Assos

Assos (ˈæsɒs; Ἄσσος, Assus) was an ancient Greek city near today's Behramkale (behˈɾamkale) or Behram for short, which most people still call by its ancient name of Assos. It is located on the Aegean coast in the Ayvacık district of Çanakkale province, Turkey. It is on the southern side of Biga Peninsula (better known by its ancient name of the Troad). Assos sits on the coast of the Adramyttian Gulf (Turkish: Edremit Körfezi) and used to offer the only good harbour along the of coast which made it very important for shipping in the Troad. During Pliny the Elder's lifetime (1st century AD), the city was also known as Apollonia (Ἀπολλωνία). Assos' most famous resident was the Greek philosopher Aristotle but the Acts of the Apostles also refers to visits to the city by Luke the Evangelist and Paul the Apostle. Today, Assos is a holiday retreat amid ancient ruins. In 2017 it was inscribed on the UNESCO Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey. The city was founded from 1000 to 900 BC by Aeolian colonists from Lesbos, who are said to have come from Methymna. The settlers built a Doric Temple to Athena on top of the dominant crag in 530 BC. From this temple Hermias of Atarneus, a student of Plato, ruled Assos, the Troad and Lesbos during the town's greatest period of prosperity. (Strangely, Hermias was actually the slave of the ruler of Atarneus.) Hermias encouraged philosophers to move to the city and one of those who answered the call was Aristotle, who came here in 348 BC and married Hermeias's niece, Pythia. Aristotle founded an Academy in Assos where he became chief amongst a group of philosophers, and together with them, made innovative observations on zoology and biology. Assos' 'golden period' ended several years later when the Persians arrived and tortured Hermias to death. Aristotle then fled to Macedonia, which was ruled by his friend King Philip II of Macedon and where he became tutor to Philip's son, Alexander the Great. A modern statue of Aristotle greets visitors at the entrance to Assos.