Kucukkoy, a picturesque village in northwestern Turkey just 6 miles from the UNESCO-listed town of Ayvalik, has a strong history of migration. Founded by the Janissaries, the elite troops of the Ottoman Empire, in the 15th century, the village first welcomed Greeks from Lesbos, then Bosnians who fled the Balkan wars in the early 20th century and, finally, a colony of artists who sought to escape the big cities in the last decade.

The Aegean village is now preparing for the opening of the Creative Technologies Center, affiliated with Istanbul’s Sabanci University, on Oct. 29, Turkey’s Republic Day. Located in an old elementary school, the center will host the university's summer classes, year-round training on technology and arts to local teenagers, as well as international workshops on science, technology, arts and mathematics.

“The opening of the center will be a further step in the direction of turning this village into a technology and arts hub,” said Simay Dinc, who contacted both the Ayvalik municipality and Sabanci University two years ago for this project. “It will be the cornerstone in our five-year journey to turn this medieval site into an ecological smart village, which welcomes not only local but international talent," she told Al-Monitor.

The village, whose name literally means “small village” in Turkish, was founded by the Janissaries who settled there in the 15th century, under the orders of Mehmet II, the Conqueror. The young sultan, giddy with victory over his conquest of Istanbul, had his sights on the small but wealthy island Lesbos, which he finally conquered in 1462. He sent 300 of his soldiers to the Western Anatolian coast just opposite the island he had conquered to ensure that the islanders would neither think of rebellion nor dare skip on the heavy taxes the Sublime Porte slapped on them. The Janissaries established a village in the fertile land between the olive groves and the silky beach, which came to be known as “Yenicharohori” — literally, “the house of Janissaries.” They were soon joined by migrants from Lesbos, who built the traditional Greek houses, with squarely cut rocks and gardens at the back.