they can't be out and about, there's a long stretch of sandy beach at Kadırga, just four kilometers east of town, but it's time-consuming to get to without a car and the hotels crowding in on the sands are hardly the sort of win accolades in architectural journals. If you really need something more specific to do, then you might want to hop back on the minibus to Ayvacık for the lively Friday market which is visited by women from surrounding villages kitted out in long satin overcoats and colorful Turkmen headscarves.

While in Ayvacık you could also drop in on the showroom of DOBAG (Doğal Boya Arıştırma ve Geliştirme Projesi -- Natural Dye Research and Development Project), the brainchild of the German Harald Böhmer in 1981. Concerned that memory of how to color kilims using natural dyes was rapidly fading, he set up the project to persuade local women to return to making kilims in the old ways. Today most of their handiwork is prepared for export, but it's worth passing by to admire the jewel-like colors and glorious patterns of the traditional designs. The showroom is within walking distance of the market on the road leading out of town towards Çanakkale.

If you've brought a car with you, you might also want to explore the nearby Biga Peninsula, site of the once important but now completely ruinous Hellenistic town of Alexandria Troas near Dalyan. Casual visitors will probably get more out of a trip to the Temple of Apollo Smitheion (Apollo Lord of the Mice) in Gülpınar, once the ancient settlement of Khrysa. An oracle supposedly advised would-be Cretan settlers to base themselves where “the sons of the earth” attacked them. When the men awoke to find mice nibbling their belongings, they interpreted this as a sign that they had found the right place. The mice were then immortalized in marble running round the feet of a statue of Apollo in the temple (sadly, now lost).

Khrysa played a significant role in Homer's great poem, “The Iliad,” which relates how Khryseis, daughter of the priest, was seized by Achaian raiders during the time of the Trojan War and given to King Agamemnon of Mycenae. When the king refused to return her, the priest prayed to Apollo, who sent a plague to frighten the Achaians. When they, too, begged for Khryseis' return, Agamemnon demanded that he be given Bryseis, the slave girl of Achilles, instead. Khryseis was then returned to her father in a fleet of ships commanded by Odysseus. Meanwhile, Achilles was so incensed with rage that he withdrew from the fighting to sulk in his tent. These events were depicted on the splendid temple friezes.

The road runs out at Babakale, a small harbor dominated by the newly restored remains of what was the last Ottoman castle built in 1726 to guard the coast against pirates.

WHERE TO STAY

In Assos itself the hotels usually require you to take a half-board package, including breakfast and dinner.

Biber Evi, Behramkale.

Tel.: 0 (286) 721 74 10

Dolunay Pansiyon, Behramkale.

Tel.: 0 (286) 721 71 72

Eriş Pansiyon, Behramkale.

Tel.: 0 (286) 721 70 80

Hotel Assos, Assos.

Tel.: 0 (286) 721 70 17

Hotel Assos Kervansaray, Assos.

Tel.: 0 (286) 721 70 93

Hotel Nazlıhan, Assos.

Tel.: 0 (286) 721 73 85

Yıldız Saray Hotel, Assos.

Tel.: 0 (286) 721 70 25

HOW TO GET THERE

Buses run from Çanakkale to Ayvacık, where you change to a minibus to Assos/Behramkale. There are infrequent onward dolmuş services from Behramkale to Ezine (for Bozcaada) and Küçükkuyu (passing Kadırga).