Attractions in Fethiye are relatively short distances. It is enough to walk around the city and surroundings, or buy a tour from the many local operators.
Fechtie is an ancient city of about 70,000 people. His history contains many dramatic milestones. Since ancient times, Fethiye was called Telmes – rightly considered the main city of Lycia. At that time the city was known for being the center of soothsayers and clairvoyants who glorified the ancient Greek Gods. At the same time Fethiye was closely connected with the Greek island of Rhodes.
Top 7 attractions in Fethiye
In the 8th century it was called Anastasiopolis, but in the 9th century it was renamed again, this time as Makri. And only since 1940, it became known as Fethiye – in memory of the army pilot, who was born here and tragically died in a crash in 1914.
After 2 earthquakes in the 1940s, Fethiye was almost completely destroyed, and of the bulk of the ancient buildings and historic buildings were only ruins. Nevertheless, Fethiye is today known as a superb and rapidly developing resort with luxurious five-star hotels, beautiful sand dunes and majestic monuments from the ancient period, which attract many sightseers from all over the world to Fethiye.
City Museum
A popular place for tourists to visit in Fethiye is the main City Museum, all the exhibits found by researchers in the city and its surroundings.
The idea of creating this museum arose in the 1950s, but it was not built until 1990. Every item in this museum is considered to be an invaluable work of art of the time and a standard of craftsmanship of the times of the early Romans and Byzantines. History buffs will appreciate the various marble sculptures, armor, and grave markers that have been discovered by archaeologists during excavations in Letoon, Xanthof and other surrounding settlements.
Among the museum exhibits can be found coins from different eras, utensils and monumental sculptures.
Lycian tombs
We recommend to visit the popular excursion to the Lycian tombs – it is one of the main attractions of Fethiye. The tombs were first mentioned in the 6th century BC. They are massive tombstones made of stone, sculpted images and have a unique appearance.
More famous is the Tomb of Amintas, which is a site with a tunnel carved into the mountain and 2 columns. You can see them if you climb the steps. In the tomb on the walls you can see inscriptions in Greek. The structure has an original design. It has a rectangular shape, with supports made of wood, a Gothic-style embossed lid and arches on two sides. The top of the lid is decorated with relief patterns with images of the war years, telling about the life of the deceased.
Oludeniz Bay
Another interesting place for a tour is the Bay of Oludeniz, located about 50 km from the resort town of Fethiye. It’s just a fabulous beauty of the bay! This bay is also called the “Dead Sea”. Do not be confused – with the Israeli sea this bay has nothing to do with, so this place is called by locals.
The abandoned village of Kayakeyu
A few kilometers from Fethiye there is an old abandoned Greek settlement. The Greeks lived here in the eighth century. However, since 1923 the local authorities decided to evict all inhabitants from here and settled in these territories Muslims from Macedonia. But soon the Muslims also left these territories, moving closer to the sea.
The settlement still has 3,500 houses, several cathedrals with mosaics on the windows and marble sculptures.
Butterfly Valley
It is located in a beautiful place in the western part of the coast in the Bay of Belgeiz. From Fethiye dozens of yachts with travelers sail here every day on a tour.
This place got its interesting name because of the “tiger butterflies” various colonies, which you can find in this area. In this valley you can find not only tiger butterflies, but also other interesting species of Mediterranean butterflies.
In the valley, walking along the forest path you can see picturesque waterfalls.
Faralla
The ancient settlement of Faralla (or as it is now called Uzunyurt) is another attraction of the valley. This is where the valley of butterflies is located. Also, the settlement is well represented by the local population and has magnificent views of the mountains and the sea.
12 islands
After visiting all the interesting sites of Fethiye and the surrounding area, the tourist should admire the 12 islands. For this you need to take a water tour, or rent a motorboat for a self-guided tour. Such a trip will allow you to enjoy the magnificent views of nature and get a lot of unforgettable sensations from swimming in a picturesque bay.
Each of the 12 islands is a different size. The beach area is as with fine pebbles with sand, and just sandy – for every taste!
This unusual tour allows you to admire another attraction of Fethiye – Knights’ Island. Previously this island was used by the Knights of Rhodes to protect the territory, so it got this interesting name.
Video overview of attractions in Fethiye
If you are a big fan of peace, quiet and calm, then you just need to visit the resort of Fethiye. Here you can relax mind and body!
