From Ayvalık, Macaron Cologne (Macaron Kolonyası)

I stopped by Ayvalık to visit my old and dear friend Çetin. Çetin is doing great stuff there. He has been working on a cologne brand for a while, and I realize that what a nice brand he created.

Have a look at its site.

Experimental small bottles for grandma smells!

Ayvalık Macaron Kolonyası is a boutique fragrance and cologne brand inspired by Ayvalık’s historic Macaron neighborhood and local aromatic traditions. Here, “Macaron” does not refer to the French pastry; it refers to the area’s name, associated with the aromatic herb marjoram.

The brand grew out of the Macaron Muhallebicisi business and offers colognes, soaps, and room fragrances meant to evoke Ayvalık’s Mediterranean character—its stone streets, lavender, olive trees, and coastal freshness.

Çetin has been collecting Ayvalık memorabilia for more than 5 years, and he plans to establish a city museum.

Çetin and I ended up at the opening concert of the Ayvalık Music Festival. The concert took place in a house that used to be a monastery. Several churches and monasteries are now private homes for some wealthy Turkish families in Cunda, Ayvalık.

The Komili house is the restored former monastery, not merely a house built beside one. It is generally identified as Leka Panaya / Panagia (Panayia) Monastery, often translated as the Monastery of the Protecting Virgin Mary.

The complex stands among olive groves near Cunda’s Dalyan channel and is commonly dated to 1835 in contemporary accounts. It contained the spatial elements expected of a monastic compound: a church/chapel, dormitory, kitchen, library, administrative rooms, laundry, and guest rooms. The dates 1771 and 1795 reportedly carved on separate doors are generally interpreted as dates of earlier repairs rather than the original construction date.

The property was reportedly purchased by Halis Komili—of the olive-oil family—in 1992, together with its olive grove, when it was in a severely ruined condition. It was restored and adapted as the Komili family’s private residence.

Unlike Taksiyarhis Church, this is not a public museum or regularly accessible heritage site. Reports describe the compound as privately used by the Komili family, with the grounds fenced and closed to ordinary visitors.