Kayakoy ghost town

Until 1923 Kayakoy was a Greek town when the population exchange between Turkey and Greece came about so they could become nation states.  In the exchange Muslims from the Greek Macedonia were moved to Kayakoy but these Muslims were used to fertile, large fields where they use to live and could not adjust to the rocky hilly area where they were forced to live.  They finally abandoned Kayakoy in favor of other more fertile regions.  Kayakoy is what it is now due to many decades of neglect and the 1957 earthquake.

You can get to Kayakoy from Fethiye in a variety of ways such as the frequent minibuses that depart from Fethiye.  If you feel energetic you can hike from Fethiye to Kayakoy which is an eight km long medieval cobbled trail through the dense forest.  It will take you about 3 hours to walk this tract that is not hard.

When you get to the ghost town of Kayakoy you walk around the town which includes thousands of houses that are abandoned with no windows or roofs.  You also want to make sure that while you are visiting this ghost town are the two abandoned Lower and Upper Church.  The main reason that these two churches are called this is because of the difference in elevation between the two churches.

There is also a little chapel on the top of the hill which would take you approximately twenty minutes leaving at the lower church.  When you get to the top of the hill where the little chapel sits you can get a spectacular view of the sea and valley below.  These spectacular sights are not visible from the town because they are on the other side of the hill that the town of Kayakoy leans against.

The streets, or more precise stairs, and the lower church are in the area has been declared a museum by the Turkish Ministry of Culture.  At the entrance to the lower church they have set up a ticket booth and it does not matter if you are going to see the church, you have to have a ticket to pass through.  The ticket will cost you 8TL per person.  When the office is not manned, which would be during the late or early times of the day you can pass through without having to buy a ticket.

Southwest of Kayakoy about eight km is the monastery located at Afkul.  This monastery can be seen clinging to the high cliffs over the sea and gives you a really impressive view of the Gulf of Fethiye.  The Greek Orthodox monastery is just as it was when it was abandoned in the 1920s.  The only thing that is wrong with it is the roof.  To get to the monastery you will have to take demanding hike that is about three km but will take you about an hour to get there from Kayakoy.

One other popular activity to do in Kayakoy is to go horseback riding