ASSOS: Assos, which was Greekized by the colonists coming from the island of Lesbos, became a center dominating its immediate surroundings. B.C. Assos, which was captured by the Lydians in 560, was the most powerful and important city of Troas. According to ancient historians, Assos and Pedasos were the same city. The great historian Hemeros mentioned that the Lelegs lived in southern Troas. Assos, which served as the capital of the Leleges, was founded on the site of the city of Pedasos, which was destroyed by Achilles. Assos is one of the first civilizations to print money. Assos coins featuring Athena and Medusa exist, and the oldest known coin dates back to B.C. It is at the beginning of the 6th century.

B.C. In 546, it became the satrapy of the Persian Empire under the name Hellespont Phrygia. B.C. After the Peace of Altalcidas in 387, Eubolos says that he became the ruler of Atarneus and the city of Assos, independently of the rule of Artaxerxes. After his death, his slave "Eunuch" Hermeias took control over these cities. Plato's student Hermeias invited his friends Xenocrates and Aristotle to Assos. He was related to Aristotle through marriage. Aristotle lived in Assos for three years. Hermeias declared the independence of Assos in B.C. It continued until 345. He was arrested after the betrayal of a Persian general and taken to the capital. Using the seal of Hermeias, a letter stating that the sovereignty was handed over to Artaxerxes was prepared and sent to the cities that remained loyal, thus the sovereignty of Assos passed to the Persians.

B.C. After Alexander's victory against the Persians in the Battle of Granicus in 334, Assos and the entire region were liberated. After Alexander's death, Gauls settled in the Troas Region. With the rise of the Kingdom of Pergamon, the tribes that did not pay taxes to Eumenes and Attalos were exiled to the shores of the Hellespont. After more than 60 years in the region, B.C. They were defeated in a battle near Arisbe in 216. B.C. III in 133. With the death of Attalos and his will, it came under Roman rule as a part of the Pergamon Kingdom and experienced a period of rapid rise. The Middle Ages were a dark period for Assos, which was one of the first cities to accept Christianity. Assos came under French rule during the Crusades and took the name Makhramion during the Byzantine period. Assos, which became Turkified with the conquest of the entire region by the Ottoman Empire in the early 14th century, is the most important touristic value of today's Çanakkale province.

Athena Temple: The Athena temple to the east of the Acropolis has a very special place among the Archaic Age temples in Anatolia. B.C. The temple, built between 540-530, was dedicated to the goddess Athena, according to an inscription on a column capital. The mosaic flooring inside the cella reveals that the temple was used until the Hellenistic Age. The temple measures 14.30X30.31 meters and has 13 columns on the long sides and 6 columns on the short sides. The entire temple, except for its roof, is made of andesite stone. The friezes and metopes decorated with mythological subjects and animal struggles are exhibited today in the museums of Çanakkale, Istanbul, Louvre and Boston. Only temple officials could enter the sacred room (Cella), which was considered the home of the goddess. Sculptures belonging to the temple and gifts presented to the goddess were kept in the cella. According to the beliefs of that age, all ceremonies for the Goddess were performed outdoors, standing and with hands raised in the air. The eastern direction, where the entrance gate of the temples were located, was chosen as the ceremony area. Offerings to the goddess were thrown into a fire burning on an altar. Murderers, drunkards and those with congenital defects are prohibited from entering the temple grounds.

Byzantine Ruins: During the Late Byzantine Period, the acropolis was used as a shelter. For this purpose, the acropolis was turned into a castle by surrounding it with a city wall with round and square towers. There are cisterns, grain warehouses and residences inside the castle. Stones from the temple of Athena were used in the construction of the structures in question.

Necropolis: The cemetery areas of the city of Assos extend from the east to the west of the city. However, excavations and research were carried out only in the cemetery in front of the West Gate. The oldest graves in the necropolis are urn and large pithos graves. The dead were placed in these large storage containers in the womb position (hoker). They were generally laid on the bedrock with their mouths facing east, and their mouths were closed with stones. The oldest of this type of tomb dates back to B.C. It dates back to the mid-7th century. The ashes of people cremated were placed in small vases (urns). B.C. Cist type graves in the 6th century BC. In the 5th century, sarcophagi appear. Sarcophagus tombs were used uninterruptedly until the Byzantine Age. Until the Roman Age, sarcophagi were simple, flat-covered, unadorned and without inscriptions. The names of the grave owners were written on cube-shaped stone blocks and placed on the sarcophagi. Starting from the Roman Age, sarcophagi began to be decorated and inscriptions began to be written on their long faces. Apart from the sarcophagi, there are also many family tombs surrounded by walls. One of them belongs to the Larichos family. There are many monumental graves from the Roman Age in the Assos cemetery area. The best preserved of these is BC. It is the tomb of Publius Varius, built at the end of the 1st century. The stone-paved road connecting to the West Gate and the oldest of the necropolis dates back to B.C. It was built in the 6th century. It is estimated that two more roads were built to the north of this road in the Roman Age. The dead are cremated or buried in the graves as they are today. As a general rule, children have never been cremated. Especially in the Archaic Age, women were cremated and their ashes were placed in small containers, while men were buried in large pithos without being cremated. According to ancient belief, various gifts were often placed in graves.

Agora: It is the most important public space where people gathered and carried out political and commercial activities in the Ancient Age. For the Agora, a flat area suitable for public gathering is sufficient. Assos agora is in the middle of the residential areas in the east and west of the city and just west of the theater. Roads coming from the east, west and port of the city intersect at the agora. The city's parliament building (Bouleuterion) is located in the eastern corner of the agora. Stoas lie on the northern and southern edges. There is a bath structure built in the Roman Era right in front of the south stoa. The main door of the agora is in the west direction. The small temple just south of the entrance was converted into a church during the Byzantine Age.

Bouleuterion: The building used as the meeting place of the city council has a square plan. The roof is supported by four columns inside. The entrance of the building is in the west direction, facing the agora, and other directions are closed. The space between the four columns on the west side, where the entrance is located, is closed with bars. There are wooden seating rows on three sides of the building, except for the entrance. The unfluted columns in the Bouleuterion are in the Doric order. According to an inscription found in the parliament building, B.C. It was built in the 4th century.

Stoa: Stoa, which protects people from sun and rain, is the meeting point of merchants, rich people and philosophers. The main rock (conglomerate) to the north of the Agora was cut for the construction of the stoa. Two-storey stoa facing south, 111.52 m. long and 12.42 m. is wide. The staircase at the front of the spaces opening to the Agora extends throughout the entire building. The columns inside and in front of the stoa are in the Doric order. The columns inside the stoa's spaces are straight, while those on the front façade are channeled. The first floor is supported by thick wooden beams. The stoa in the south of the agora had more floors due to the difference in elevation, and the upper floor opened to the agora. There is a cistern on the floor of the stoa that meets the water needs. Assos Stoa BC. It is estimated that it was built in the middle of the 2nd century.

Theatre: The theater to the south of the agora was built from andesite. In the Roman Period, a two-storey stage building was placed in front of the orchestra in the building, which shows a Greek character with its horseshoe plan. Features of the building, such as leaning on a hillside and facing the view, are also characteristic of Greek theaters. The seating steps of the theater are separated from each other by vertical stairs and horizontal promenades (diazoma). The theater is entered from the east and west sides through two vaulted passages opening to the diazoma. There is a water channel that surrounds the theater's orchestra. The south-facing sides of the seating rows sit on deep vaults. In the Roman Age, the first row of seats was cut and the addition of railing plates must be related to the gladiator games. Four inscriptions were identified on the seating rows. Three of these belong to professional groups such as blacksmiths, leather workers and stone operators. The fourth is about the cult of Serapis or the people belonging to this cult. Inscriptions reveal that these professional groups made reservations at the theatre.

The holes on the edges of the seats in the theater are for the wooden poles of the canopies erected to protect the audience from the sun. Deteriorations caused by landslides on the west side of the theater are still visible. B.C. 4-3. The theater, built in the 19th century, continued to be used in the Roman Era with some additions and changes.

The theater, which was first excavated by the American excavation team between 1881 and 1883, was discovered by Turkish researchers in the 1980s. It was completely exposed and restored by the committee.

Ayazma Church: 400 m from the West Gate. The church, to the southwest, is located on Ayazma Hill. That's why it is called "Ayazma Church". The word Ayazma means "Hagiasma" in Greek, meaning "holy water" or "sacred area with water". Ayazma Hill, which was used as a necropolis in the Roman Age, is covered with sarcophagus and mausoleum ruins. The church was unearthed during the presidency of Ümit Serdaroğlu. In 2007, cleaning and excavation works were restarted in the church. The church was partly built on the podium wall of the Roman Age mausoleum. The church consists of a long naos. Side spaces were added to the long sides of the naos. The walls separating the naos from the side spaces are built with reused stones. The well-preserved parts of the walls are 1.7 m high in places. is in height. The floor of the naos is covered with plates obtained from Roman Age sarcophagi, and the floor of the Bema is covered with marble plates. During the second construction phase of the church, benches were added in front of the side walls of the naos. In the east, the naos is separated from the bema by a templon. The floor of the bema is covered with marble plates. A synthronon was added to the round planned apse. A short and narrow passage lined with marble slabs; It connects the bema to the ambo standing in the middle of the naos. The stepped ambon was made from Roman Age sarcophagi. The side naves were divided into small rooms during the second building phase and three doors opening to the naos were added.The sarcophagi in the small rooms show that these places were used as cemeteries. 25x15 m to the west of the naos. A narthex was added to the size of The door on the narrow façade to the south of the narthex is the main entrance of the church. The dead were buried in the narthex, whose floor was bedrock. Excavations have been continuing in the area west of the narthex since 2007. During these researches in the church, many small spaces were added during the second construction phase on the west side of the church. The floors of some of these are very carefully covered with spolia slabs. The dead were probably buried in these places as well. In front of the narthex, there are four sarcophagi lined up side by side. The sarcophagi were robbed because they were on the ground. That's why there are no finds or skeletons inside the sarcophagi. No fragment was found. A small chapel was added to the south corner of the church during the last construction phase, and the floor of the chapel is covered with marble. M.S. It is understood that additions were made to the church, which was built in the late 9th or 10th century, in the following centuries. The building, which has all the elements of a church, is simple and unpretentious. The building, built with a large number of spoliated pieces, was used as a tomb church.

Western Church: The church on the same terrace as the theater, to the south of the agora, is called the West Church. The church is revealed by Clarke and Bacon. The Western Church, whose mosaic pattern and plan are drawn, is introduced with a short text. The church, which was cleaned again in 1990, has three naves and a semicircular apse. During recent excavations, a two-room narthex section was unearthed. The narthex and the rooms in front of it are divided by buttresses. The marble veneer plates on the buttresses were preserved in situ. The threshold of the door in the middle axis, which provides entrance to the narthex, remains in place. The entrance to the naos, directly opposite the narthex door, was closed with a wall in a later period. The floor of the narthex is covered with rectangular marble slabs and a railing plate. The railing plate is cut in the shape of a diamond slice; By placing different colored marble pieces inside, an opus sectile appearance was achieved. The main space of the church is divided into three naves by two rows of columns. The floor of the northern nave is covered with stone slabs, and the wall behind it is regularly divided by arched niches. Most likely, this section must belong to the Roman Age. The floor of the side nave in the north is higher than the floor of the naos. The side nave in the south is narrower and lower than the naos floor. In order to eliminate the elevation differences on the sloping land, gradual filling was done. The large stone blocks used on the walls of the spaces at different levels and the column drums lying on the ground undoubtedly belong to Roman Era structures. The columns lying on the floor of the side naves are made of marble and andesite. There is a cross decoration on one of the marble columns. Most of the arch stones were found inside the church. Andesite and marble spolia were used in the construction of the church. Inside the semicircular apse wall from the outside, a row of smooth rectangular block stones stands out.The inner part of the apse, unlike the outer part, is built with rubble stone. The floor of the naos and the bema are covered with inscribed mosaics. The inscribed section of the mosaic on the bema, which was re-unearthed in the 1990s, was destroyed. Mosaic; It is surrounded by a border consisting of vine, braid and volute motifs. Above the mosaic; Symmetrical quadrangular areas of different sizes are decorated with rhombuses, flowers, braids and birds. According to the two-line inscription; The mosaic was commissioned by “Alypios”. The motif consisting of a medallion and a rhombus connects the bema and naos mosaics. According to the second inscription in the west of the naos; Satarnilos was the one who had the mosaic made. The mosaic in the naos was published as a schematic drawing consisting only of octagonal medallions. According to its architectural features, the three-naved large church dates back to A.D. built in the 5th or 6th century should have been done.

Gymnasion: The building consists of a large square-plan courtyard and a canopy surrounding it. Gymnasiums where young people were educated in sports, music, literature and science were established in B.C. It was located outside the city and in forest areas until the 4th century. However, later it started to be built within cities. According to an inscription unearthed in the Assos Gymnasium, the building dates back to B.C. It was built in the 2nd century. A large cistern was built on the southern edge of the courtyard to meet the water needs of the students for washing. The northern part of the Gymnasium was converted into a church in the Byzantine Age and the floor was covered with mosaics.