Cunda Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about Cunda Island in Turkey, for Cunda in Hinduism.
Cunda, also known as Alibey in Turkish (Greek: Hekatonisa or Μοσχονήσι/Moshonisi) is a small island in the Northwestern Aegean Sea in Ayvalık, part of Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It is close to Lesbos, Greece.
Cunda is linked to Ayvalık on the mainland, by a causeway. The island has a typical resort town, Alibey, and a bus and ferry link to Ayvalık.
The island's former Greek population was forced out in the course of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey but the Greek population was replaced by Cretan Turks, ensuring that the island retained a largely Greek atmosphere.[citation needed] Alibey villages main landmark is still the significant former Greek Orthodox cathedral, now in an abandoned and dilapidated state.
Poroselene bay in the north of the island is probably the island's major 'sight'. In antiquity, it was the home of a dolphin who saved a drowning boy, mentioned by the famous ancient writer Pausanias.
