Kayakoy

Kayaköy is found in south western Turkey not far from the city of Fethiye. The town was inhabited until 1923 by Anatolian Greeks and had been since at least the early 1700's when it was built on top of the ancient city of Carmylessus.

At its height in 1900 Kayakoy had a population of over two thousand residents, nearly all of which were Christian Greeks so what happened to this wonderful town?

A Greco-Turkish war happened between 1919 and 1922 that saw much bloodshed between Greece and Turkey. At the end of the war the two countries completed a population exchange that saw the Greeks of Kayakoy sent back to Greece leaving the town desolate.

Today there are over three thousand five hundred preserved buildings and ruins, most of these are houses but there are two Greek Christian Orthodox churches within the town.

UNESCO has declared Kayakoy as a World Friendship and Peace Village.

Image attributed to Orderinchaos