How to get to Assos Behramkale

If you are getting from Istanbul to Assos:

You can drive all the way. Either over Tekirdağ road or over bay of İzmit by crossing Osmangazi Bridge. This is more convenient if you are visiting Bursa as well.

From İstanbul to Bandırma you can take the fast ferry either with your car or as a pedestrian and then pick up the rent a car in Bandırma. The fast ferry option saves a lot of traffic hours spent on coming out of Istanbul and getting back into the city. It deparrts from Yenikapı, close to Sultanahmet area.

From Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir to Assos Behramkale without a car:

You can take a bus from Istanbul to Ayvacık, then from Ayvacık to Assos, Behramkale is 17 kilometers. You can take a minibus or a taxi from Ayvacık to Assos, Behramkale.

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You can take a flight from İstanbul to Edremit (EDO), rent a car in Edremit. 

You can take a flight from İstanbul to Çanakkale (CKZ) rent a car in Çanakkale.

From Ankara to Çanakkale and Edremit there are also flights.

From İzmir you can take a bus or drive to Behramkale , Assos.

Once you arrive in Assos Behramkale, you can find your way easier to Assos Alarga by watching our video. Our sign has only our goat on it now and it is located between our two adjacent buildings.

How to get to Assos Alarga 

Trip Advisor Winner Assos Alarga

We are number one among bed and breakfasts in Turkey. Dear big guests of  our small hotel in Assos, Behramkale, we are wearing the smile that you have given us. Thank you so much!

Pet Friendly Hotel in Assos, Behramkale

There are those who bark and those who go for the ball:) Playing is much more fun when you have a friend.

 There are those who bark and those who go for the ball:) Playing is much more fun when you have a friend. We were in Kadirga Bay today, only 2 minutes driving from our small hotel. Bring your best friends along: AssosAlarga is a pet friendly hotel in Assos,Behramkale. Our best friend is Gece, yes, he is still a bit afraid of swimming in deep water. Luckily, she has friends to show her the way.

Travelling Couple 'Gezgin Cift' at Assos Alarga

It was great to host you www.gezgincift.com. Thank you so much for having crossed our way!

Assos Alarga driving directions

Our dear guests Pamela and David Smith have created a video for the road directions to Assos Alarga

thank you so much! Again a small hotel in Assos has big guests... Hope this will be useful to all our guests.

Music at AssosAlarga

Book now info@assosalarga.com and play later... Thank you, to all our guests who have ever touched our hearts with their music.

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Ottoman Bridge in Assos

There is a fourteenth century Ottoman Bridge in Assos/Behramkale, remaining with all its splendor up to today. Parallel to it there's a new bridge. They are on the old way arriving from Ayvacik to Assos. This is a curvy romantic narrow road, passing through small villages, the last one Pasakoy offering great views of Assos.

At the end of this ride, one will reach the old bridge, before you cross the bridge there's a left turn, this is not a very inviting turn but once you take it, you will find your self parallel to the river running below. This is a sunset walk in Assos. This is when shepherds bring out their herds, this when you see turtles take a sunbath on rocks and look who else is enjoying the last rays of sun...

Gara Guzu geldi! Gara Guzu arrived!

Sonunda, Türkiye'de üretilen tek ale, Muğla'dan Assos'a ulaştı ve bizi onurlandırdı.

Gara Guzu'lar, şimdilik "amber (kehribar) ale" ve "blonde (sarı) ale" seçenekleriyle tadılabiliyor.

Üreten saygıdeğer aileye ve çalışma arkadaşlarına yürekten tebrikler ve teşekkürlerimizi sunarız.

Keyifadamı'ndan da bir Gara Guzu yorumu okumak isterseniz, buraya buyrunuz.

At last, the only ale produced in Turkey have reached Assos from Muğla and honored us.

For now, Gara Guzu (Black Lamb) can be enjoyed in their amber and blonde ale style options.

We send our gratitude and congratulations to the venerable family and their colleagues who produce this bottled relish.

To Our Big Guests from our Small Hotel

We are wearing the smile that you gave us, thank you very much all our dear guests!

Art at AssosAlarga

Art at AssosAlarga by Yusuf Tansu Ozel, also the creator of our Christmas Cards...

Temple of Athena in Assos, Behramkale - Acropolis

Temples are built on the highest points of ancient cities; the name Acropolis comes from Greek, Acro means for “the highest”, and “polis” means city. In a time with no GPS systems, no radar and no binoculars, they were built on the highest point, on top of a hill for safety and defense reasons.

While looking out on the endless Aegean Sea, Lesbos and Mount Ida views from the Acropolis of Assos, one should recall that a temple is built not only for worship  , it is also a status symbol and reflects the society’s culture it once belonged to.

The temple of Athena in Assos was built 238 meters above sea level, between 540-530BC. Short after, due to an earthquake, it was renovated and had major repairs between 520-470BC. It is the only known archaic Doric temple in Asia Minor. It is surrounded by 34 Doric styled columns. It has Doric columns and triglyphs , but also has sculpted friezes. Holding Ionic and Doric features at the same time the temple of Athena in Assos thus resides a unique place in the history of ancient Greek Architecture, it is eclectic and innovative in a time where architectural orders are conservatively followed.

In the construction and later in the repair, a gray volcanic andesite rock, formed by the cooling of lava and softer volcanic rock, formed by the ashes, were used. This type of andesite is quarried right from Assos. Also today all construction within the ancient village of Assos is made from these rocks, including AssosAlarga.

Each ancient Greek temple is dedicated to a specific god or goddess and the temple in Assos is dedicated to Athena. Athena is one of the multitude of children of Zeus, believed to be the warrior goddess, protecting the land against enemies from outside. So it is common in the ancient world to build temples in her name. Turkey alone is home to ten of Athena’s temples. The goddess Athena symbolizes wisdom, humility and intelligence; she is the helper of some well known mythological heroes, like Hercules and ubiquitous in most of the Greek mythology.

She took part in two major competitions. In the contest for beauty she lost out against Aphrodite, thus triggering the Trojan War. But she won as “patron god of Athens” against Poseidon by creating the olive tree as a gift to Cecrops, the first king of Athens.
Unlike churches, Greek temples were not common meeting places for the public; they were dedicated to their gods and goddesses.    They had an inner chamber called the Cella where usually the cult where only temple clerks were allowed to go in. The land surrounding the temples was used for religious ceremonies. Murderers, drunks and people with birth defects weren’t allowed to enter the temple.
During the Hellenistic period, the pavement of the temple was covered with black and white mosaics.

During the Byzantine period the acropolis was surrounded by thick walls, serving primarily as a fortress. The other remains, such as cisterns, storerooms and houses you see in the acropolis aside from the temple, are remains of the Byzantine area.

Assos Behramkale Turkey

Could the traveler have come to Assos during the excavations of the American expedition, he would have heard, afar off, the chorus of the workmen, as they sang together, sailor fashion, while rolling aside the shaft of some column; he would have been guided to the site of the ancient temple or theatre by the creaking of the dusty barrow wheels, and by the blows of the heavy hammer breaking some stone too large to be lifted entire. Now the silence of that hillside will be broken only by the roll of the waves upon the beach beneath the cliff, and by the tinkling bells of the goats, as they twist their necks to browse upon the tough shoots of the oak bushes which have again overgrown the ruins of the Greek Bath, the Agora, and the Street of Tombs.

wrote Joseph Thacher Clarke on the Report on Investigations in Assos 1882-1883 

More art at Assos Alarga, welcoming autumn in Behramkale

We are madly in love with guests coming and integrating in an instant. These  drawings captured our hearts, both are handmade by love and we are so thankful to them. Thank you so much for visiting us, for stepping into our small world with your gifted hands and your big heart.

Thank you again and again Caglayan Ekinci and Gurcan Bulut.

Autumn in Assos, Behramkale is beautiful and cosy...

Caglayan Ekinci at Assos Alarga. small design hotel in Assos, Behramkale



Gurcan Bulut at Assos Alarga; big great guests at small design hotel in Assos, Behramkale

Turkish Carpets; an Anatolian Poem

A hand woven carpet or a kilim is the story of goats & sheep being raised, sheared; collecting raw materials, experience and knowledge of ingredients, methods and recipes for dyeing, days and nights of spinning, combing and weaving, traditions passed on from one generation to the other, over the centuries. It’s the journey of fleece becoming an object of protection from hard weather conditions; it’s the thousands of knots making part of a dowry; sometimes, the tale of women weaving their emotions into an item of garment for next generations.

Why is carpet more expensive than kilim?

Kilims are formed with flatweaving; meaning the rope travels between warps & wefts without knots. As for the carpets, with each or every other warp, at least one knot is required. The work for carpets consumes much more time and effort than it does for kilims.

What determines the price of a carpet?

Number of knots per square inch is the primary factor. The higher number of knots, mean a finer carpet. Just like a fine digital image of higher resolution, with bigger number of pixels on the digital display...

• Elements used: Is it hundred percent wool, what kind of wool? Silk or is it mixed with cotton? Synthetic dye or natural dye?
• Design: Curvy patterns like floral designs need more knots than straight lined geometric shapes.

If you are to buy an old one, then of course, the age and the condition of the rug, it’s availability in the market and the demand for it should all be considered.

How will you know you are paying the fair price for the carpet you desire?

Unless you are an expert, you will never know! There is no fixed rate of labor and emotions reflected on these marvels. Having knowledge, reading books about weaving will only be theorically informative. Just like choosing the wine; takes years of tasting, smelling and looking into the glass, expectations of evaluating the carpet, will not be instantly fulfilled. Certain certifications like Dobag can guarantee that you are not making a mistake on a purchase from a Dobag dealer; but to truely understand and value a carpet or a kilim completely on your own is a long journey. With today's modern techniques, it may even be difficult for the naked eye to distinguish the hand woven from the machine woven, the natural dye from the synthetic dye. So I would say, if you wholeheartedly like it, buy it. In other words, trust your dealer with all your heart. Carpet sellers are supposed to be very informative, like the most in Turkey are. They are welcoming, yes, their aim is to sell you carpets and kilims, but either you buy or not, they should be willing to answer your questions and show you examples. So take your time and enjoy the chat, and maybe with even a glass of Turkish tea or a cup of Turkish coffee.

A small hotel in Assos has Big Guests!!!

Philosophy in Assos, in July 2013

Be a philosopher between the 1st and the 4th of July 2013 in Assos.

Visit their official website for more information

Employee of the month at assosalarga

the laziest may also be the favorite...

Anaların Günleri

Demiyorum ki, senede birgün onlar ve bizim için özel olmasın. O gün beni doğurduğun gün, hatta herkes için mümkün olsa, benden haberdar olup da bana anne olmaya karar verdiğin gün olsun. Şahsen benim için, emin değillermiş, şüpheleri varmış.
Güner Hanım'ı ararım her doğumgünümde; vaktiylen, anneme demiş ki: 'Ne istersen yaparım ama doğurursan mutlu olacaksın.' Her ne kadar anne olan en yakın arkadaşlarımdan biri: 'İstenilen çocuk daha hiç doğmadı.' demiş olsa da umarım mutlu ediyorumdur annemi. Yayında emeği geçen herkese teşekkürlerimi bir borç bilirim ömrüm boyu. Özel gün; annemle benim aramda lakin, başka kimseleri de çok alakadar etmez zaten.

Liman Konuk Evi

Sokakağzı'na yaklaşınca beliren, diğerlerinden bir adım öne çıkan tabelasını takip ettik. Şener bey, 70 milyon içinde sadece 15 meslektaşıyla icra ettiği işinden emekli olduktan, kardeşinin elindeki aile yadigarı zanaati bakanlığa tescillettikten sonra sadece kendilerine ait izin belgesiyle hazırladıkları daha önce bu kadar güzellerini yemediğimiz mezelerle bezemeye başlamış Ege'ye nazır taş masalarını. İki gündür tadı damağımızda, ev sahibi Şener beye ve Can Can'a müteşekkiriz.

Havuz, Boya, Hamile Eşşek

Havuz bizi yoruyor, Mehmet'i fiziksel, beni de madden yoruyor ama Allah manen yormasın. Dalgıç pompamız sadece yakılmamış, ayrıca fişten çıkarmak varken, kablosundan kesmeyi uygun görmüş son kullananlar. Herşeye çok şükür; kötüler olmasa iyinin değerini bilmeyiz, bilsek de belki hırslanıp cesaretlenmeyiz.

Bugün hayatımda ilk defa hiç tanımadığım birine sesim yüksekken saldırgan sözler sarf ettim ve de hayret ediyorum kendime pişman değilim. İbrahim usta, onlarca işin arasında kahvem Yemen'den mi geliyor diye sorunca, kahvesini, son damlasını taşırarak servis ettim, üstüne, avluda fırçalarını yıkayarak taşları Osmanlı kırmızısına boğması ve beyaz alçıyı evin muhtelif yerlerine serpmesi değil, yaptıklarının bir kısmına elini sürmeyerek ben bu kadarını temizliyorumu çekmesiyle tutamadım kendimi. Arada baban yaşındaki adama böyle davranman hayalkırıklığına uğrattı beni demez mi? Keşke gücüm yok temizleyemiyorum diyebilseydi ya da ilk geldiğinde biz gazete yayalım, onu çekelim dedikçe, virgül damlatmam diye böbürlenmeseydi. İşveren ve alan arasındaki ilişkinin yaşla bir alakası olmadığını, şehirde, onun kazandığı parayı layıkıyla hakkedebilmek için mesai içinden daha çok mesai dışı çalıştığımı haykırdım. Havuza olan sinirimden midir, hakkettiğinden midir; pişman değilim. Mehmet, araya, ben seni Yemen'e kahve içmeye götüreceğimi de sokuşturmadan geçmedi bu arada. Ayıp nedir bilmeyen bu insanlar kim? Kendi iş yerimde aldığım nefesin hesabını tutarken, nasıl sorabiliyor bana, yıllarca eşşekler gibi gece gündüz çalşırken kendi işverenimden bir kere bile içemediğim Türk kahvesinin menşeini? Neyzen Tevfik şiirleri okuyan boya ustasından işini temiz yapmasını beklemeyiniz.

Ayvacık Devlet Hastanesi tertemiz, gencecik arılar çalışmakta, hem de ne arı. Sağlık portörü için gerekli röntgenve kan tahlili işlemlerini 15 dakikada tamamladık. İstanbul'da Verem Savaş Derneği'ne gittiğinizde, zatüre başlangıcı geçirdiğinizi, röntgene gittikten iki gün sonra öğrenebilir, içeride verem olmadan çıktığınıza neredeyse şükredersiniz. Hastalara sıra ve doktorlar konusunda bilgilendirme yapan bilgisayar ekranları ve iş süreci dökümanları çarpıcı, çalışanların güleryüzü ve yardımseverliği içtendi.

Hayatımda ilk defa çok hamile eşşek gördüm. Picasso'nun deformasyonuna uğramış, onun kadın çizgileriyle yusyuvarlak oluvermiş, az sonra doğuracak bir eşşek. Ne yazık ki fotoğraf makinamın sadece kılıfı yanımdaydı. Yarın aynı yolda tekrar rastlaşırsak bir fotoğrafını çekmek isterim. Acaba bu sıralar doğurmuş mudur, kahveyi, sıvayı, yövmiyeyi bilmeyen lekesiz eşşek?