Projects

Contribution to the Project

A message from former Mayor of Ayvalık Rahmi Gencer, who supported us in the restoration of Panagia Phaneromeni Ayvalık Ayazması...

Panagia Phaneromeni Ayazması, located in Kemalpaşa Neighborhood in the center of Ayvalık, is one of the town’s best-known and most important religious structures. Built in the Neoclassical style using the local stone known as Sarımsak stone, the Ayazma was once used as an olive oil factory and was later left abandoned.

With the completion of the restoration work initiated under the leadership of our municipality, the project became a significant achievement both for Ayvalık’s historic fabric and for our national cultural heritage.

It was our shared responsibility to bring this “exceptional” structure back to Ayvalık. At a time when our town is included on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List, the proper conservation and use of structures such as this is of great importance.

The historic Ayazma will continue to serve the public and remain a place that people can visit and benefit from. Visitors and guests who come for the holy water will be able to explore the site. In addition, musical performances, art exhibitions, and meetings on subjects such as architecture or UNESCO may be organized here. In short, we will preserve the building by keeping it active and giving it a continuing function.

On behalf of Ayvalık and its residents, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Ömer Özyiğit, retired faculty member of the Department of Archaeology at Ege University’s Faculty of Letters and Director of the Phokaia Excavations, and his wife, archaeologist Suzan Özyiğit, who prepared the restoration project approved by the Conservation Council in 2012 and made its implementation possible.