Daily ferries operate between Ayvalık and Mytilene on nearby Lesbos Island, Greece, during the summer with a reduced service in winter.

Its centre is situated on a narrow coastal plain surrounded by low hills to the east which are covered with pine and olive trees.

The town has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers.

Joseph Thacher Clarke believed that he had identified Ayvalık as the site of Kisthene, which was mentioned by Strabo as a ruinous place beside a harbour beyond Cape Pyrrha.

In his survey of the prehistoric and protohistoric settlements on the southern side of the Gulf of Adramytteion (Edremit) carried out in the 1990s and early 2000s, Beksaç studied the Ayvalık region.

[dubious – discuss] Kortukaya was identified in the survey as one of the most important settlements in the area and one that aids in the understanding of the interaction between the peoples of the interior and of the coast.

During the Byzantine period, the constant threat posed by Arab and Turkish piracy prevented the islet settlements from growing larger.

The Ottoman admiral Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha and the men who survived the disaster were lodged on their way back to the capital Constantinople by an Ayvalık priest.

Hasan Pasha did not forget the kindness shown to his sailors in their hour of need, and when he became Grand Vizier, he granted virtual autonomy to the Greeks of Ayvalık in 1773, paving the way for it to become an important centre of cultures for that community during the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

The then British Ambassador Lord Strangford reported that Osman Pasha accepted the submission of the Aivaliotes, until he could get fresh instructions from Constantinople.

However a squadron of Greek insurgents appeared, persuading the inhabitants to hope that it had come to their rescue, and that another revolt might meet with greater success.

[8] The British described Aivali (Ayvalık) and nearby Edremid (Edremit) as having the finest olive oil in Asia Minor[8] and reported large exports of it to France and Italy.

[8] This industry suffered during the First World War due to the deportation of the local Christian population (some of whom fled to the nearby Greek islands), who were the main producers of olive oil.

[8] Alarmed at the decline of the industry, the Turkish government brought back 4,500 Greek families in order to resume olive oil production.

Among the victims were the Christian clergy and the local metropolitan bishop, Gregory Orologas, as well as the novelist Elias Venezis, who was one of the few to survive and wrote about his experience in his book Number 31328.

Ayvalık and its environs are famous for high quality olive oil production, which provides an important source of income for the local population.

Cunda Island has a number of meyhanes with a very Greek feel to them as well as the Taş Kahve (Stone Teahouse) overlooking the harbour.

[18] The ruins of three important ancient cities lie within a short drive of Ayvalık: Assos and Troy are to the north, while Pergamon (modern Bergama) is to the east.

Mount Ida (Turkish: Kaz Dağı), which played an important role in ancient Greek mythology and folk tales, is also near Ayvalık (to the north) and can be seen from many points in and around the town centre.