Cunda Island

Cunda - officially Alibey Adası - is the largest of the islands off Ayvalık and is reached by a causeway, so it functions as a neighbourhood rather than an island. It was Greek until 1923, resettled afterwards by Cretan Muslims whose descendants still make up much of the population, and the Cretan influence shows in the cooking and in a certain amount of Greek still spoken by the oldest residents. The centre is the church of Taxiarchis, a nineteenth-century Orthodox building badly damaged by earthquake and long derelict, restored in the 2010s and now open as a museum with its frescoes and icon screen. Around it are stone houses, windmills on the ridge, a monastery on a hill and the Sevim and Necdet Kent library in a restored church. The waterfront is a line of fish restaurants and meyhanes that fills every evening in summer. Sunset from the Şeytan Sofrası viewpoint across the water takes in the whole island.

The main sights

• Taxiarchis church - the restored Orthodox building and its frescoes.
• The stone town - Greek-era houses and windmills on the ridge.
• The quay restaurants - the seafood strip along the water.
• The Cretan inheritance - the food and language of the resettled families.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Evenings on the quay are the point. August fills the island; winter closes much of the waterfront.

Practical notes

The waterfront restaurants are priced for visitors and book out at summer weekends. The old town's cobbles are rough. Beyond eating and walking there is little to do.

Nearby

Ayvalık old town is across the causeway; Şeytan Sofrası is on the mainland ridge opposite.

Key facts