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Kayakoy was a settlement region of Rums (Greeks of Turkish Nationality) in the 14th century.
Kayakoy was founded on the lands of ancient city Karmillassos which had been demolished almost completely excluding a few home-type tombs due to earthquakes. Its ancient name is Levissi. Becoming united with the people of surrounding five Turkish villages and teaching humanity on the concepts of friendship, brotherhood, and peace throughout its history, Kayakoy is one of the most important regions to be proud of. According to the agreement of population exchange signed between Turkish and Greek governments in 1922, Rums living in Kayakoy were exchanged by Turks living in the western Thrace. Kaya village is 8 kilometres from Fethiye if you take the mountain road to the south of Fethiye. An alternative route is via the western road from the Hisarönü junction on the Fethiye-Ölüdeniz highway. The first road takes you to the northern entrance of the village and the second one arrives at the eastern entrance to the small plain surrounded by mountains which the residents of the region call the Kaya Valley. Just past the entrance from Hisarönü, visitors are met by abandoned buildings which were vacated during the population exchange in 1923. At the northern entrance, the visitor has a superb panoramic view of Kaya Valley, towered over by the magnificent Father Mountain (Baba Dağ) to the east. Whatever route you choose to take you to the Kaya valley, it is suggested that you leave by the alternative road to get a clearer impression of the surroundings and the overall view. If you look around you on the journeys to and from the village by either route you will be able to see sections of the ancient stone roads that used to be used to and from Fethiye.
The historical geographer Strabon, ends his description of the city and the harbour of Telmessos in the Lycian region by saying, “...one reaches a steep and difficult place, Karmylessos is located here along a narrow and deep river...” this depicts the existence of the ancient city of Karmylessos, but its exact location has not yet been ascertained, however it is thought to be in the vicinity of Telmessos. Certain superficial studies and signs identify the ancient City of Karmylessos as the present-day Kaya Village. Although there are a number of ruins from the antique period in and around Kayaköy, these are insufficient to establish the existence of a city in this area.
At the northern entrance to the Kaya valley, in the Gökçeburun region, there are three sarcophagi from the 4th century B.C. and a similar number of rock tombs with inscriptions in the Lycian alphabet, these are the oldest and most comprehensive ruins from the antique period. In addition to these, the tomb carved into the rock to the north of the Girls' School in Kayakoy is a local work of art from the same period.
In addition to these, the ruins of a small citadel from the Hellenistic Period, are hidden underneath the walls of a later period building at the Asarcık Hill to the north of the Belen District. These and the local settlements on the surrounding mountains to the south of Turunç Pınar, which date from the Classical Period to the Byzantine times, are areas which could be visited in the company of a guide for those who can afford the time and who are really interested in history.
Fellows, a scholar who visited the region in the 19th century, claims that Karmylessos was built on Gemiler Island which is located to the south of Kayakoy, this claim by Fellows does not fit in with the areas where the above-mentioned ruins are situated, and the location of Karmylessos City as described by Strabon.
The popularity of Kaya Village in our time is more due to the existence of the Greek village which was abandoned as a result of the population exchange following the Turkish War of Independence, than to the ruins of the antique period. For centuries the Greeks and the Turks lived together in the Kaya Valley. The Turks were involved in agriculture and raising stock on the plains whilst the Greeks lived in the houses on the slopes, dealing with craft and trade. The Greeks called the area Levissi while the Turkomans, most probably belonging to the Kayı Clan, named it Kaya. Both names were used in the region until the population exchange.
From the philological viewpoint, Levissi seems to indicate quite an old settlement due to the suffix of the word, but the name is mentioned for the first time in the notes of the Italian traveller Sanuda (14th century). The overall development plan and the materials used in construction are not sufficiently enlightening to be able to fully establish the history. However, some of the stone blocks and architectural pieces used in certain buildings suggest that they were taken from some previous residences and religious buildings dating back to the Early Byzantine Period. When Fellows came to the region in 1838, he made the following comments in connection with Levissi: “...the dominant location of the settlement and a few small tombs suggest that this small ancient city was perhaps built on top of Kissidae ...”
The Arabian invasions during the 7th and 8th centuries A:D: had quite an impact on the settlements along the shore and the people here and on the island moved inland. Probably the people on Gemiler Island took flight during these invasions and settled at Levissi. Later on, when the Byzantines regained sovereignty in the 10th and 11th centuries, although the splendour of the Gemiler Island was not revived, we know that some new buildings were constructed here. It is believed that the new settlers came from Levissi. A Japanese archaeological team carried out some surface research in the region recently and established certain similarities in some chapels at Levissi and the one they discovered which was annexed to the church at the peak of the Gemiler Island and they dated these buildings to the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. The most significant road at Levissi, starting from the Lower Church and climbing straight up in line with the formation of the land, is not fully accessible but it crosses over the hill and reaches the Soğuksu (Coldwater) Bay from where one can get to the Gemiler Island. The similarities in constructions and the road to facilitate transportation between the two points, indicates there were strong ties between Gemiler Island, the Levissi settlement and the Late Byzantine Period.
During the subsequent Ottoman Period, the presence of the Greek people and the city of Levissi is indicated on some Maps and in the notes of travellers. The European travellers visiting Levissi during the first half of the 19th century mention the existence of 300 - 400 houses in the settlement. Pursuant to this, the rights acknowledged for non-Moslems, especially in the Imperial Edict of Reforms, followed by the land reform and tax exemptions, must have encouraged migrations to Levissi which was already a flourishing trade centre. When the city was vacated by the population exchange in 1923, the number of houses in the region was three times more than those recorded by Western travellers.
After the First World War and in line with the stipulations in the Sevr Pact, Greek troops landed in Anatolia; in an attempted invasion by the Greeks, who had achieved their independence about a hundred years earlier. This excited the Greeks living here and caused them to rejoice for a short while until the Turkish War of Independence. As the war ended with a victory for the Turks, an enmity grew between them and the Greeks fighting on the Anatolian soil and the Greek communities who for centuries had lived happily Side by side and in friendship with them as neighbours. They were then forced to migrate to Greece, to be replaced by the Turkish immigrants from Thrace who had also shared the same fate. |
