Welcome to Fethiye-Guide.com
As you might guess, this website is all about Fethiye in Turkey.
Over the next few months I plan to develop the site so that we will have a valuable, comprehensive guide to Fethiye and its surrondings. This guide is aimed at being useful for both the holiday-maker and for the resident. There are now over 6,000 Engish property owners in Fethiye and several thousand live here continuously.

If you belong to a club or have an interesting event or place that you would like to share with others, please contact me at this email address : Guide.Fethiye at gmail dot com. Or you can click on “register” and make your “post” directly on this webpage now

Please take a browse through our various pages and categories. These sections will be expanding over the next few weeks as visitors add their posts and comments.

A few kilometers from Fethiye, over the pine covered hills is the enchanting “ghost village” of Kaya Village or Kayaköy also known as Karmylassos and Levissii.

Getting there:
From Fethiye, there are two routes to get to Kaya Village – or Kayaköy. If you have your own transport or have hired a car , jeep or motorcycle then the easiest and most pleasant route is to go from the back of Fethiye town centre and take the road up past the famous rock tomb of King Amyntas.

The road is sign-posted with the brown “historical interest” sign-post to Karmylassos. This is the old Greek name for Kayakoy. Driving on the one-way street from the center towards the fire-station, you will see the sign post on your right hand side.

Then follow the road up past a tomb in the middle of the road and keep going straight up the hill and follow the zigzag climb up and then down to find the kaya village valley.

The alternative route is to get on a dolmus at the central (big white) mosque. Ask for kayakoy dolmus and it will take you there via the Ovacik - Hisaronu route.

Why its there:
The ancient settlement of the Lycians was called Karmylassos ( or Karmillassos or Carmylessus) . Pretty much all of the building work from that very early period, with the exception of the old tombs, were destroyed over the years by earthquakes, erosion and newer settlers using them as building material.

Kayakoy (Greek: Levissi ) was built on the site of the ancient city of Carmylessus (Karmylassos) in the 1700s. It experienced a surprising renewal after nearby Fethiye which at that time was known by the name of Makri or Meğri, was devastated by an earthquake in 1856.

Again in 1885 Maki (Fethiye) was hit by a furious fire that damaged most of the buildings and there fore again many moved to Levissi. Most of the present stone buildings appear to date back to around the time of these disturbances i.e. 1860-1890. Certainly small church is dated at 1888.

Outside the larger church there is a sign that states it is a seventeenth century church. It may have been built that early but it is more likely to be later than that. Definitely the courtyard was not completed until 1910 as there is a date written in the pebbles.

What’s there:
Among the some 3000 buildings have been found 5 doctors, 3 pharmacies, 1 school, 2 big churches and more than 10 small monastries. The stone houses, churches and chapels, schools and work shops we find are a typical example of Mediterranean architecture. These old villages were often built on top of the slopes in such a way that sun light was not deprived from the neighbours and the narrow roads all connecting with one another.

In fact at Kaya Village we have a magnificent open air architectural museum of earlier times.

Why its empty:
In January 1923, there was a population exchange agreement between the Turkish and Greek governments. The intention of the agreement was to try and avoid future cival disturbances. The agreement led to the Greek people living in Turkey being sent to Greece and the Turkish people in Greece being transported to Turkey. The Turks that arrived from the Western Thrace part of Greece preferred to settle nearer the land that they farmed and as there were fewer of them, this was allowed.

The great earthquake of 1957 which destroyed much of Fethiye also damaged some of the old Greek houses in the village of Kaya koy, however as they are built on solid rock, the damage was very minimal. In fact many of the old chimney stacks are still present and even the roof rafter settings are visable. It seems that the timber roofs were all removed or rotted.

You can enjoy a afternoon ramble among the paths that wind around the old buildings. Some of the old Greek stone houses have been carefully restored to provide very atmospheric and interesting holiday homes. In fact some of the stone houses in kayaköy are available for renovation and would make for an unusual but interesting place to live.

As you tour through the ruins of Karmillassos or Levissii, now known as kayakoy, notice that some of the walls still have the remains of brightly painted rendering on the outside of the houses. You will see bright reds, pastel blues and greens as well as yellow.

You will also see the mosaic floors that were meticulously laid by the craftsmen of Kaya Village – especially in the top Church Yard.

Now just for a moment, imagine how colourful and charming his little community must have been : it’s narrow streets filled with activity and the laughter of children coming back from school. Or at harvest time when all laboured together in the fields and in the evenings came back to these homes and shared meals of fish and wine !

After an afternoon of adventure among the ruins you can relax at one of the many small typical Turkish cafes where your are assured of a warm welcome. Sit and enjoy one of the many varieties of Gözleme (traditional Turkish pancakes) on offer with a refreshing Ayran (cool natural yogurt drink) or a hot Elma Çay (apple tea). On the other hand – its also a fine opportunity to enjoy the refreshing and restorative powers of a glass of Effes:)

The Lycian Way

Turkey’s First Long Distance Walk is along the Lycian Way and has been reported by the Sunday Times as one of the world’s top ten walks. To complete the full tour takes about five-six weeks !

Lycia is the historical name of the Tekke Peninsula, which juts into the Mediterranean on Turkey’s southern coast. The mountains rise steeply from the forested shoreline and tiny bays, giving stunningly beautiful views.

The walking route passes many antique sites where once a bustling village or small town existed. Many of theses old stone buildings were in fact built by Greek residents who lived in the south west of Turkey up until 1922 when there was a forced population exchange between Greece and Turkey.
The Trekking Route.

The Lycian way is a 509 km route-marked footpath around the coast of Lycia in south western Turkey. It runs from Fethiye to Antalia. The route has been graded as medium to hard due to the fact that the route often decends down to one of the delightful bays and then rises again to head inland. The easiest region is the one that starts near Fethiye. The route gradually gets more difficult as it progresses towards Antalia.

As you ascend out of Fethiye, by diverting slightly by a few hundred meters, you are rewarded by spectacular views of the gulf of Fethiye and the islands and bays.

The best season for trekking is either in spring or autumn; February-May or September-November.
Although the Lycian Way can be walked in summer, plenty of water and sun hats are needed as the temperatures can exceed 40 C in the shade !

The route mainly follows footpaths and goat or mule trails and the rocky limestone makes the ground pretty hard so good walking shoes or boots are recommended.

Many parts of the Lycian Way pass close enough to towns or villages that have available accommodation, these are: Patara, Kalkan, Kas, Myra, Finike, Adrasan, Olympos, Cirali and Tekirova.
Some nights you may be able to stay in a village house, or camp out.
There are plenty of camping places dotted all along the route - most with drinking water. These are not “campsites” as such but just suitable areas where you can pitch a tent without needing any permission.

The forest are littered with hundreds of Lycian sites of temples.
Here is the base of one such ruin.

Some of the highlights of the Lycian Way are:
• Spectacular walks on the slopes of Baba Dagi, beneath the flight path of the paragliders.
• Stunning descent to Faralya, above the cliffs of Butterfly Valley.
• The 12km long beach at Patara.
• Incredible views over the coast from above Kas and Kalkan.
• The castle, harbour and sunken ruins at Ucagiz.
• The church of the Angel Gabriel in the hills above Myra.
• A breath-taking ridge top walk to Finike.
• Staying at the lighthouse at Cape Gelidonia.
• Climbing the flaming Mount Olympos - 2388m.
• Splashing in the canyon at Goynuk.
• And the ruins of hidden Lycian cities.
• The friendliness of the villagers and the quaint tumble-down houses in deserted corners.
• The deep wooded valleys contrasting with the white rocks, and the blue Mediterranean sea

New Flights from UK to Dalaman
Easy Jet Flights set to Begin in April.

With the first flight scheduled to arrive at Dalaman on 31st March, low-priced flights will be available throughout the summer.
During April there are three flights a week planned and this will increase to five times a week after May 1st. Dalaman has the capacity to handle 10 million passengers per year. The planned through put for 2008 is 3 million.

According to Mr Güvenç of the Dalaman Airport company, they been out on promotional tours during the past few months and this decision by EasyJet is the result of their promotional activities.
Well, I just hope that they don’t all come to Fethiye!

Its nice to have a reasonable number of tourist but I think 3 million might be a little over the top !

News

The International Travel fair in Istanbul featured a prominent stand from Fethiye.
Fethiye was represented by the joint efforts of the Fethiye Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Fethiye Tourism Information Bureau which organised a very professional display stand featuring the attractions of Fethiye.

EMITT (Eastern Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair) is one of the top ten world tourism fairs and therefore was worth the effort and expense of attending and promoting tourism in Fethiye. This year the fair took place between the 14th and the 17th of February and extended to 50,000 sq. meters spread over 10 trade halls. Over 2500 companies from some 50 countries were represented.
There was considerable interest in Fethiye and the organisers were very happy with the results. Hundreds of brochures, cds and calenders were distributed all highlighting the natural beauty of Fethiye.
Prominence was also given to the variety of sports and activities on offer around Fethiye including wind-surfing, trekking, horse-riding, scuba diving, 12 island tours, para-gliding