Recent archaeological research conducted in the area of ​​Burhaniye has provided the evidence that traces of human activity in the area date back to prehistoric times. It is testified by altars and monuments carved into the rock, dating back to the Neolithic period and associated with the cult of the Mother Goddess. In total fifteen such places have been identified so far, hidden in the hills between Burhaniye and Havran.

The origins of the settlement, which during the Greek and Roman periods became an important port city in the region, are lost in the mists of history. There are two main theories about the city's foundation. According to the first of them, the city was founded in the 6th century BCE, at the behest of Adramys, the son of the King of Lydia - Alyattes, and the brother of the famous king Croesus. Apparently, Croesus, the last king of Lydia, before ascending to the throne, acted as the governor of Adramyttion. The second theory claims that the settlement is much older, and it was founded, under the name Adra-Mudra, by native Anatolian people - the Luvians. They lived in Asia Minor in the second millennium BCE.

For many centuries, Adramyttion functioned as the port and the centre of trade in products originating from forests growing on the slopes of Mount Ida and plains stretching to the east. The turning point in the history of the city was the year 422 BCE. In this time the inhabitants of the island of Delos settled in the city, expelled by the Athenians from their homeland. The Persian satrap of Daskyleion, who managed the western Asia Minor, agreed to accept their presence. Since then, the city of Adramyttion was Hellenised, and figured in the lists as "a Greek city." The laws applied by the rulers of Adramyttion was studied by Aristotle, who presented a typology of political systems of city-states in his work titled Politics.

One of the earliest historical references to Adramyttion can be found in Xenophon's Anabasis where the author wrote about the adventures of the Greek mercenaries, returning home from Persia. The final leg of their long march is described in the following words: "Then they marched through the Troad, and after crossing Mount Ida, came first to Antandros, and then went along the coast to the plain of Thebe. They travelled from there by way of Adramyttium and Certanon to the plain of Caicus and so reached Pergamum and Mysia."

In the Hellenistic period, due to the strategic location of Adramyttion, frequent battles were fought between the heirs of Alexander the Great near the city. The city was conquered in 302 BCE by Prepelaus, a general in the service of the king of Macedonia. However, in the same year, he lost it to Demetrius I, known as "the one who besieges cities." In 201 BCE, the city was plundered by Philip V of Macedon, also from Macedonia, and in 190 BCE - by Antiochus III the Great, a ruler from the Seleucid dynasty. Finally, Adramyttion was incorporated into the expanding Kingdom of Pergamon, whose kings contributed to its development and prosperity.

Under the Roman rule, Adramyttion flourished, as new public buildings, a shipyard, and the school of rhetoric were erected. Until the reign of Emperor Gallienus, i.e. the middle of the 3rd century CE, the city was minting its coins. The famous Roman historian, Pliny the Elder, wrote that Adramyttion was famous for the production of valuable medicated ointment. In the first century CE, the city was repeatedly visited by St. Paul, during his missionary journeys. The city had the status of a bishopric from 431, and its representatives participated in a number of councils and synods.

The golden era of Adramyttion ended because the harbour was silted up. The end to the city's existence was put by the Seljuk commander Çaka Bey, who invaded and destroyed the city in 1093. The memory of the city has been preserved in the name of the nearby town of Edremit, founded shortly afterwards by the rulers of Byzantium.

The Turks established a new village in the vicinity of the ancient Adramyttion, under the name Taylıeli. At the beginning of the 14th century, it was managed by the Karasid dynasty (tr. Karesioğulları), when it developed and attracted many immigrants. In the days of the Ottoman Empire, the settlement was renamed as Kemer and attached administratively to Edremit. In 1866, the town became the capital of the district under the name of Burhaniye, derived from the name of the Ottoman prince Şehzade Burhanettin. During the Greco-Turkish War, on the 29th of 1920, the Greek army occupied and set fire to Burhaniye, destroying the main mosque of the town.

Currently, Burhaniye is a small town with the population of about 40,000 residents, administratively belonging to Balıkesir Province. It has its harbour and a beach district - Ören - where the ruins of ancient Adramyttion are located. Besides tourism, the primary source of income of its residents is the production of olive oil.