Lomography

Bozcaada, Heaven on Earth
written by nural on October 23rd, 2009 , one comment (2 votes)

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Bozcaada (Tenedos) is an island in the Aegean Sea and it is well known for its vineyards and wineries. The island has both Turkish and Greek inhabitants who live there year around. The population gets more crowded during the summer due to wine tastings, Ayazma Fair and harvesting festivities.

The island was first used by the Greeks and during the Ottoman Rule; it was used as a navy base. Now the island serves as a vacation spot with its beaches and other activities.

The last week of June is set as the wine tasting festival and the 4 wine producing companies on the island each have an open air tasting right around their factories. If you are lucky enough, you can even get into the one in the old castle, which we were fortunate enough to attend. Then around end August there is the harvesting festival where you can enjoy great grapes and see the vineyards in full bloom.

Since the Eagean Sea surrounds the island, during summer you can go swimming and fishing. The seafood is also amazingly fresh and tasty :)

There is also a small museum that has old memoirs about the Ottoman Times and the population exchange after the war. Most of the things on display are gifts to the museum by inhabitants of the island. We were fortunate enough to meet one of the ladies who come to Bozcaada one a month and whose parents were parents were born and raised there but had to move to Greece after the exchange.

I really like the quiet and welcoming atmosphere of the island, it was like a big family where everyone knew each other and was very friendly. I went there twice, will go again and strongly suggest everyone to visit as well :)