The view from the restaurant!

Yediburunlar means seven noses.  There are seven headlands and bays along this part of the coast, hence the name.  “The Yediburunlar Lighthouse is located in the mountains, at an altitude of 570m, overlooking the sea on Turkey’s South West coast halfway between Fethiye and Kalkan.” From their website.  570 meters is about 1800 feet.  Not sure where or if there really is a light house.  We didn’t see one.

The view from one of the free standing guest houses.

Looking back towards the restaurant from the pool area.

This room was in the main building and was really inviting…had we been overnight guests.

The lighthouse is owned and run by Leon, a South African, and Semra, a Turk. They met on holiday near Antalya and found the site together, building it painstakingly by hand using traditional materials and methods. "We didn’t have any choice," says Leon. "There was nothing here – no water, no electricity, just stones."

They’ve done an amazing job. It’s enough to bring one over all Kevin McCloudy, saying things about how the organic use of materials almost moulds the building to its landscape. And inside it is, if anything, even lovelier: all polished boards, old kilims and embroidered linens.

There’s a generator now, for electricity, but still no water, so every couple of days Leon drives his truck 20 miles to a petrol station, fills it with water and drives back. Meanwhile, Semra cooks delicious, multi-course vegetarian feasts for their 12 guests. It’s as full-on a job as any could be. Their living space is in the room we eat in – which is presumably why they only eat with guests one night a week. I can’t say I blame them, but it makes me fear the communal dining experience all the more.

In the end, though, it’s all quite jolly. I couldn’t do it for a week, and it’s not how I’d spend a romantic break à deux, but the food is delicious, everyone’s friendly and it gives me and my mum a break from bickering at each other.

In the morning, Yediburunlar seems even wilder and more remote. The lush vegetation of Kabak and Faralya is a distant memory. It’s so much starker up here. Water is scarce and the land is rocky, every inch of it terraced and planted with olive trees, and flung here and there are bits of ancient detritus. We spot a vast Lycian sarcophagus in an olive grove and, sitting on the terrace for breakfast, I glance down beyond Leon’s latest piece of handiwork, a swimming pool perched on a ledge beneath the house, and notice rock tombs carved out of the cliff-face below.

"Oh yes," says Leon, casually. "We have our own tombs."

He has also mapped the surrounding paths so you can wander off by yourselves, which we do one day. On another, we join a Leon-led group on a walk up to the ancient site of Sidyma, a great unenclosed jumble of tombs and masonry, simply lying about the place. http://www.guardian.co.uk

It was a bit breezy when we arrived so we did sit inside but you still had that spectacular view

Outdoor dining would have been great earlier in the day.

Starting to set out lunch for our group

I believe this woman is the sister of the owner who was away in Istanbul

Joan, who will be 88 soon prepares a plate for Bill who was sort of trapped behind the table.

Ginny and Colin enjoying a cold beer with lunch

I loved it all, even the spicy green beans though the cauliflower cheese dish was everyone’s favorite.

We pretty much ate it all!  I think there were about 14 of us plus Taṣ and our driver.

Taṣ and our bus driver eating in peace

Stairway from the main building down to the pool and to the guest houses.

A peek into one of the small guest buildings, they have small fireplaces too.

Markers to show the way to Yediburunlar.

It was just a beautiful location.

We then loaded back onto our minibus and headed for home, a couple of hours away.

Atakὄy  Our last “comfort stop” had a lovely “ladies” with Turkish pottery sinks.

Driving to Sidyma on the squiggly line that is the road.

Not such a bad road….especially compared to driving around the mountains of Colorado.

Sidyma mosque

The friendly lady next door…who Gwen just loves! invited us for tea.

Preparing tea

Tea and lovely spinach gὄzleme which was a wonderful snack as lunch wasn’t for another hour and it was already a good deal past noon.

Randal wearing his red leather Kapadokya hat

“Those living in Sidyma (Dodurga) are still very friendly, kind, gentle people (only about 80 people) and they would love to see more visitors.  Some of the young people that we met speak some English. The village is along the Lycian Way walk and the muhtar (village headman) who is also the imam, has told us that anyone may camp in the courtyard of the mosque if they wish.  In case of bad weather, seek him out for permission to sleep in the mosque – he speaks a little English and is a very kind man.  There isn’t a shop in Sidyma, but water can be found at the mosque.  Some of the people of the villagers sell carved wooden spoons of sandalwood (we bought some, they are inexpensive and very nice) and kilim articles woven in the village.  But don’t worry, they aren’t pushy.

Some of my friends recently returned from a camping trip to Sidyma and said that the people there were just wonderful, so friendly and helpful, and that they are the friendliest villagers they have met on their many camping/walking trips in the Turkish mountains (and most villagers in Turkey are very friendly).  The villagers brought them some food and invited them over for tea and the imam had them park their motorcycle at the mosque. My friends found an area near the necropolis to be an ideal camping spot and walked to the top of the hill behind the mosque where the views were spectacular.”

http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/sidyma.htm

Walking the stone path to see the tombs….and just to go for a walk!

We headed back on a smoother road but soon Taṣ realized that it was the “long way’round.”

(Not sure if this was part of the Lycian Way or our stone path, but the “Way” takes you from Fethiye to Antalya about 510 kilometers or 356 miles.) 

So we crossed back over a dry stream bed.

Walked the path through the tall grass and returned to the village where most of our fellow travelers were waiting for us.  Only 4 of us had gone with Taṣ while the others took photos in the village and drank more tea.  Both were lovely choices.

Back on the road to Yediburunlar Lighthouse…which is not a lighthouse at all.

   “The history of Xanthos is quite a violent – the Xanthosians twice demonstrated the fierce independence of the Lycian people when they chose to commit mass suicide rather than submit to invading forces.  The Xanthosian men set fire to their women, children, slaves and treasure upon the acropolis before making their final doomed attack upon the invading Persians.  Xanthos was later repopulated but the same gruesome story repeated itself in 42 BC when Brutus attacked the city during the Roman civil wars in order to recruit troops and raise money.  Brutus was shocked by the Lycians’ suicide and offered his soldiers a reward for each Xanthosian saved. Only 150 citizens were rescued.

We made our houses graves

And our graves are homes to us

Our houses burned down

And our graves were looted

We climbed to the summits

We went deep into the earth

We were drenched in water

They came and got us

They burned and destroyed us

They plundered us

And we,

For the sake of our mothers,

Our women,

And for the sake of our dead,

And we,

In the name of our honor,

And our freedom,

We, the people of this land,

Who sought mass suicide

We left a fire behind us,

Never to die out…

Poem found on a tablet in the Xanthos excavations, translated by Azra Erhat

Xanthos became the seat of an archbishopric in the 8th century, but was deserted during the first wave of Arab raids in the 7th century.

http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Inscribed Pillar

Pillar Tomb

A completely unique tomb in Lycia, actually two-tombs-in-one – a normal Lycian sarcophagus stands upon a shorter-than-usual pillar tomb.  It is quite tall, only slightly shorter than the Harpy Tomb.  The date of this tomb is disputed, some sources say 4th century BC, other 3rd.  http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Clay copy of a relief on the Harpy Monument

Harpy Tomb"; it was previously believed that the winged women figures in the freize were harpies (monsters from Greek mythology with the head of a woman and the body of a bird).  It is now thought that these figures may depict sirens carrying off the souls of the dead.

http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Amphitheatre

“Probably dates from the 2nd century AD and is thought to have been built in the same site as the earlier Hellenistic one.  Only the upper rows of the auditorium are missing, having been used as construction material for the northern wall of the acropolis.  The stage building is still partially standing and was once of two stories and decorated with columns. “ http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Goats and tiny baby goat (center bottom stair) sunning themselves in the amphitheater.

Acropolis No. 1

On the southwest corner, above the amphitheatre, probably constructed in the 4th century BC.  Ruins of a temple thought to be dedicated to Artemis are found here, as well as the foundations of a large structure consisting of many rooms, probably a palace that was destroyed by the Persian general Harpagus.  From here you get a great view of the entire valley and the Eşen River.

Necropolis 

Lies to the east of the second acropolis, many tombs and sarcophagi with interesting reliefs and lids

http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Taṣ with friend.

I walked up the road past the ruins to see what I could see

Esen River flowing by the hundreds of greenhouses.

It was a beautiful time to visit Xanthos with all of the wildflowers blooming.