Kayaköy ghost town, Fethiye

Kayaköy entrance fee and opening hours

Kayaköy is an official heritage site run by the Fethiye Museum Directorate of Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism. According to the ministry's price list, the entrance fee for foreign visitors is €3, paid at the ticket office by the old village. Turkish citizens get in with the MüzeKart museum card. Older guides quote figures in lira — the tariff changes, so go by the euro price.

The ministry's page on muze.gov.tr lists the site as open every day from 8:30 to 18:30, with the ticket office closing at 18:00. In autumn the ministry moves some museums to winter hours; Kayaköy isn't on the latest list, but guides from earlier years reported earlier closing in winter — if you visit between November and April, check muze.gov.tr the day before.

The best light is right after opening and in the last couple of hours before the ticket office closes, when the stone turns gold and the coach groups from Ölüdeniz and Fethiye have gone.

Is Kayaköy worth visiting?

Yes — if you want something other than beaches. Walking through hundreds of empty houses on a silent hillside is unlike anything else on this coast, and it explains a lot about modern Turkey and Greece. Combined with the walk down to Ölüdeniz it makes one of the best half-days around Fethiye.

Skip it if you are after classical ruins: there are no temples or theatres here. For those, go to Tlos or Xanthos. And don't come at noon in August — the heat makes it a slog.

Why is Kayaköy a ghost town?

Kayaköy is often sold as an “ancient city”, but what you walk through is a Greek village of the 18th and 19th centuries. The ancient part is only the name: Karmylessos stood here in antiquity and became Livissi in Greek. It was a large Christian village of somewhere between 3,000 and over 6,000 people depending on the source.

During the First World War and the Greco-Turkish War many villagers were deported, and in 1923 the last Greeks left under the Lausanne convention on the exchange of populations. The Muslims resettled here from Greece never really took to the slope. Without owners the timber roofs, doors and windows rotted away, and the 1957 Fethiye earthquake brought down much of what remained. Nobody has lived on the slope since; the modern village, with its cafés and guesthouses, sits in the valley below.

What to see in Kayaköy

• The lower church, Panagia Pyrgiotissa — on the western edge of the village and the best preserved, because it served as a mosque until the 1960s. In recent years visitors haven't been allowed inside for safety reasons; you see the courtyard and vaults through the fence.
• The upper church, Taxiarches — on the hill in the centre of the village; also closed inside, but the whole village is spread out below it.
• Stepped lanes between the houses — two-storey homes of no more than 50 m², with cellars and rain cisterns by their doors, set so they don't block each other's light or view.
• The school and customs house — besides homes and churches the village had a school and a customs building; the old school up top has a fine view over the ruins.
• Chapels on the slope — small and mostly roofless, easy to miss if you stick to the main path.
• The view over the valley — fields, the new village and, on a clear day, the mountains above Ölüdeniz.
• The trail to the sea — beyond the top of the village the path heads over the ridge to Ölüdeniz.

Hiking from Kayaköy to Ölüdeniz

The best way to leave is on foot. A 4–5 km trail climbs behind the village onto a wooded ridge and drops down to the beach at Ölüdeniz — usually about two hours, ending with a swim.

It's part of the Lycian Way but one of its easiest stretches: a broad, stony path with a few steep descents. Wear closed shoes, carry 1–1.5 litres of water each and start before the midday heat. A second route, about 7 km over the hills to Ovacık, starts in front of the upper church.

Kayaköy, Tlos or the Tomb of Amyntas

Kayaköy is about recent history and the mood of empty streets; Tlos and Xanthos are about antiquity. Want classical ruins? Start with Tlos. Half a day and a swim at the end? Kayaköy and the trail to Ölüdeniz.

History around Fethiye compared

Every historic site around Fethiye rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

How to do it right

• Don't go back the way you came: walk over the ridge to Ölüdeniz and finish with a swim.
• Climb to the upper church and the old school first, then work your way down — easier on the legs, with the view in front of you.
• Wander the side lanes: the chapels and best-preserved houses are away from the main path.
• Eat in the new village below — local cafés cook gözleme over an open fire.
• Read Louis de Bernières' Birds Without Wings before you go — it makes the empty streets talk.
• For classical ruins, head to Tlos or Xanthos instead.

Questions