Gey – Bel ; Boğaziçi – Sidyma

In the Alınca settlement the pathway of Lycia road which is separated from the asphalt road, goes towards south along the slope overlooking the sea at the west side of the Eren Mountain. The pathway going downwards from the Üçkeçi region in which there are bee hives to Cennet Bay, separates from the Lycia road. The pathway which goes on towards south for a while, reaches to a flat valley on which there are stone terraces on some parts.

One can reach to Pirate bay with the pathway separating towards right after the first cistern to be seen here. Along the Pirate bay and the cape located in south Kalabantia archaeological settlement can be seen. If one goes on from the marked Lycia road without leaving, this Lycia road splits into two before a village home, and at the right side it goes on from Gey and Yediburunlar towards Bel settlement.

After this road split in the valley, most of the climb is carried out on asphalt for a couple of kilometers with a view consisting of sea view and maquis grown in the carstic lime stones indigenous to Mediterranean. From the markets located at Gey or Yediburun, drinking water and other basic shopping needs could be obtained. In the Gey village the Lycia road which is split into two from asphalt road towards southwest, goes on towards south among the fields with stone walls. After going on for about a couple of kilometers, there is a channel to pass and after that this section of the Lycia road is very pleasant as a thin pathway goes on at the left slope of the deep valley and sea on the right (south) side. The pathway going downwards to the stream bed at the center of the valley starts to rise again after the stream bed. In the entire valley there are trees indigenous to Mediterranean such as locusts, ancient olive trees and also pıynar oaks.

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At the end of the valley, the pathway goes toward east and after a channel it reaches to Bel settlement through a pine forest. If one to choose north side pathways from the split located below, it goes to south from Boğaziçi settlement passing parallel to the asphalt road from all the settlements in the valley and reaches towards the direction of Dodurga. The people living in the valley earn their keeps from the agricultural activities on this fertile soil and there are lots of trees in different varieties such as apple gardens, olive gardens, crop gardens to see especially in the spring months. Sidyma ancient city which is located a couple of kilometers away from the Dodurga settlement, is one of the biggest archaeological settlements in the area. The pathway goes towards southwest from the Sidyma city and reaches to Bel settlement coiling from the slopes of a couple of hills after stream bed. On this second route there are markets in Boğaziçi, Dodurga and Bel settlements.

In the Gey Settlement, there is a business providing opportunity of accommodation on the hill overlooking the sea and in the Bel settlement there is accommodation in tents with the provisions supplied by the village people. Lycia road goes on towards south from Bel settlement and this section consists of a dirt vehicle road and then reaches after a while to Belceğiz.

Aside from the market locations shown on the map section and village settlements drinking water can only be obtained from the fountain in Bel settlement.

SIDYMA: Sidyma is 55 km away from Fethiye and its history is not very well known aside from the knowledge that it has experienced great development in the Roman Period. This development went on in the Byzantine period. The reason for the development in Roman period is Emperor Marcus. Marcus (450-457) got sick in the war against Persians even before being emperor; he was left behind in Sidyma and starts to reside in the house of two brothers. After Marcus got well, one of the brothers ask him: “If you were an emperor what kind of favor would you do for us?”. Upon this Marcus replies “If this impossible thing would happen, then I would make you two most important people of your city”. After that Marcus had the throne after the death of Theodosius II and kept his word and shown a great interest in Sidyma and exalted these two people who looked after him.

Acropolis which is located at the north of the village has two sections. There is a wall belonging to the early period and which is in parts 3m high and 365m long lying along the southeast slide and this proves that Sidyma exists from the earliest periods. The point of this wall is made up of polygonal shape and there is also a door and watchtower. Just a little ahead of this place a theatre made in a later period with its 6 sitting rows is still visible, can be seen. Other remains are still under the soil. Since the rampart is used again in the later periods its mortared walls and towers are visible. In the acropolis no other works aside from a couple of little cisterns can be seen. The main section of the ruins is located at the valley which is at the north slopes of this acropolis. There is a 9m tall structure close to the southwest section of Sidyma and this is a tomb structure which was used in lots of periods.

In the middle of the village there is a stoa with all of its columns in their original places and from the inscription it can be understood that it was constructed during the time of Cladius (41-54) and gifted to him. At the south of the stoa there is an agora which is now just a flat area and at the north of it there is a 9m long temple which is made in the time of Cladius and some of its cella walls and north section is still remaining. This temple is dedicated to the emperors and Artemis.
The village houses constructed over the ruins made some of these ruins hard to be noticed.
In the preparation of this page, we have facilitated from the book titled “Işık Ülkesi LYKİA” of İlhan AKŞİT.