Saros Bay:

The underwater treasures it possesses make Saros Bay a leading diving spot on Turkey's northwestern Aegean coast.

Saros Bay has strong currents and has not been degraded by the effects of significant urbanization and industrialization. As a result, it is one of the cleanest and untouched areas of the Aegean Sea. The bay cleans itself three times a year thanks to the currents, flushing out waste with a mixture of warm and cold water.

In the bay, there are over 200 different marine species, including water bugs, lobsters, starfish, and sea snails. You can also find numerous dive sites: İbrice Harbor, Paradise, Hell, Toplar Point, Soldier Stone, Three Islands, Coal Harbor, Baby, and Minnoş Rocks. The most well-known among these is Minnoş Rocks, where colorful cliffs are located about 15 meters below the water level. After the first few meters, you can see dolphins and sea turtles, and pass by orange corals. At the end of the cliff, you may encounter lanternfish and large rays.

Saros Bay is also home to shipwrecks. One of them is the Lundy Wreck, which weighs 188 tons. The ship was built in 1908 and sank in 1915. Its wreck is located in Suvla Bay, south of Saros Bay. After 13 meters, the silhouette of the ship becomes visible, and from this point, you can explore the captain's boat and watch the bream swimming on the deck. You can find many lobsters and grouper fish on the seabed where the ship meets the sand.

The latest wreck in Saros Bay is an Airbus A330 that was sunk in March 2019 and is ready for exploration.

Gelibolu:

Gelibolu, located in Çanakkale, is the meeting point of the Aegean and Marmara seas and is filled with marine life and fascinating shipwrecks.

The Gelibolu Peninsula hosted one of the most well-known and significant fronts of World War I, the Gallipoli Campaign. The area is where the battle took place between British forces and their allies and the Turks. The wreck of the cargo ship Lundy, which sank on April 15, 1915, after being hit by a torpedo, and the wreck of HMS Majestic, lying 18-28 meters underwater, form some of the area's interesting parts.

There are 216 shipwrecks in Gelibolu Peninsula and Çanakkale. The vast majority of these wrecks, excluding galleons, are maritime vessels. Dive depths range from 7 to 30 meters. Normal diving and static line diving can be attempted. The Milo was partially sunk by the Allies in October 1915 to create a breakwater to protect the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at North Beach. It split in two during a storm on November 18, 1915, and is now located just 15 centimeters from its original position.

Assos:

On one side, the oxygen reservoir Kazdağları, and on the other side, the Aegean Sea, Assos is a region rich in ancient cities, historical structures, villages, waterfalls, and its unique culture.

The Assos Ancient City in Behramkale Village, Ayvacık district of Çanakkale, is one of the special places in the North Aegean with its unique view of the Aegean Sea. The history of Assos, which hosted the famous philosopher Aristotle and his philosophy school, dates back to prehistoric times.

Assos was founded by the Methymnaeans and Aiolians from Lesbos, who you feel you could reach out and touch if you extended your hand. This settlement has witnessed many civilizations from ancient times through the Hellenistic period, from Rome to the Ottoman Empire, and has come down to the present day bearing traces of these periods. Once a wealthy port city, Assos is now an important diving spot and a must-see with its ancient harbor, Temple of Athena, theater, blue flag beaches, and fishing villages.

Çanakkale Ancient History

One of the first things that come to mind when mentioning Çanakkale is the mythological stories that take place there. The first names we encounter in the city's mythological tales are Dardanelles and Hellespont. Dardanelles is the name of a vast geography that includes the city of Troy. Hellespont comes from the story of The Golden Fleece, which ancient writers often elaborated on, referring to Helle, who fell from the ram while crossing the strait to reach the land of Colchis, and it means Helle's sea. Besides being a transition point between two continents, it attracted the interest of Mediterranean countries to reach the Black Sea by sea; the Black Sea countries, which can only access open seas by passing through the Dardanelles and Istanbul straits, were also drawn to it. Sometimes they connected ships to create a bridge, and at other times they formed bridges with buoys to move armies from continent to continent. There are no findings related to Dardanos, but it is believed that its history dates back before Troy. The long-standing excavations have revealed that Troy had established a great civilization that would be rebuilt and destroyed many times. The region has also hosted many civilizations. The Persian Empire, which dominated all of Anatolia in the 5th century BC, was further solidified by the King's Peace made between the Persians and the Spartans in 386 BC. Persian King Xerxes crossed from Abydos to Sestus with a bridge made of buoys and ships to go to Greece and Macedonia. Persian dominance began to decline when Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated the Persian army at Gronikas (Biga Stream) in 334 BC. The region witnessed power struggles among Persian commanders for a while. The Pergamon Kingdom's dominance remained during the Galatian invasion. It gained importance during the Roman and Byzantine periods with its ports. The first place the Ottomans captured in the region was Gelibolu. Later, Fatih Sultan Mehmet continued the tradition that had persisted since ancient times by building two castles on either side of the strait. The castle he built on the Anatolian side in 1462 was named Kale-in Sultaniye: that is, Çanakkale.

Çanakkale City History

The core of the city, which came under Ottoman rule and was established on the shore of the strait, was formed by the settlement that began around Kale-i Sultaniye (Çimenlik Castle) in 1462. The castle, which is still in good condition today and can be seen along with the Military Naval Museum, was defended by soldiers and administrative civil servants who first established the neighborhood around Fatih Mosque in the Cami-i Kebir area.

The current name of the city, which was once referred to as Kale-i Sultaniye, is thought to have originated from the shape of the castle resembling a bowl or from the pottery craftsmanship in the area.

Until the 18. yy, Çanakkale showed certain development on its way to becoming a city, and with the concentration of economic activity in the straits, it began to become a port city and to prosper.

In the 19. yy, during the wave of migration caused by the Ottoman losses in the Balkans and the Caucasus, some of the immigrants from these regions were settled in Çanakkale. The city population, excluding Muslims, continued to expand rather than migrate.

In 1915, British and French warships following German warships wanted to pass through the Dardanelles and reach the Black Sea. When the Ottomans did not allow this, the British-French fleet besieged the strait.
The Ottomans did not allow the fleet to pass or land with the forces they stationed on both sides of the strait. The places where this dramatic battle, which resulted in significant losses on both sides, took place are waiting for visitors as the Gallipoli Historical Area.