Turkey
Cunda Island
A Greek island resettled by Cretan Turks, its cathedral now a museum, its chapel a library.
The bell tower rises above the harbour, but the call inside is to books, not prayer. Cunda's grand Taksiyarhis Church is now a museum, and a smaller restored chapel nearby has its nave lined with library shelves. Outside, the Aegean laps at restaurant tables where papalina arrive fried whole, under olive trees older than anything built here.
Cunda, also called Alibey Island, sits in the Ayvalık archipelago off Turkey's northern Aegean coast, linked to the mainland across a causeway built in the 1960s. Its Greek Orthodox islanders were sent to Greece in the 1923 exchange, replaced by Cretan Turks who brought their own kitchen with them. The Taksiyarhis Church, built in 1873, has been restored as a Rahmi M. Koç museum, and the island's much-loved library stands in a smaller restored chapel. On the Sahil waterfront, meze restaurants fry the little papalina whole and pour olive oil pressed from gnarled local groves.
Couple
Cunda is slow and atmospheric: waterfront meze, converted churches, olive-oil tastings and Aegean light that turns everything golden by late afternoon. A place for long lunches and aimless walks.
Solo
Read in a church-turned-library, eat papalina at a harbourside table, and walk the stone lanes where two cultures left their marks. Cunda rewards the unhurried traveller.
- The Taksiyarhis Church, built in 1873, is now a museum; a smaller restored chapel nearby shelves the island's much-loved library.
- The island's Greek population was replaced in the 1923 exchange by Cretan Turks and Turks from Lesbos.
- Cunda's olive oil has a distinct peppery finish, from gnarled groves older than anything built here.
- The waterfront at Sahil is lined with meze restaurants where papalina fish is served fried whole.
Höşmerim, fresh unsalted cheese cooked with semolina and sugar to a honey colour.
Ayvalık olive oil, golden and high in aroma, pressed from the groves around the bay.
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