Southern Aegean
Southern Aegean (Güney Ege) is the southern part of the Aegean Region, Turkey.
Regions
Cities
- Akyaka — coastal town on the tip of Gulf of Gökova, with beautiful traditional architecture
- Bitez — one of the least developed towns along the coast of Bodrum Peninsula, and one of the windiest—windsurfing is the main beach activity here
- Bodrum — trendy resort town featuring a citadel, Roman ruins, and trendy clubs
- Datça — unspoilt local resort on the Datça Peninsula, nearby Knidos forms the boundary between Aegean and Mediterranean proper
- Didim — resort town with a large population of British expats, centred around the colossal Temple of Apollo of the ancient oracle of Didyma
- Denizli — relatively big city inland, hub for visiting Pamukkale
- Gümüşlük — village on Bodrum Peninsula mainly frequented by bohemians
- Muğla — pleasant inland city with a well-preserved old quarter
- Turgutreis — on the peninsula's western tip, this is the second largest town in the Bodrum Peninsula after Bodrum itself
- Yalıkavak — village on Bodrum Peninsula
Other destinations
- Altinkum
- Aphrodisias — one of the best preserved Roman cities in Turkey, much less crowded than some better known sites
- Pamukkale — the white travertines
- Priene, Miletus, and Didyma — this trio of ancient Greek ruins near each other is often visited on a combined "PMD" tour out of Selçuk. Priene (near the modern village of Güllübahçe, take a minibus from Söke to get there), once a major coastal city whose harbour has since been silted up by the Meander River, was the earliest town built on a grid plan. Its evocative hillside ruins, surrounded and partially covered by a dense pine forest, include a Temple of Athena and parts of the city walls. Miletus (near the modern village of Balat, 3 km north of Akköy — take a minibus from Didim to Akköy, and walk the rest or wait for the infrequent minibuses on to Balat), the greatest and the wealthiest of the Greek cities before the Persian invasion of the 6th century BC, was another major harbour city, its sailors having founded a huge number of colonies, especially around the Black Sea. A well-preserved amphitheatre, an Ionic stoa along one of its main roads, and a bathhouse are among the ruins to see in Miletus, as well as that of a medieval mosque built by the local Turkish kingdom of Menteşe in 1403, when the city was still inhabited. Parts of the site get seasonally inundated, providing a more atmospheric feel. Didyma (just north of the modern resort town of Didim and easily walkable from there) was the sanctuary of Miletus, from where visitors approached by following a sacred path of 17 km on foot. There was an oracle here that was as famous as Delphi in the Hellenic world, and a colossal Temple of Apollo with much ancient Greek art, including the Medusa head which is one of the most iconic sights of the region, with its picture usually making it into the tourism brouchures.
Understand
Essentially a northwestern extension of Mediterranean coast, this region has the typical “Turkish blue coast” – with mountains covered by pine forests descending right to the sea level. Historical names for this region include Caria.
Talk
Get in
- International airport of the region is located in Bodrum.
- Ferries connect most towns on the coast to the nearest respective islands belonging to the Dodecanese island group of Greece.
- Aydin and Denizli has daily train services from Izmir.
- A motorway connect the region with Izmir in the north. D400 connects Fethiye with Antalya in the east through Lycian coast.