As recently as 1996, guidebook writer John Freely could still write of ancient Antandros on the Gulf of Edremit near Altınoluk that “nothing now remains except scattered architectural fragments built into the terrace walls of an olive grove.”
Today, nothing could be further from the truth with the entire bay heavily developed for tourism.
Heading east from Altınoluk, you need to keep your eyes peeled for a sign on the left pointing into what looks like an olive grove. Wander in and you will come to a currently unsung archaeological site where a superb Roman villa, complete not just with mosaics but also with mural paintings, has been excavated.
Here, too, are the remains of a huge bathhouse and a cistern that once stored water for what is thought to have been a large town whose wealth was almost certainly based on shipbuilding.
According to Homer, it was from here that the hero Aeneas
sailed into exile following the fall of Troy.
Afterwards, if you walk (carefully) back along the coast road towards Altınoluk until you reach a modern housing complex on the edge of Devren, you will be able to inspect the remains of the necropolis where the dead of Antandros were buried.
Transport info
Between Küçükkuyu and Edremit frequent minibuses pass the entrance to Antandros.
