Kayaköy

Kayaköy, known as Levissi by its initial inhabitants, means rock village, deriving its name from the rocky surface of the hill on which it is built. The town sits atop a hill just 8 km south of the bustling Fethiye, frozen in its ghostly past, abandoned over 90 years ago. Walking through this once lively town and discovering its quiet and reverent atmosphere, you will uncover even more about the rich history of this place.

1. The History

Despite its quiet and ghostly presence now, Kayaköy once stood as a busy and populated town along the southwestern coast of Turkey. In the valley of the village lived most the Muslim population of the town and scattered across the hill lived the people who practiced Greek Orthodoxy. The Christians worked as artisans, the Muslims farmed and their community thrived off of their collaboration and willingness to help one another.

However, after the war Greco-Turkish War ended in 1923, the countries decided they each needed religious homogeneity so millions of people were displaced in the attempt to move all Muslims to Turkey and all Christians to Greece. So when the Greek Orthodox population of Levissi– as Kayaköy was known then– were forced to settle into new lands in Greece. And when the Muslim population of Greece found their way to Kayaköy, they soon found the land of the hill impossible to farm upon, and so abandoned it to live in more fruitful lands, thus leaving this once bustling town empty.

Due to this mass exodus and an intense earthquake that shook the land in 1957, Kayaköy became the ghostly skeleton of what it once was.

2. How to Get There

Getting to this town is quite simple. You can catch a minibus, or dolmuş as they are called, from Fethiye or Ölüdeniz that will take you directly there. You could also rent a scooter for the day and zoom your way to the rocky city. You other option is to hike from Fethiye along the 8 km way to the city, which takes roughly 3 hours.

3. What to Do

The abandoned town is itself the adventure. You can roam through the town and see the many houses, churches and other ruins of the city centre and imagine the town that once would have moved around you. After exploring the enticing town, you can hike down a trail marked by red dots towards a small and secluded pebble beach to enjoy a dip in the beautiful sea.