Guide
Bozcaada — Tenedos in antiquity — is a district of Çanakkale, with Samothrace to the north, Lemnos to the north-west, Lesbos to the south and Gökçeada to the north-east. With the islets and rocks around it, it covers 40 square kilometres. There are no high hills and no forest; the highest point is Göztepe, at 192 metres, which commands the surroundings. It is one of the two islands in the Aegean that belong to Türkiye.
Homer mentions Tenedos in the Iliad. Herodotus writes that its first inhabitants were the Pelasgians. Alexander took control of the Aegean islands in 334 BC, Rome followed in the first century BC, and in 1455–56 the island was taken from the Venetians — the first island in the Aegean to pass into Turkish hands. Terracotta figurines and pottery have been found in the cemetery used from the sixth century BC to the Roman period.
The second castle built by the Venetians — the New Castle — and the Köprülü Mehmet Paşa mosque of 1657 are among the district's monuments. From the Ottoman period there are also the Yalı mosque, the Alaybey mosque, the Namazgah with its historic fountain, now used as a park, and the three-aisled church of the Virgin built in 1870. The sacred spring known as the Ayazma of Aya Paraskevi holds an important place in Orthodox belief; the Paraskevi festivals once held there have been replaced by the grape harvest festival.
The island lives on wine. Four wineries work here and wine is made in the houses as well, and the harvest festival is held each August. Among the places to see are the vineyards, the wind farm, the Alaybey mosque, the Kimisis Teodoku Greek Orthodox church, Göztepe, Habbele, the Çamlık picnic ground, the Namazgah fountain, the island houses, the local history research centre, Tuz Burnu, the Köprülü Mehmet Paşa mosque, the Ayazma marina, Mermer Burnu and the Polente lighthouse. The island is reached by car ferry from the Yükyeri quay at Geyikli.
