Sunset overlooking the Ayvalık Islands in the Aegean Sea, viewed from Şeytan Sofrası hill.View from a fish restaurant in Cunda Island
Ayvalık Islands (Turkish: Ayvalık Adaları,Latin: Hecatonnesi, Ancient Greek: Ἑκατόννησοι, romanized: Hekatonesoi),[1][2] are the group of islands around Ayvalık district of Turkey in Balıkesir Province in the Northeastern Aegean Sea. There are 22 islands and numerous rocks in the group, with Cunda Island, now a peninsula, being the largest. People live only on Cunda and Lale Islands. Cunda and Lale islands are linked to Ayvalık on the mainland, by a causeway enabling transportation by car. Cunda also has a ferry link from the main town, Alibey, to Ayvalık during the summer.
A Greek Orthodox metropolis was established, based in Cunda island, for some months in 1922.[3]
Wild life can be observed on the other islands, especially wild rabbits on Ilyosta Island. Also, those islands are the main points of interest to tourists as having small beaches and bays.
The archipelago forms the Ayvalık Islands National Park. There’s another island off the coast Altınova neighborhood to the south. Although being geographically separate from the archipelago, it is grouped with other islands as all of them are part of Ayvalık district.
List of islands
Ayvalık Islands are also referred to as Yund Islands or Cunda Islands in some sources. The islands are called in GreekΕκατόνησαHekatonisa which means Hekate's Island, and not "hundred islands", as some have stated; they were also called or ΜοσχονησίMoschonisi i.e. "fragrant island", by the Greeks. The Greek name has different spellings of the former, such as 'Εκατόνήσος Hekatonesos, Εκατόνησοι Hekatonnesoi or Εκατός Hekatos, and yet another name exists altogether, i.e., Ἀπολλώνησος Apollonesos, the "Isle of Apollo".
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