Ghost Town

Destination #5: Kayakoy

Some of the ruined cottages in Kayakoy

Kayakoy stands as testimony to the trauma of war.  Levissi, as it was once known, was deserted by its inhabitants after WW1 and the Turkish War of Independence.  A population exchange (forced migration) was arranged in 1924 with Greece.  Now only a handful of villagers inhabit Kayakoy with many of the stone houses unoccupied; the Ministry of Culture has declared the whole area an historic monument.  We were lucky to stay with a local family who run a pansion.  It was a lovely rural setting and we used time to:

Visit Fethiye:  Having sailed here and visited most of its sites, we chose to stay in and talk to the pansion's vast selection of cats, dogs and chickens.

No!  We are not hiding and we are not eating this tree...cheeky goats

Hike the Lycian Way:  Yes, a bit of a struggle to keep up with the young (fit) ones but we did it (in 3 hours) and arrived in one piece in Oludeniz, a beautiful turquoise lagoon on the Turkish Lycian coast.  And yes, the views were fantastic!

All the while, envying the boat owners down there

Explore the Ghost Village:  We wandering amongst ruins, through neglected orchards, bypassed paddocks occupied by camels (they spit if unhappy) and watched happy goats to appreciate the extent of the upheaval caused by the enforced population exchange in 1923.  Two churches are in the process of being restored – slowly.

One of the churches in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Kayakoy

Fact File: The Lycian Way.  This would have to be the walking tour of walking tours.  The coast from Fethiye to Antalya was home to a federation of cities, settled by the Lycians.  (Homer records their attack on Troy in the Iliad, so we are talking early BC here.)  Their legacy to us is a great number of tombs; some are rock cut and others are large sarcophagus, mounted on either a stepped or pillar base.  So, if you fancy a 500km walk (a bit of a tough hike actually) around the coast to see spectacular coastal views, visit friendly local villages and come face to face with ancient Lycian monuments and more, then this is for you… We came across one young fellow who was jogging it.  I think we’ll stick to sailing ;-) 

Did we allow time for a senior's nap?