Sunset from the top
The four towers turn to silhouettes on an orange sky, joined in summer by everyone else in Alaçatı.
OscarKosy — Public domain · Kadı — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bir_Ege_Hikayesi © — CC BY 3.0 · Bir_Ege_Hikayesi © — CC BY 3.0
Of the twenty or so windmills that once ground the wheat of the Çeşme peninsula, four stone survivors from the 1850s on the hill now stand for the whole of Alaçatı: they are on every postcard, every hotel brochure and most of the Instagram feeds that pass through this town. They sit on a low hill at the entrance to the old town, squat cylindrical towers of two and three storeys under conical roofs, built by the Greek population that lived here before the population exchange, and placed on the hill for the simple reason that the wind never stops. It is the same wind that makes the bay below one of the world's great windsurfing spots. Do not expect much from the mills themselves. The machinery is gone from all but one, which was refitted as a small museum but is usually shut; the other interiors are either closed or turned into a café, and the visit is entirely about the outside. What earns the short climb is the setting: a square relaid in 2008, a small park of olive and pine trees finished on the hill between 2013 and 2016, a tea garden on the top, and an open view over the stone roofs of the town and the bay. The hour to come is sunset, when the towers turn to black silhouettes on an orange sky, and that is also when, on summer weekends, the hill fills with raised phones. If you want the photograph without strangers' shoulders in it, come before nine in the morning. Entry is free at any hour, the slope is short and manageable with a pushchair given a bit of a shove, and there is a covered car park under the square that eases the parking misery of July and August. Treat the mills as the start of a walk rather than its purpose: the bazaar lanes begin right at the square, with their stone facades and coloured shutters, restaurants, craft shops and the Saturday market that is worth shifting the day of your trip for. In August heat the hill is completely exposed, so keep it for the evening and spend the day on the beach. From Çeşme it is about ten kilometres. The dolmuş leaves the town centre every seven to ten minutes through the day, takes roughly fifteen minutes and costs 85 lira a head at the 2026 tariff, dropping you at the foot of the hill. By car it is a ten-minute drive, though in high summer you may spend longer than that looking for somewhere to leave it.
The four towers turn to silhouettes on an orange sky, joined in summer by everyone else in Alaçatı.
Real shade, benches and a view over the stone roofs and the bay whose wind never drops.
From the square below the hill begin the stone lanes, coloured shutters and the Saturday market.
Değirmenaltı Meydanı, entrance to Alaçatı bazaar, Çeşme
On their own, no: they are four stone towers you have seen in full within ten minutes. But Alaçatı itself deserves half a day for its lanes and market, and the mills are its natural starting point and sunset spot, so go for the town and let the mills close the evening.
Yes, the climb is short and paved, the park is shaded and the tea garden on top gives everyone a rest. The only difficulty is the sunset crush in summer, so with small children go early in the morning or a little after sunset.
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