Kayakoy

You may feel like Indiana Jones while walking through the streets of this village, which will appear when you drive 5 km further after passing Hisaronu, think that you can make a discovery in every abandoned house, and hear the voice of your heart from adrenaline. But you also witness a very sad silence, a heartbreaking loneliness.

Ghost village remaining from a population of 25 thousand people

The real name of the village, which was founded by the Greeks during the Ottoman Empire, is Levissi. The region where the village was founded was called Karmylassos in ancient times. Today, about 350-400 buildings remain in ruins from the village of 3500 households. According to the data of Fethiye District Governorship, it is estimated that approximately 25 thousand people lived in the village in 1923. It is known that the village, which is known as a very lively settlement, has primary schools, doctors and pharmacies, many shops and even a newspaper is published.

So where did all these people go?

In accordance with the exchange clause in the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, most of the Greeks who remained in Turkey left the Anatolian lands. Therefore, the residents of Kayakoy had to leave their lands. The Turks who remained on Greek territory also settled in Anatolia and some of them were brought to Kayakoy. However, the Turks did not want to use the houses where the Greeks lived because they were on the hillside and built their own houses on the plain in front of Kayakoy. However, the reason why the Greeks built their houses on the hillside was to use the fertile lands on the plain for agriculture. Moreover, when you go, you will see that every house on the slope has a view and these houses are probably more resistant to earthquakes because they are on a mountainous surface.

The Greeks who left Kayakoy were settled in a region near Athens, and the village they founded was named Yeni Fethiye (Nea Makri).

2 churches, 14 chapels, hundreds of houses and stunning views

Surrounded by lush olive and pine forests, Kayakoy is today an open-air museum with its abandoned houses, churches and cemeteries. The windowless and doorless houses of the village, which is under tourist protection, are in a poetic solitude. The buildings in the village are built with traditional Greek architecture and are very valuable from an architectural point of view. The whole village is in the form of a natural artistic plateau for photography lovers.

There are 2 large churches and 14 small churches (chapels) in the village. Katopanayi and Taksiyarhis churches are in ruins and the wooden door of Katopanayi church is exhibited in Fethiye Museum. However, the frescoes of the Church of Panagia Pirgiotis, also known as the Lower church, are in good condition and attract visitors.

Also, when you climb up from the village, a small chapel awaits you at the summit. From here, you can see Soguksu Bay from above and take a breather with a magnificent Mediterranean view.

Before or after climbing the village, don't forget to eat gozleme (a kind of pancake) and drink ayran in the village houses lined up on the plain below. You will love the gozleme made with local herbs and cheese, accompanied by the view of Kayakoy, and you will be happy to be in Fethiye once again, accompanied by the exquisite view.