Assos

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Assos is an ancient Greek city on the Aegean coast, in today’s Ayvacık district of Çanakkale Province, Turkey. It sits on the Troad (the ancient name for the region) along the Adramyttian Gulf and was an important harbor along a long stretch of coastline.

The city was founded around 1000–900 BC by Aeolian settlers from Lesbos. In 530 BC they built a Doric temple to Athena on the highest hill, the acropolis. Assos enjoyed a golden era under Hermias of Atarneus, a student of Plato, who attracted philosophers to live there, including Aristotle. Aristotle started an Academy in Assos and studied biology and other subjects before fleeing after Hermias was killed by Persians.

Alexander the Great later drove the Persians from the area. Assos became the birthplace of Cleanthes, a later leader of the Stoic school. Between 241 and 133 BC the city was ruled by the Kings of Pergamon, and in 133 BC it became part of the Roman Empire. According to Christian tradition, Paul the Apostle is said to have visited Assos during his travels, and the Acts of the Apostles mentions Luke and Paul reaching the city.

Over the centuries Assos shrank to a small village. In the Middle Ages, only a mosque (the Hüdavendigar Mosque) and a bridge from the 14th century remained.

What you can see today: on the acropolis, 238 meters above sea level, are the remains of the only Doric temple in Asia Minor, dedicated to Athena, dating to 530 BC. Six of the original 38 columns still stand. West of the acropolis is a well-preserved 4th-century BC city wall and main gate with tall towers. A paved road leads to a 2nd-century BC gymnasium, an agora, and a bouleuterion. Toward the seashore is a 3rd-century BC theater built for about 5,000 spectators. Near the hillside are remains of a cemetery with sarcophagi that were described by ancient writers as able to “eat flesh.” In the harbor area, ancient port columns lie underwater or on the shore.

The temple’s sculptures were moved to museums in the early 1900s, including the Louvre. The area offers views to Lesbos, Pergamum, and Mount Ida. Lower Assos has a small pebbly beach, and the road to İskele, the old fishing harbor, is steep but busy with traffic.

Archaeology continues at Assos, with discoveries like a well-preserved Hellenistic family grave named Aristios found in 2018, along with many strigils, a 2,200-year-old lion sculpture, and a Byzantine-era oven.