FACTS ON YALIKAVAK AND THE SURROUNDING AREA
Yalikavak and the surrounding area offers an amazing
variety of things to see and do,be it shopping,ancient and historic sights,water sports and scuba diving,horse riding,boat
trips and yacht charter,due to the towns central location most things are within easy reach.
HISTORY;
Herodotus the father of history ,was born in nearby Halicarnassos-now called Bodrum in around
484 BC,at the time it was ruled by King Mausolos and his wife Artemisia and was the capital of Caria,it was Mausolos who started
work on his great tomb,which was completedby his wife after his death,it became known as the MAUSOLEUM-one of the seven
wonders
of the ancient world,today large tombs are still reffered to as mausoleums.Although the mausoleums ruins can still be seen
today,its main statues and sculptures are now in the British Museum and some of the original stone was used by The Knights
of St John to build Bodrums famous castle,which now houses the worlds largest underwater archeology museum.
All surrounding towns in the area can be reached by mini-bus via Bodrum.
Gumusluk-the ancient
city of Myndos,is within easy
reach,once the home of Cassius and Brutus after the assasination of Julius Ceaser.
The town now plays host to small,charming,water front bars and restaurants,a short walk through the
shallow wam waters,brings you to Rabbit Ýsland,inhabitted by?-yes-rabbits!boat trips are available daily from Yalikavak,
From Gumusluk our next port of call is,Turgutreis,named after the famous ottoman admiral Turgut Reis,the
town has a modern state of the art marina and a very large Saturday market.
Ortakent has a very long streach of sandy beach,continue further and you will find Camel Beach(Kargi)
which is probably the most famous beach in the area where you can actually ride camels!
Within walking distance of Yalikavak we find our selves in
Geris,where you can enjoy the most
spectacular views of Yalikavak and its surrounding bays,if you look carefully you may also find the old castle,which in days
of old was used to observe piarate ships in the bay.
Walk in the opposite direction and you come to Gocebel ,a much sought
after location for property here in Turkey,
Next we have Gundogan(Farilya),the name means 'sunrise',here the villagers still process their own
olive oil,here is the home of The Apostle Island,there is an ancient church built between the fifth and sixth centurys and
the wall paintings can still be seen.
From Gundogan we come to Gol-Turkbuku,the play-ground of Turkeys rich and famous-dont be supprised
to see members of the of theinternational jet-set,
Little pontoons set with tables float on the sea,by day you can relax with a cool drink,at night
they transform into luxury gormet restaurants,
Within day tripping distance of Yalikavak,you will find evidenceof the previous inhabitants
of our shores,ancient sights dating back to Byzantine,Roman,Hellenistic,Anatolian and Ottoman empires,
Day trips will take you to Milas,famous for its market,but also famous for museums,the Temple of
Zeus(the Carian Zeus),Byzantine aqua-ducts and old Ottoman houses which are still inhabited today,near to Milas is Iassos
where people have lived since the Bronze Age.
A short drive from Milas is Labranda,once an important religeous centre in Carian days,here you find
the Temple of Zeus and other important ruins which date back to the 4th century BC,
Queen Ada spent her exile years in near by Alinda,where she adopted Alexander The Great as a means
of returning herself to the Carian throne,near by are the cities of Ephesus,Aphrodisias,Pamukkale and
Hieriapolis.
Ephesus has some of the finest and largest ancient ruins in the world,the Temple of Artemis can take
a day to explore and was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world,
Ephesus was also the home of St Paul and also has the house of the Virgin Mary,where Mary ended her
days.
.
