Fethiye
Fethiye Panoramic View
Fethiye is a lively market town of about
60,000 inhabitants that also has developed as one of the most
important holiday resorts of the Turquoise Coast and the center of excursion
in Western Lycia. Close to Fethiye is
Ölüdeniz,
a place of outstanding beauty with a
dazzling beach, azure sea and sheltered blue lagoon. The beach at
Ölüdeniz ranks among the
best beaches in the world. For us, Fethiye was our basis for the
12 Island
Tour, a boat trip by gulet around Fethiye Bay, and for visits to the archeological
sites of Tlos, Kadyanda, and Kayaköy
Fethiye is built upon the ruins of the ancient city
of Telmessos and posesses, as remnants of its past, some impressive rock
tombs and a recently excavated Hellenistic theatre. However, the majority of
the ruins remain still buried under the quaint town.
The town got its name from Telmessos, the
son of the god Apollo. Little is known about the origins of Telmessos except
that originally it wasn't part of the Lycian Federation. It 4th century BC
the Lycians fought against the Telmessians and finally subdued Telmessos and
brought it into the Lycian federation. Later Telmessos was captured by
Alexander, became part of the kingdom of Pergamum, and during the Roman
imperial era the city was part of the Lycian Federation.
The city continued its existence into the
Bysantine era, but gradually lost its significance due to the Arab raids. In
the eight century the city's name was changed to Anastasiopolis in honor of
a Byzantine emperor and the following century it changed again to "Makri",
meaning "Far (City)". Under Ottoman rule this was changed to "Megri" and
finally, after the expulsion of the predominantly Greek population in the
1930's, it was named Fethiye after Tayyareci Fethi Bey,
a local who was among Turkey's first pilots and also a war hero .
Fethiye suffered two immense earthquakes
in 1857 and 1957 which toppled much of the town and completely destroyed the
medieval town and the remains from antiquity. Throughout Fethiye, there are the
scattered typical Lycian stone sarcophagi dating from around 450 BC. At the
main quay at Liman Caddesi there is the the theatre that was excavated only
since 1994. It had a capacity of 5,000 people and was built in the Early
Roman period and renovated in the 2nd century AD.
Fethiye's most prominent monument is
definitely the Amyntas tomb, so called after the Greek inscription Amyntou
tou Ermagiou (Armyntas son of Hermagios) carved on the wall of the tomb.
This rock-cut tomb, an Ionic temple façade carved
in the sheer rock face, stands out among
similar temple tombs for its size. Whereas most such tombs are
scarcely bigger than the height of an ordinary room (i.e. less than 2 metres
internal, and less than 3 metres external), this tomb has
the height of a full-size temple.
On the waterfront, near Fethiye's marina,
there is also a huge stele or obelisk as a memorial to servicemen that died
in recent conflicts.
We stayed for 3 nights in the comfortable
Hotel Villa Daffodil (Fevzi
Çakmak Cad. No: 115, 48300 Fethiye,
Tel: +90 252 6149595). The hotel offers an
excellent cuisine, has a very friendly and helpful staff and is located at a
20-30 min. walk out of the center of town).
Click on the thumbnails to get a greater picture
