Thermal resort popular with Turks Population: 75,000
Old name: Artameia Poemaenim
Market: Tuesday
Favourite son: Ömer Seyfettin (writer, linguist)
Gönen is a small town, a little to the north of Balıkesir, which has a big reputation as a spa resort. Here water gushes out of the ground at a scalding and constant 73 degrees Centrigrade, which is sensibly reduced before bathers are permitted to enter it. Inevitably it’s said to be therapeutic for a wide range of health problems including rheumatism and assorted heart and circulatory malfunctions.
As a result three huge spa hotels – – the Güneş, Yeşil and Yıldız – – have been built around the central park, and residents have use of the baths in their basements. These are all perfectly clean and modern if somewhat low on oriental charm. All three are run by the same management and can be booked through www.gonenkaplicalari.com (Tel: 0266-762 1840).
Gönen’s other claim to fame is its huge Tuesday market which is especially well-known for its oya, the lace that Turkish women traditionally used to make to edge their headscarves. This is one of the best places in the country to buy it.
Aside from bathing there’s not a great deal to do in Gönen. The most attractive area is around the park where you’ll find the scant remains of a 5th-century Byzantine church with mosaic floor unattractively covered over with a roof and not open to the public.
In a footnote to linguistic history, Gönen was the birthplace of Ömer Seyfettin (1884-1920), the man largely responsible for purging Turkish of its many Persian and Arabic borrowings.
Sleeping and Eating
This is a great place to come and watch the Turks at play, and there are street upon street of small family-run pensions offering simple rooms at very reasonable prices, plus plenty of small lokantas offering meals that won’t leave a dent in your wallet. The Kazancı comes in for particular praise not only for its hösmerim, a local cheese-based dessert, but also for its vast choice of cheeses.
Expect everything to be crammed to capacity over public holidays.
Travel info
Gönen is accessible by bus from Balıkesir, Biga, Erdek or Bandırma (for times of the seabuses from İstanbul’s Yenikapı to Bandırma go to www.ido.com.tr).
The Tuesday market no longer takes place in the city centre but in a purpose-built covered market building accessible via bus number 1 from near the otogar.
