The old building on the island of Cunda, overlooking the Aegean Sea, at the end of the restaurant strip has intrigued me for years. I thought it could have been an old hotel manifesting local architectural styles and construction techniques. It has been in disrepair for as long as I remember, slowly decaying as if it had been condemned to a slow death.
It Used to Be an Orphanage
It was during my trip in 2012 I learned that it used to be an orphanage and was in operation until the mid to late 1980s. As I moved around the periphery of the building to document its current state, I could not help to wonder why anyone would abandon a building, a property like this one at a premium location. Its residents were moved to a modern building just behind it and this stately structure was left to decay and rot. It still projected the character and style of an era when it probably stood rather proud, overlooking the sea.
I started photographing from the backside of the building. The severity of decay was most visible from this angle with a collapsed balcony, an entryway filled with debris. Peeling paint on the walls showed multiple layers of colors indicating earlier paint jobs on the exterior. As I got closer, I noticed that a good part of the floor and much of the ceiling of the lobby were no longer there. I thought that this much destruction could not have happened by simply the material deteriorating by itself. The human touch was clearly at play, first by totally neglecting it, and second, by physically tearing parts of it down.
The Residence of the Priest
I am not sure what will become of this building. Perhaps some people are waiting for it to fully collapse so that a new structure can be erected, perhaps a casino, a 5-star hotel, who knows. What I have come to realize is that the building that once was the home of the Greek Orthodox priest (then called Despot,) then provided a home to orphans now has become an orphan itself.
Update 2019: During our visit to Ayvalik, we discovered the newly restored Despot House as a five-star boutique hotel. Very nice indeed!
Philippe BRIER
Dear Mr. Ekin,
I went to Ayvalik in August 2001 and my natural curiosity led me to visit this imposing mansion. Just like you, I was intrigued by such a stately house and also by the fact that it was left to decay. I didn’t know it was used as an orphanage before. But from a book I bought in Athens, “Ionia – The Greeks in Asia Minor” by Stantis and Irkos Apostolidis (Adam editions, 1997), I learnt that this neoclassical building was originally the palace of the Bishop, Ayvalik/Cunda (or, in Greek, Aivali/Moschonisi) being a prosperous place of Christian orthodoxy, with many churches and monasteries. In Turkey, the building was referred to as “Despot’un Evi”. Wandering the streets of Cunda, I also discovered the former Greek cemetery where, apparently, nothing was left. But my eyes were drawn to a small fragment of marble emerging from the dusty earth. It appeared to be the corner of a beautiful marble tombstone on which there was a Greek inscription. A friend of mine translated what she considered “strange Greek language” and told me that it was a priest’s grave. After Ayvalik, I also discovered Foça, Pergamum, Söke, Cappadocia… If you are interested in Ayvalik, I can recommend you to read: “Kentli Ayvalik” by Berrin Akin (2005), “Ayvalik’i gezerken” by Ahmet Yorulmaz and “Twice A stranger” by Bruce Clark – see chapter 1, “Ayvalik and its ghosts” (Granta, 2006). Thank you for your articles which I had great pleasure and interest to read.
Don’t hesitate to write to me. My E-mail address is: [email protected].
Best regards from France.
Philippe Brier
A. Cemal Ekin
Hello Philippe, and thank you for your very informative comment. I have been visiting Ayvalik for quite a few years and find something new to explore every time. I will look for the books you mentioned and share this comment with my family who have a house in Ayvalik. I have quite a few articles and photograph collections from Ayvalik and a few bound folios in magazine format. The most recent ones you can see in digital format on screen, printed versions are available as well. The orphanage was in operation until mid 1980s when it moved to a new building just behind the old one. I was amazed how quickly it has deteriorated, just like the Kirlangic Olive Oil factory I documented. Preservation may be costly in monetary terms, but lack of preservation bears a higher cost in lost culture which I have seen too many times in places I visited in Turkey. Sad but true.
Cemal
Philippe BRIER
Hello Cemal! Thank you for your prompt reply. I have just found a photo of the “Bishop/Orphanage building” we talked about on a Greek site devoted to Ayvalik/Cunda. It shows the building in a much better state (is it in a process of restoration? or is the photo an old one? – in fact, it looks like a recent photo, so I think the building has been eventually restored). It is referred to as the “Big house in Moschonisi, the so-called ‘palati’”. The name of this site is “The Greeks of Aivali and Moschonisi”(http://www.mikrasia.lit.upatras.gr/index.html). You will find many interesting documents in this site (including old photos of people and places).
Concerning the old Cunda tombstone I told you about (which I found on the fringe of the old Greek cemetery), a friend of mine (professor of ancient Greek) told me that it was written in a typical Ionian form spoken in Asia Minor, close to ancient Greek. Here is what she told me about this tombstone: “It is the tombstone of a priest, dead at about forty, at “Moschonisi – Yunanda”; the inscription says: ”Honoured for his virtue, charity and culture, he will ascends to Heaven.”
I share the same point of view concerning the Kirlangic Olive Oil factory: it’s so sad all these old factories (producing oil or soap) disappear. While not as “glamorous” as mansions or churches, they bear precious witness to the industrial past of Turkey. Hopefully, I think the mentality is changing in Turkey, as it has changed in France. Still, some restorations are being decided once the buildings have almost collapsed!
I plan to go back to Ayvalik in August 2013 (after 12 years) and I am anxious to discover all the changes – good things, bad things – that have occurred!
Will I find the old grave again??!
PS: I tried to send you two photos (of the building and of the tombstone) in this reply but it could not work. Sorry.
My E-mail: [email protected]
A. Cemal Ekin
Hello again Philippe. I will make sure that my sister reads this message. She and her husband spend a lot of time in Ayvalik and they can tell us if the orphanage is restored. I know that there is a trend to restore these old buildings. They restored the windmill on Cunda, the Moon Light Monastery again on Cunda. Restoration of the Taksiyarhis on Cunda is under way, they are also planning to restore the Hagia Tridia in town.
Let us know when you will be in Ayvalik, if my sister and brother-in-law happen to be there you may get a chance to meet them.
Philippe BRIER
Hi Cemal! Of course I will let you know when I go back to Ayvalik (probably in August). Don’t forget to have a look at the Greek site I mentioned to see the photo of an apparently restored orphanage building (and other interesting things). Speaking about restoration, here is an article (“An elegy to Istanbul: destroying the last remnants of metropolitan culture”) which a friend of mine has sent to me (http://www.theglobetimes.com/2013/01/07/an-elegy-to-istanbul-destroying-the-last-remnants-of-metropolitan-culture). While not agreeing with everything that is said in this article, I think it is globally relevant and I like these downward streets with their small houses (reminding me of some Lisboa streets). Houses with a “soul” and a history, and quarters on a human scale favouring exchanges between neighbours.
A. Cemal Ekin
Hello Philippe,
I did visit the site you mentioned but there is no photograph of the orphanage restored. There is a building that looks architecturally similar but the surroundings are totally different. It could not be the same building.
I have also read the post about the changing nature or Istanbul. I have been blowing the same horn for years, nay, decades. Once the texture of a city is destroyed, it becomes a living place devoid of heritage and history. Through decades of poor policy and poorer politics Istanbul experienced an unmanageable flood of migrations and related problems along with that. In half a century, the population exploded to 15 times the size it was in mid 1960s. About one-fifth of the entire Turkish population live in Istanbul. Crazy!
Philippe BRIER
Hello Cemal,
So there is another building, similar to the old orphanage. I guess it is also located in the Ayvalik area. I really wonder what it is/was.
Unfortunately, what you said about Istanbul can be said of many capitals now: “gentrification”, poor people being expelled to (very) remote suburbs. What I like in Istanbul is to be (still) able to have a tea in a small and quiet yard, with street cats around, just behind the high building on Istiklal Caddesi. How long will such places be preserved? As for Paris, it’s becoming a “City-Museum”. The traditional “classes populaires” that once made the salt of the city have disappeared to be replaced mostly by “Bobos” (meaning “Bourgeois-bohême”, ie “young/rich/left-wing adults”) and, on the other hand, extremely poor migrants from Africa!
Back to Ayvalik, I have just received (from Amazon) “Discoveries in Asia Minor” (volume II) by Francis V. J. ARUNDELL (Elibron Classics). It’s a book of memories of a travel that took place circa 1830. One chapter is dedicated to Ayvalik. When Arundell visited the city, it was almost ruined by the war but the inhabitants had just come back. The description is full of many “picturesque” details. One city (opposite Mytilini), near Ayvalik, is referred to as “Kaspakumi Chifflek tou Makarouni”. Another city as “Aiasmati” (“one hour and half” from Ayvalik). I wonder what is the current name of these places. Arundell mentioned the “hills covered with olive trees”, the vineyards, the “numerous windmills”. He evoked the former two hospitals, the library, the printing-press, the (new) khan, and the once famous college (teaching “ancient and modern Greek, belles lettres, natural philosophy and mathematics, logic, rhetoric, and moral philosophy”) whose “chairs were occupied by distinguished professors.” He also referred to the “visit of the French consul” “who offered his assistance” and who lived in his “consular mansion” in “Musconisi”… Very interesting!
A. Cemal Ekin
The building might have been an earlier photograph of the late orphanage. Before they filled the area in front of it the building could have been on the shore, but there is a little elevation issue. It needs an expert eye to look and a historian to verify the identity of that building.
The old city names do not ring a bell with me but I am sure people in Ayvalik will know where these towns are. Again, I will make sure my sister reads your comment, she may know more about these towns.
The hills around Ayvalik being covered with olive trees is still true. Las year I took a ride from Ayvalik to Altinova on the old highway and both sides of the road were covered with olive groves as far as you could see, for about 30 kilometers. You can see the photographs from that ride, along with others I took a while back in the Olive Trees of Ayvalik post and a related bound folio:
https://www.keptlight.com/olive-trees-of-ayvalik/
Philippe Brier
Hi Cemal,
It’s me again!
At the moment I am trying to sort out which way is the best for me to go to Ayvalik (I plan to have 3 stays in Turkey: Ayvalik, Adatepe and Istanbul) in the first part of August.
Due to a very little choice concerning the flights (most of them are very long and start from Paris late at night), plus the long bus drive from Izmir to Ayvalik and the fact that the bus company will be closed when I arrive at Izmir, I suddenly had this idea: why not have a Paris-Lesvos flight and then cross the sea to Ayvalik and after my stay in Avalik go back to Lesvos and have a flight from this island to Istanbul. This option presents more flight opportunities and shorter flight times BUT is it possible to cross the Aegean several times between Turkey and Greece ?? That the question!
If you have some information about that it will be welcome!
Best regards.
Philippe
A. Cemal Ekin
Hello Philippe,
I have not made the trip you are considering and I will plead ignorance. However, you can check the schedule of flights from Istanbul to Edremit, that is a short hop and I think there are daily flights. From there to Ayvalik is about 30-40 minutes. Of course Lesvos-Ayvalik boat ride could be quite pleasant as well. Regarding the passport and travel issues, I don’t think that is an issue, but I will check with my sister. They are planning to take the boat to Lesvos this summer sometime but I am not sure when.
Cemal
Philippe Brier
Thank you very much Cemal for your information!
I didn’t even know there were flights from Istanbul to Edremit (as I ignored there was a airport in this city). This changes things a lot. Being in a hurry to prepare my stay in Turkey (and making the best of my current days off) I reserved a Paris-Lesvos flight yesterday for August 5 (arriving at 20:05 on the Greek island). From there I plan to get to Ayvalik as soon as possible where I will stay several days (staying also a few days at Adatepe village). I will go back to Lesvos on August 14 where I will have a Lesvos-Istanbul flight. You can tell your sister and brother-in-law about my dates as I would be very happy to pay them a visit if it’s possible. Of course I will drop your sister some words with details about my stay.
After reading this reply, you can suppress it from your blog if you wish, as this has very little to do with the Abandoned Orphanage. I won’t mind!
Thank you again.
Philippe
Philippe Brier
I think it’s high time I gave you an account of my 2013 summer stay in Ayvalik!
First excuse me for not having written sooner. I intended to write you something “consistent”, not just a few lines, but back to France I was trapped by many obligations (especially work), times passed fast and nothing had been sent.
I spent about ten days in Ayvalik (including a few days in Lesvos) in the first part of August 2013. It was a very pleasant stay seeing interesting things and enjoying the contact with the people. On August 7th, Mr Ergun Melin, whom you know well, took me at my hotel and we went together to the beautifully restorated Taksiyarhis church, where classical music concerts are now played. Then we walked to his house where he and his wife Binnaz invited me for a coffee. They let me take some photos of their superb house, so tastefully restorated, with its very original inside design. Being much interested in Ottoman architecture, I was particularly impressed with the high arched walls in the entrance room. I also liked the stained glass panels upstairs, the peaceful garden… I discovered Binnaz and I shared a passion for cats and English gardens! On the day after, I came to Cunda where Melin and Binnaz invited me for a tasty dinner at their favourite restaurant Ayna. I met there some of their friends, and we talked about many different things. It was a pleasant evening. After my Ayvalik/Lesvos stay, I eventually came to Istanbul, which is a city that I like so much, full of history, energy, magic, and diversity: different visions and atmospheres according to where you are. I went to “Istanbul Modern” (the new Museum of Modern Art) and to Orhan Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence. I know this city so much (I have gone there so many, many times!).
But let me tell you a little about my “finds” in Ayvalik.
First I was surprised to see how many restoration works are being carried out concerning houses, factories and churches. I think that in the future Ayvalik (along with Cunda) will become beautiful (I only hope the “cool” atmosphere will be preserved and that locals will not be driven away because of a higher cost of living and lands). My only disappointment was to realize that the bookshop that was once owned by Ahmet YORULMAZ is now closed. This man was a local scholar (I have one of his books). Now that he is retired, there is unfortunately no other bookshop. On the other hand, there are several bookshops in Mytilini and some books about the history of Ayvalik (notably the memories of Vassiliki Ralli), are to be found but they are in Greek. There is also one sold inside the Mytilini Cathedral.
Concerning interesting things that I saw:
-First of all: another Greek (ie “Rum”) tombstone coming from the former Greek cemetery that is (or rather was) located near the present Muslim cemetery. This stone was rescued thanks to the gardener from the Muslim cemetery where he deposited it. A professor from the Patras university (whose mother comes from Cunda and has written several books about the region, in Greek alas!) translated it for me. Here it is:
It says something like that: “Panayotis Zachos (name)/Here is the land of the Dead/You, stranger on a visit/Should know that under the cold marble stone/Youth and Old age are equal/Oh, such a vanity, such grace and virtue/Transmuted in a bitter way (the last sentence is incomplete).”
-Seen in two antique shops in Ayvalik: 1) a old photo that would represent the departure of the Rums from Ayvalik in 1922:
And a “Icon Bottle”:
-I also saw a chapel on the outskirts of the city (standing in a private garden, but it was impossible to visit it). Of course, I came back to the “orphanage mansion” in Cunda. It was more derelict than ever, but is still imposing and still contains a beautiful pavement. The Greek professor from Patras (whose mother comes from Cunda) told me that it was the private residence of a bishop (who was killed inside this palace itself). The episcopal residence was located in front of the Taksiarchis Cathedral.
I can send you my recent photos of the building if you want.
Sorry for my poor English, I hope you will understand most of what I wrote!
I send Binnaz and Ergun several messages and the series of photos that I took in their house (I sent them on 02/11/13) but didn’t received any reply. I hope they are getting on well, maybe they are now in Istanbul. Please give them my best regards. Thank them again for the nice evening they offered me at the Cunda restaurant as well as the welcoming reception in their house.
Best regards from Philippe!
Maybe you will be interested in reading this book that has been released in English recently (and maybe in Turkish) about the memories of the last Greek girl who left Ayvalik (her young brother who was rescued by a Turkish soldier became a famous writer): “The Ten-Day Diary’ by Agapi Molyviatis-Venezis, translated by Chrissi Bobaridou, Henry Scott, Irini Sarıoğlu (Hellenic History Foundation, 2012, 25TL, 207 pages).
Philippe
Thanks Cemal for publishing my new message!
Philippe