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ÖLÜDENIZ / FETHIYE |
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THE GEM OF THE TURQUOISE COAST ÖLÜDENIZ Set into such a landscape lies the resort of Oludeniz. with it's famous glistening beach and Blue Lagoon |
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The resort used to be three separate villages - Ovacik, Hisaronu and Belcekiz, and covers an extensive and varied tarrain, separated by hills and woods, thus catering for all tastes. Nesting below the Babadag Mountain, Ovacik mean "little plain". It's hotels and holiday villages are caressed by cool seabreezes and command fine mountain and forest views. Set round the base of a once fortified hill, Hisaronu means "in front of the fortress". It has a centrally orientated main-street area, where colourful boutiques, busy restaurants and bars, boast the best of Europe and Turkey. Quieter outlying hotels and holiday villages commune silently with the surrounding pines. 
Colourful holiday complexes with lush gardens give onto a beach promenade which leads to the Lagoon of Oludeniz. Though now a protected area, several coampsites and a hotel run along one of it's shores. Intricate paths through myrtle and pine lead to the end of the sandbank, which separate the open sea from the Lagoon. Motor powered boats are no longer allowed through the Lagoon channel, so you can snorkel in peace, finding star-fish, sea cucumbers or even an oyster with a pearl... Though we describe Oludeniz as a busy resort, it is still idyllically undeveloped. Walking ten minutes out from your hotel, you reach a wood, a hillside, or an isolated cove... Nature surrounds you, but just ten kilometres away is the bustling market-town of Fethiye, renowned for it's aubergines and tomatoes. Fethiye has a fine harbour and quays with restaurants where you can enjoy freshly caught fish, sample a glass of Turkish 'çay', or just photograph the fishermen mending their nets. All banking facilities and good medical care are available; major roads run out in all directions to such attractions as Ephesus, Pamukkale and the mounts. Dalaman airport is just 60km away. Weather in summer months averages 32°, and drops to an average 20° in winter. But, at will, you can change the seasons around... Playing snowballs in June, half-an-hour's drive up Babadag Mountain, and swimming in December in a sea temparature of 17°. Whenever you come and wherever you stay, you will always find a smiling face and a helping hand. A favorite excursion out of Oludeniz is a boat trip to the surrounding bays ... Five stones ... Camel Beach ... The cold Springs and St. Nicholas Island, with its Paleochristian churches. From the summit of the island there is a marvellous view over the crenelating local coastline, which provides fine anchorages for smaller boats. And indeed, in early Christian times, this part of the coast was a trading stop-off for pilgrims, eager to visit St. Nicholas on their way to the Holy land. Remains of small settlemets and cisterns cover the surrounding hills. Oludeniz bay itself possesed five churches, Gidrak beach had a fine mosaic churc-floor till 10 years ago. From Gemile Bay's Monastery, an open water-channel ran six kilometres down to the sea, to carry water to passing ships. The locals may even elaborate and mistakenly place Cleopatra in a Byzantine Bath! They might have their dates wrong but a beautiful woman is always admired in Turkey. Early Christianity hugged the coastline of Asia Minor (Turkey), but when raiding Arab pirates plundered their sanctuaries, the Christians moved inland... today you can visit one such settlement 5 km. from Oludeniz, Kaya village, the Lycian "Karmylasson", later re-inhabited by their Christian descendants as Byzantines, and called "Levisii". Here Greek and Turk lived side by side in hormany, each practicing his own religon, until 1922, when the exchange of peoples between the two countries brought Thracian Turks here and transported the local Greeks to Thessalonika. Hopefully the old understanding will return and Greek and Turk will again be seen side by side in Kaya... A Peace Village Due the topography of the area, this south-west corner of Turkey escaped the rigours of the last Ice Age. Trees and plants indigenous only to this area are still coming to light. Oleg Polunin discovered new species up Babadag i 1976. Just recently a German Botanist has discovered a Lily, restricted to just 1000 square metres of rock-filled terrain. There is at present a movement to give the area "Word Heritage" status. This would also protect the area's fauna such as the Cameleon, Capra Eagagrus Deer, Badger, Tiger-moth , Vipera Lebentina Snake, Lizards, Birds of Prey and many others. Fethiye has a protection plan for the Loggerhead Turtles and volunteers come from far and wide to help protect their nesting areas. |
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