Turkey · Lycian Coast
Yacht Charter Fethiye
Tombs cut into the cliff above the town, twelve islands in the bay, and a Greek village left standing empty.
Fethiye is built on Telmessos, and the Lycians who lived here cut their tombs into the rock face above the harbour rather than in the ground. The largest has a temple front carved into the cliff, two storeys high, and it has been looking down on the town for twenty-four centuries. An earthquake flattened the modern town in 1957 and it was rebuilt plainly; the tombs did not move. In front of it the gulf holds a dozen islands, and behind it a whole village stands empty.
The tombs, and what is left of Telmessos
The Tomb of Amyntas is cut straight into the cliff in the shape of an Ionic temple — columns, pediment, the lot — and was carved in the fourth century BC for someone whose name is chiselled on the doorway and about whom nothing else is known. The climb up is a few hundred steps and is worth doing in the last hour of light, when the rock goes orange.
Sarcophagi from the same period are scattered through the modern town: one stands in the middle of a road junction, another in a car park, because they were too heavy to move and the town was rebuilt around them.
Kayaköy, the village that was left
Eight kilometres inland stands Levissi, a Greek town of some three hundred and fifty houses, two churches and a school, emptied in the population exchange of 1923 and never reoccupied. The roofs are gone and the walls are not: it is a hillside of open stone rooms, and it is quiet in a way that is difficult to describe and easy to feel.
It is neither a ruin nor a monument, and nothing has been reconstructed. Go early. It takes an hour to walk and rather longer to leave.
The gulf, and the water in it
The bay in front of the town holds a scatter of islands — Şövalye, Katrancı, Tersane, the group generally sold as the Twelve — and the water between them is sheltered enough that a week can be spent going nowhere in particular.
Butterfly Valley is a gorge on the outside coast reachable only from the water, closed at the landward end by cliffs three hundred metres high. Gemiler Island, west of it, carries the ruins of five Byzantine churches and a covered processional way running the length of the ridge — you anchor below and walk up through it.
Practical notes
- A port of entry, with the formalities done in the town harbour
- The rock tombs are above the town, a few hundred steps up, and are best in the last hour of light
- Kayaköy is eight kilometres inland: three hundred and fifty roofless houses, emptied in 1923 and never reoccupied
- Butterfly Valley and Gemiler island are on the outside coast and reachable only from the sea
- Dalaman airport is forty-five minutes away; Göcek is an hour and a half up the gulf
Reached from: Göcek, Marmaris and Dalaman
Where to dine
A table by the water
Meğri Lokantası
FethiyeIn the old lanes behind the harbour, doing the Aegean home dishes by the tray, and unchanged for decades.
Balık Pazarı
FethiyeYou buy the fish at the market stalls and the restaurants around the square cook it — the town's own arrangement.
Cin Bal
KayaköyIn the empty Greek village, where the meat comes raw with a brazier and you grill it yourself at the table.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
The Tomb of Amyntas
An Ionic temple front cut into the cliff in the fourth century BC, a few hundred steps above the town.
Kayaköy
Three hundred and fifty roofless stone houses on a hillside, emptied in the 1923 population exchange and never reoccupied.
Butterfly Valley
A gorge on the outside coast closed by three-hundred-metre cliffs, reachable only from the water.
Gemiler Island
Five Byzantine churches and a covered processional way running the length of the ridge, walked up from the anchorage.
The fleet
Yachts available for Fethiye
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about Fethiye
- What are the tombs above Fethiye?
- Lycian rock tombs, cut into the cliff face rather than dug into the ground. The largest, the Tomb of Amyntas, has the front of an Ionic temple carved into solid rock and dates from the fourth century BC. They are a few hundred steps above the town and open to walk into.
- What is Kayaköy?
- A Greek town of about three hundred and fifty houses, emptied in the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey and never lived in since. The roofs are gone, the walls stand, and nothing has been rebuilt. It is eight kilometres inland and it is the most affecting thing on this coast.
- Can we reach Butterfly Valley by road?
- No, and that is why it is worth going. The valley is closed at the landward end by three-hundred-metre cliffs, so the only approach is from the water. The same is true of most of the good anchorages on the outside coast.
- What does a yacht charter from Fethiye cost?
- It depends on the yacht, the season and the crew, so we quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most weeks. Send us your dates and party size.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
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Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.