Abandoned Village of Kayaköy

TRAVEL

TURKEY

Abandoned Village of Kayaköy

Tuesday 01 February 2022

We plan to stay a few days in Fethiye to rest and do some laundry, so we booked a small apartment through Airbnb. The apartment has a hob and oven, so we can also cook food we want to eat for a change!

Fethiye is a popular tourist destination with its natural harbour and a busy port. Even though we were here to take a break from travelling and bus rides, we decided we wanted to try and catch a bus to the nearby abandoned village of Kayaköy.

There are two bus stations in Fethiye. One for the large, inter-city buses and another for the smaller local buses. The bus to Kayaköy leaves from the local bus station and goes via Ölüdeniz. When we arrived, we found a board that told us the time of the next bus to Kayaköy, but it didn’t tell us which bus! The bus station was full of small minibuses, but none had Kayaköy on them. In the end, I stood near the exit and watched to see which bus was leaving. Luckily for us, this strategy worked, and we were on our way before long.

The first thing I discovered about Kayaköy was that it seems to have many names. It was confusing initially, but after reading about the history of the village and how it came to be abandoned, it all made a little more sense.

The village was known initially as Carmylessus and was in the ancient state of Lycia. Carmylessus was shortened to Lebessos. Both names are from ancient Greek, and I cannot find out why the name was shortened, but I assume it happened as Greek evolved through the Roman and Byzantine periods.

By the modern Greek period, the village was renamed Leivissi, and it remained Leivissi until the Greek villagers were evacuated in 1923.

Although, ‘evacuated’ is hardly the correct word. During and after World War I, the government of the Ottoman Empire sponsored a systematic killing of the Greek Ottoman population based on their religion and ethnicity. By the end of 1922, most of the Greeks had either been killed or fled, and any remaining were transferred to Greece in 1923 as part of a population exchange.

The Greek and Armenian genocides were perpetrated by the Ottomans over one hundred years ago. They were dark days, and not everyone agrees on or recognises the facts. I recommend you do your own research and draw your own conclusions.

After the deportations, the Ottoman Turks that remained in the area called the village Kayaköy. They chose to live on the flat plains at the bottom of the village, where farming was easier, rather than on the hillside.

We stepped off the bus directly opposite one of the entrances to the village. A man in a small shed sold us our tickets, and we made our way up one of the old village streets. Kayaköy was immediately fascinating and thought-provoking. The higher we climbed up through the narrow streets, the more the size and scale of the village were revealed to us.

Kayaköy has approximately five hundred buildings, all in a state of ruin: a school, several churches, houses and a seventeenth-century fountain.

As we explored the village, it was hard to try and imagine what life was like in the village when the Greek and Turkish inhabitants lived side by side. It was even harder to imagine some being forced from their homes and put on ships to another country.

We made our way to a small chapel on top of a hill at the back of the village. From the chapel and enjoyed views across the valley on one side and out to sea on the other. We spent a few hours exploring the streets of Kayaköy before making our way back down to the modern road and the bus stop. While we were there, we only saw a handful of other people.

Once back in Fethiye, we walked back along the bay towards our apartment and enjoyed the sunset, reflecting on the truly unique experience of Kayaköy or Leivissi, if you prefer.

Looking up at the abandoned village of Levissi - Kayaköy

Deserted Greek village of Levissi above Kayakoy

Greek Orthodox Church at Levissi - Kayaköy

Old Church or Watch Tower Church in Kayaköy

Looking to the back of Kayaköy to the chapel on the hill

Walking back along the bay at Fethiye to our AirBnB

David Welch – View Profile

Are you tired of being stuck in the office? Bored of being chained to a desk? Counting down the days until retirement?

Me too!!