It’s the best Turkish hotspot you’ve never heard of.

“It’s true - all Turks wish they had a summer house in Ayvalik,” explains Yasemin, owner of the Taksiyarhis guesthouse. With its narrow cobbled streets, old, Greek, stone houses and uninterrupted views of the Aegean Sea it’s not hard to see why the seaside town charms so many locals.

But Ayvalik also conceals a chequered past. Greeks have been living in Turkey for centuries, and Hellenic influences are plain to see throughout the region, but in 1923 a population exchange was agreed between the two countries. Some 1.3 million Anatolian Greeks were sent back to Greece and some 400,000 Greek Muslims to Turkey; an event which provides the backdrop for Louis de Bernieres’ 2004 novel Birds Without Wings.

The transition has made for some interesting architecture - churches have been converted into mosques, with minarets added and former tavernas are now thriving teahouses.

The tall brick chimneys that punctuate the skyline also form part of the town’s unique identity. Some of these abandoned olive oil factories now feature coffee houses while others have been left derelict, though Ayvalik’s long-standing tradition of producing Anatolia’s best olive oil continues. Just a short drive outside the town’s periphery clients can sample the golden liquid from a working pressing factory. An introduction to the art of olive oil production is included on our Intrepid Real Food Adventure of Turkey.

Driving back into town our tour guide stops en-route to pick some fresh figs from the tree before we move on to a local picnicking spot overlooking the bay. A feast is laid out before us: hunks of freshly baked bread, bowls brimming with plump tomatoes, honey, sour cherry jam, crinkly black olives, courgette fritters and hot pans of baked eggs with sucuk (Turkish sausage).