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An update from Evaneos
Kayaköy

Kayaköy (Turkey)

Practical information about Kayaköy

  • Family
  • Viewpoint
  • Hiking / Trekking
  • Park and garden
  • Countryside
  • Mountain
  • Place or Religious Monument
  • Archaeological Site
  • Place or Historical Monument
  • Essential
  • Off the beaten track
5 / 5 - 2 reviews
How to get there
One hour fifteen minutes by plane from Istanbul
When to go
May through October
Minimum stay
Half a day

Reviews of Kayaköy

Timothée D. Travel writer
285 travel articles

An abandoned village to the south of Fethiye, Kayaköy contains several thousand abandoned houses and stands as a reminder of the population exchange that once took place between Greece and Turkey.

My suggestion:
Though there are some high-quality hotels located at the entrance to the abandoned village, I would advise you instead to stay in Fethiye a few tens of kilometers away.
Summary:
Kayaköy, which was formerly known as Livissi, serves as a reminder of a harsh and astonishingly little-known historical fact: as a result of agreements reached in Geneva in 1923 putting an end to the Turkish War of Independence that took place after the First World War and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, a large-scale population exchange was arranged between Greece and Turkey in order to create ethnic harmony in each of the two nations, whose borders had just been redefined.
The abandoned village of Kayaköy
Clemence Zisswiller Travel writer
34 travel articles

8 km south of Fethiye, Kayaköy looks like a ghost village, but is also an open-air museum.

My suggestion:
If you want to walk around the abandoned houses, make sure you wear stout shoes because the paths are steep and overgrown.
Summary:

Kayaköy tells of a part of history that is largely unknown and it retains its buildings which were abandoned nearly a century ago. After the Turkish War of Independence and the Geneva agreements of 1923, Turkey and Greece underwent huge exchanges of populations. Kayaköy, a mostly Greco-Christian village was emptied of its inhabitants. The place still remains clinging to the side of the mountain and has survived the tests of time.

People will talk to you about Kayaköy, the 'ghost village'. It does have a very particular feel to it. Hundreds of hovels have resisted nature in this Mediterranean landscape. The houses no longer have roofs or windows, just a few stone walls show where they once stood. Sometimes there is the odd glimpse of colours to hint at what once was. An air of poetic decrepitude reigns.

Kayaköy is a reminder of the realities of the past and it is certainly worth visiting during a stay in Turkey. There are still two 17th century churches. As well as the ruins, I really liked the smell of dried herbs which is omnipresent in this abandoned setting.

In the heart of the village of Kayaköy