Ayvalık
| Ayvalık | ||||
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 Location of Ayvalık within Balıkesir |
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| Basic data | ||||
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| Province (il) : | Balikesir | |||
| Coordinates : | 39 ° 19 ' N , 26 ° 42' E | |||
| Height : | 1 m | |||
| Telephone code : | (+90) 266 | |||
| Postal code : | 10 4xx | |||
| License plate : | 10 | |||
| Structure and administration (as of 2019) | ||||
| Structure : | 34 Mahalle | |||
| Belediye Başkan: | Mesut Ergin ( DP ) | |||
| Postal address : | Fevzipaşa - Vehbibey Mah. Sahilboyu Cad. 1.Sokak No: 1 10400 Ayvalık / Balıkesir |
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| Website: | ||||
| Ayvalık County | ||||
| Residents : | 71,063 (2018) | |||
| Surface: | 305 km² | |||
| Population density : | 233 inhabitants per km² | |||
| Kaymakam : | Gökhan Görgülüarslan | |||
| Website (Kaymakam): | ||||
Ayvalık ( Greek Κυδωνίες Kydonies , or Αϊβαλί Aivali ) is a city in the district of the same name in the Turkish province of Balıkesir and at the same time a district of the Büyükşehir belediyesi Balıkesir (city municipality / metropolitan province ) created in 2012 . The port city is located on the Aegean coast across from the Greek island of Lesbos . Since a regional reform in 2013, the district town has been identical in terms of area and population to the district of the same name.
history
There are two historically remarkable settlement centers in the area of today's municipality. The older one is the incorporated village of Altınova in the Madra Çayı delta , about 16 km south of today's city center. Under the name Ayiazmata, its history goes back to Byzantine times. Under the name Ayazment , the place experienced a Turkish-Islamic transformation early on, which began in pre-Ottoman, possibly Seljuk times. Witnesses of this transformation are z. Sometimes very old mosques, Muslim cemeteries and secular buildings, including a han (inn) and a bridge. After a visit by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the 1930s, the name was then changed to Altınova.
Ayvalık settlement, which gave its name to the modern community, took a different fate. It was founded around 1600 near the earlier ancient settlement of Kisthene (Κισθἠνη) and settled by Greek Orthodox settlers from all over the Aegean region. The city experienced an enormous economic boom in the 18th century, based on olive growing and the trade in olives and olive products. The Derebeys from the Karaosmanoğlu family, dominating in western Asia Minor, promoted the settlement of Greeks, mostly from the Aegean islands, by granting tax privileges. In 1773 the citizens achieved a special position within the Ottoman Empire through a Ferman of the Sultan . Except for a few Ottoman officials, the Muslims were forbidden to settle in the city. For the Greek population this meant that they could live according to their own customs undisturbed. As a result of the general insecurity in Greece and on the islands after the Orlov revolt , there was an influx of people from all parts of Greece and the islands to the Peloponnese and the Ionian Islands, which are still under Venetian rule . Ayvalık became a center of Aegean Greek culture. This era ended with the Greek War of Independence , in the course of which Ayvalık was destroyed. After the war, the survivors gradually returned and after the Tanzimat reforms the city experienced a renewed boom. In 1891 there were 21,666 Greeks and 180 Turks in Ayvalık.
Ayvalık already had a printing press and a pharmacy in the 19th century and various consulates were located here, including the German, French and Dutch consulates. There was an academy and various high schools and vocational schools. The still existing mansions give an idea of the prosperity of the city at that time. Due to its special position, the city retained its tax rights and no taxes had to be paid to the Ottoman government. In 1908 the city became the seat of an Orthodox metropolitan . The first and at the same time effectively last reigning Metropolitan was Gregory of Kydonies .
In May 1919 the Greeks occupied parts of the Aegean coast in the Greco-Turkish War . After the defeat of the Greeks in autumn 1922 by the Turkish army and the subsequent population exchange , Greeks from Ayvalık were "exchanged" for parts of the Turkish minorities from the Aegean islands (mostly from Crete and Lesbos ) and from northern Greece. Today in Ayvalık, mostly on the island of Alibey Adası ( Cunda ), which belongs to Ayvalık, Greek is sometimes spoken. Cretan, Greek and Bosnian cuisine can be found in many restaurants. In a small village called Küçükköy (8 km from Ayvalık), refugees from Bosnia and the Sanjak who still speak Bosnian among themselves were settled from 1908 and afterwards in several groups .
today
Even today there are many remains of Greek buildings and monasteries in the vicinity of the city , some of which are in poor condition. Many associations in Ayvalık are now demanding that the local authorities restore the monasteries and churches in order to preserve the city's cultural assets. In 2014 the Taxiarch Church on the island of Cunda was restored.
The old town of Ayvalık offers the finest examples of neo-classical architecture of the " Greek Revival ". The mansions on the coastal road are particularly worth seeing. Some former churches such as St. John's Church ( Agios Ioannis ) are now used as mosques and are therefore well preserved.
Today, as in the past, a large part of the population lives from olive growing. With 2,000,000 olive trees , this is the largest olive-growing area in Turkey. The different types of oil compete very well with oils from Tuscany . You can still find olive oil soap manufacturers in the nostalgic and winding streets . Especially in winter, when the olives are harvested and pressed, the city has a fine scent of olive oil. Although the Aegean Sea's fish abundance has declined, fishing has largely persisted.
Every Thursday there is a bazaar in Ayvalık, to which the neighbors from Lesbos also like to travel.
Just outside Ayvalık is the popular Şeytan Sofrası (“Devil's Table”) viewpoint with a beautiful view of Ayvalık Bay and its countless islands.
Personalities
- Muhtar Kent (* 1952), President and Chief Operating Officer of the Coca-Cola Company.
- Photios Kontoglou (1895–1965), writer and artist
- Mustafa Olpak (1953–2016), Afro-Turkish author and activist
- Şahin Alpay (* 1944), journalist
See also
Web links
- Mahallelere Göre Balıkesir Ayvalık (List of all districts from 2013, with population by gender)
- Ayvalık Mahalleleri Nüfusu Balıkesir (List of all districts 2012–2018, with population figures )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Türkiye Nüfusu İl İlçe Mahalle Köy Nüfusu (Nufusune.com) , accessed on April 23, 2019
- ↑ Kyriacos Lambranides and Nigel Spencer: Regional Studies in the Madra Çay Delta: Archeology Environment and Cultural History on the Aegean Coast of Turkey from Early Bronze Age to the Ottoman Empire in: Roger Matthews (ed.): Ancient Anatolia. Fifty years ̕work by the British Institute of Archeology at Ankara. British Inst. Of Archeology at Ankara, London 1998, ISBN 1898249113 , p. 220 online
- ↑ a b Demetrius Kiminas: The Ecumenical Patriarchate . Wildside Press LLC, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4344-5876-6 , pp. 75–76 ( online in Google Book Search).
- ↑ Ioannis Karachristos: Filling in the 'floating gaps' in the history of the Greek Orthodox community of Ayvalık. A study in cultural memory. In: International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics. 12, No. 1 2016, pp. 75-93, 79
- ↑ Kyriacos Lambranides and Nigel Spencer: Regional Studies in the Madra Çay Delta: Archeology Environment and Cultural History on the Aegean Coast of Turkey from Early Bronze Age to the Ottoman Empire in: Roger Matthews (ed.): Ancient Anatolia. Fifty years ̕work by the British Institute of Archeology at Ankara. British Inst. Of Archeology at Ankara, London 1998, ISBN 1898249113 , p. 221 online
- ↑ According to Vital Guinet, who was commissioned by the Ottoman Empire to compile such statistics in Anatolia
