Ancient Iassus

On Saturday 25 April we took a wander around the harbour to explore the ancient city of Iassus. It quickly became apparent that there was much more to Iassus than we had expected. There is no entrance fee, you just walk onto the site and explore as you wish. Members of the Italian School of archaeology return to the site each year and so there are some useful signs dotted around to help explain the ruins.

The semicircular bouleuterion where the city council met was a highlight.

And enough of the columns had been re-erected to make the layout of the agora very clear.

Further around, on the eastern side of the hill, were the remains of the theatre. Despite being covered in olive trees, the curve of the seating area cut into the hillside was visible and there were a few columns and pieces of stonework but sadly the bulk of the marble and stone was removed in the 1850s to build the docks at Constantinople.

Higher up on the eastern side, under the castle walls, were some foundations of buildings and we walked along the flagstones of an old road between them.

From on top of the wall the layout was even clearer.

After the enchanting walk amongst the olive trees exploring the remains of ancient Iassos, we climbed up higher to take a look at the castle. As we had approached the harbour, the castle had dominated the skyline of the hill and so we had expected it to be the more impressive sight to visit. There were a couple of old buildings still standing inside the castle walls but up close it was clear that it was essentially just the walls that remained and that the less conspicuous remnants of ancient Iassus were, in fact, the gem here. In comparison with Iassus, there was also very little information that we could find about the castle.

That said, the castle offered commanding views and in good ‘non-health and safety fashion’ we clambered along the walls looking out across Güllük Körfezi. Down towards the entrance to the harbour we could see the submerged breakwater on the western side and the Byzantine tower to the east.

And further round we got an excellent view of ancient Iassus and the harbour where BV was moored.

With the gulets and several fishing boats out for the day the quayside looked much less crowded and it was difficult to see why we’d struggled to find a space when we first arrived.

Now that the castle and ancient Iassus were ticked off as ‘done’, we climbed down and walked around the coastline and out to the Byzantine tower at the harbour entrance. On our way back to BV we also wandered around the modern-day village of Kurin. It is very rural with cultivated fields and vegetable patches between the houses. Cattle, goats and chickens were much in evience and, as we passed the cafés, the local gentlemen were busy with gossip and a card/domino type game.

After a couple of nights in Asin Limani it was time to move on. Our plan was to move west a long the coast and leave BV in the marina at Didum so that we could look at the remains of several cities which lie around the ancient Gulf of Latmos.

Asin Limani, Turkey