Babakale
Understand
Local story has it that the village was founded by prisoners who were pardoned in return for working at the construction of the citadel of the village, and later joined in by seamen, and their families.
Most of the travellers who make it to Babakale visit it as a day-trip on their route along the Troad coast.
Get in
- Ezine Birlik (
phone: +90 286 618 10 11) provides buses to the village from Ezine, which is a short bus ride away from Çanakkale, at a frequency of about once every two hours every day. The buses run through the villages at the backcountry of this Troad Peninsula, so expect to take the ride from Ezine to Babakale more than an hour.
- The village has only a single road getting in and out: an 8 km-long, really narrow and winding tarmac, but heavily potholed road from Gülpınar, a relatively bigger village in the uplands of the area. To get to Gülpınar, you should either take the road to Bozcaada from south of Çanakkale, or head for Assos first and then take westward road from there.
Some detailed maps also show a dirt road from Assos in the east direct to Babakale, but according to locals that road is not in a condition to be useful.
Get around
See
CitadelThe citadel of the village, which dates back to 18th century and made of unique, local, somewhat shiny black rocks, sits directly on the westernmost tip of Asia over a cliff with a fair drop to the sea and is the main attraction of the village. Strategically located on northeastern Aegean, it was built to control the trade in the strait between the mainland and the Greek island of Lesvos which is just around the horizon. A windy place with some impressive views over the cliffs towards the sea, though inner part of the citadel is used for local weddings and celebrations of the village and thus may be a little bit untidy with white plastic chairs and firepits.
Local architectureMost of the village consists of fairly well preserved houses of stone architecture typical of the region. You will also notice a fountain or two dating back to Ottoman period along the cobbled streets of the village.
Cape Babathe westernmost point of the Anatolian part of Turkey, making it the westernmost point of whole Asia
Eat
Drink
Village coffeehouseThe local coffeehouse with an open-air patio shaded by a huge grapevine, perfect to take a short break and watch around.
Sleep
-
phone: +90 286 747 02 18Seven-room hotel with wharf view. Also houses a restaurant.
Stay safe
If wild camping, wild boars in the area may pose a (minimal) danger. If awake and out of your tent, standing up on your feet seems to be enough to make them disperse and run away from you.