Places to visit
Things to do in Ayvalık
22 destinations, each with a description, how long it takes and where it sits on the map.
In short
toroti’s catalogue holds 22 described destinations within Ayvalık, Balıkesir. The themes that come up most: Coast, History, Faith heritage, Local culture, Mosque, Museum.
Sarımsaklı Plajı
Sarımsaklı Beach is located in the town of Küçükköy, in the Ayvalık district of Balıkesir province. It is 8 km from the district center. The beach, which has a sandy shore 7 km long and 100 m wide, has many accommodation facilities, cafeterias, restaurants especially selling seafood, and casinos.
60 minutes
Leka Panaya (Koruyan Meryem) Manastırı
The structure, stated to have been built in 1835, rising from within the olive forest, among all the beauties on the coast, on the edge of the strait, continues to display its monumental architecture due to having undergone restoration. The spaces that make up the monastery, such as the church, dormitory, kitchen, library, rooms related to administrative affairs, laundry room, and guest rooms, are positioned in a certain order.
30 minutes
Pordoselene Kulesi
It is the tower on top of Maden Island, indicated as the site of the Pordoselene Civilization. It was built to watch over Lesbos Island, the surrounding islands, and the Edremit Gulf. It is recorded that it was rebuilt in the VIIIth century A.D. Pordoselene actually symbolizes Pirgos Keneti. This tower, built in its time to be able to see enemies, was destroyed by Cilician pirates.
20 minutes
Ayazma (Faneromeni) Kilisesi
Its name means “holy water.” The pediment at the entrance of Ayazma Kilisesi bears the date 1890. It is a late-period structure of Ayvalık. The church was built on this date. The height of the church is 12 m. Unlike the other churches, it was built in the northeast–southwest direction without religious concerns being taken into consideration.
20 minutes
Hamidiye Cami
It was commissioned by Sultan II. Abdülhamit in the eclectic style in the second half of the 19th century. The mosque, with a plan close to a square, is made of red cut stone. It has a last congregation area with four columns and a brick dome resting on a cylindrical drum. It is not important in terms of decoration.
20 minutes
Tavşan Kulakları Tepesi
Tavşan Kulakları Tepesi: The hill right next to Şeytan Sofrası. When you climb the hill, you encounter two rocks in the shape of rabbit ears, 3 human heights tall. Their bases are not in the soil; they stand on a horizontal plate-like rock.
30 minutes
Ayvalik Ayazması
What is an ayazma? The name ayazma comes from the Greek word “Hagiasma,” meaning holy place. Ayazmas are structures belonging to Orthodox culture. They are generally found under or next to Orthodox Churches, either independently or as separate structures. It is believed that ayazmas provide healing for illnesses and help wishes come true. In Turkey, the richest city in terms of ayazmas is Istanbul.
45 minutes
Ayişiği Manastiri
Ayışığı Monastery is located on Cunda Island in the Ayvalık district of Balıkesir. Although its exact date is unknown, it is thought to have been built in the 18th century. The monastery, whose surroundings are enclosed by walls, has its church in the courtyard. The church located within the courtyard was built facing east, with a dome and a rectangular plan. The entrance door of the church was built of sarımsak stone.
45 minutes
Saatli Cami
Saatli Cami is in the İsmet Paşa neighborhood in the center of Ayvalık district. It was built as a church by local Greeks in the second half of the 19th century. Its original name is Agia İanni (Aya Yanni) Church. It was converted into a mosque in 1928; it took the name Saatli Cami because of the clock placed in the bell tower. It is a rectangular-plan structure, and entry is through a four-columned, porticoed door decorated with acanthus leaves.
45 minutes
Taşli Manastir / Timarhane Adası
Located directly opposite Çamlık Koyu, Tımarhane Adası was used as a psychotherapy center in earlier times. On the island there is a monastery that the Greeks called Aya Paraskevi Monastery and the Turks called Taşlı Monastır. However, only a small part of the monastery has survived to the present day.
45 minutes
Sualti Dalış - Maden Adaları
Although most of the diving areas of the island located at the tip of the Ayvalık peninsula are closed to diving, dives carried out with special permission have always given divers excitement. With special permits obtained at times, one can come by road to the very tip of Cunda Adası and from here go by a fishing boat for diving in the Maden Adaları area.
45 minutes
Taksiyarhis Kilisesi
It is understood from an inscription on the church wall that it was built in 1844. It was built on an area slightly higher than the road by leveling a sloping hill and filling it. Although the total area of the church is 1200 m², the church was built on an area of 500 m². The height of the church is 16 m, while the height of the bell tower is 30 m.
30 minutes
Sualti Dalış - Kerbala-ayvalik
In our province, it is possible to see the beauties and riches of the seabed, formed over thousands of years, in the Ayvalık Islands, which constitute an ecological niche in terms of underwater flora and fauna.
45 minutes
Çınarlı (Agios Georgios) Kilise Camii
Çınarlı Mosque is located in the center of Ayvalık, on Alibey Street in Hamdibey Neighborhood. The church was built during the autonomy period, when the people of Ayvalık were at their strongest economically and politically. (It was completed in the 1790s.) The building was converted into a mosque in 1923.
20 minutes
Hayrettin Paşa Camii
Hayrettin Paşa Camii is located in Hayrettin Paşa Mahallesi, which bears the same name. The mosque, formerly a church, was built in 1850. It is one of the first churches of Ayvalık. In the Republican Period, it was converted into a mosque and took the name Hayrettin Paşa Camii.
20 minutes
Ayışığı (Agios Dimitrios Ta Selina) Manastırı
Located at the very tip of the Pateriça peninsula on the northern side of Cunda (Alibey) Island, Ayışığı Monastery stands at the point where a steep hill (299 elevation) meets the sea. The construction date of Ayışığı Monastery is not known for certain. (It is said that the dates 1771 and 1795 are written on two stones.
30 minutes
Alibey Adası Plajı
Alibey Adası Plajı is a public Blue Flag beach on the coast at Ayvalık.
60 minutes
Küçükköy Plajı
Küçükköy Plajı is a public Blue Flag beach on the coast at Ayvalık.
60 minutes
Hacı Bayram Camii
Hacı Bayram Mosque was built between 1490 and 1491 and is located in the center of Altınova, Ayvalık.
20 minutes
Taksiyarhis Anıt Müzesi
Taksiyarhis Church is Ayvalık's first church. It was opened for service as the Taksiyarhis Memorial Museum in 2013. Official Turkish Museums The building, which was built as a small church in the 15th century, was damaged in different periods due to earthquakes and underwent architectural changes over time. It can be observed from the wall decorations and paintings that changes were also made to the church's interior ornamentation during the repairs carried out in the building.
45 minutes
Şeytan Sofrası
The hilly area known as Şeytan Sofrası is located 8 kilometers south of Ayvalık town center. The hill, formed by lava deposits left over from an extinct volcano, resembles a round table. The shape found here, which resembles a gigantic footprint, has been enclosed in an iron cage, and there are various legends among the local people that it is the devil's footprint.
45 minutes
Cunda Adası
Alibey Island or Cunda is an island connected to the district of Ayvalık. Among the 22 large and small islands called the Ayvalık Islands in Ayvalık Bay, Alibey is the only island open to settlement. It is the 4. largest island in Turkey's Aegean Sea. Due to its location, it is an island situated at the intersection point of sea routes in Western Anatolia.
60 minutes