My Journey to Myra and Kaş - Turkey

Hello my friends. I want to talk about my visit to the ancient city of Myra and Kaş, which is a small Mediterranean town with beautiful, flowery streets and a vibrant Greek past. Before the population exchange, a large Greek community lived here. It is precisely thanks to this that the special synthesis of Turkish and Hellenic culture can still be felt in the town.

I traveled here from Demre to Kumluca via an incredible road. The road is very winding, stretching right along the coastline through the cliffs. From time to time wonderful, secluded little beaches appear before us. We took a break at a few of them. This is a very beautiful, quiet place where you can relax away from the noisy tourist crowds. There is almost no one here. The water is also super transparent.

The entrance to the water is a bit rocky of course. Some people might not like this. But this place is peaceful and calm. On the way from Kemer to Kaş, we decided to stop by the ancient city of Myra. The entrance here is 14 Euros per person.

The ancient city of Myra was one of the largest cities of the Lycian state. Between 5 and 10 thousand people lived here, while the amphitheater could hold up to 12 thousand people. The acoustics in this amphitheater are adjusted just like in Aspendos. Even in the top rows, you can hear the whispers of the actors on stage. The amphitheater was built in the 2nd century AD. But it was restored again after the devastating earthquake in 141 AD. The city experienced its peak period starting around the 5th century BC. Afterwards the city suffered great damage from various earthquakes and floods. Around the 6th century AD, the local people abandoned the city and it gradually turned into ruins. Later the most diverse treasure hunters began to frequent this place. They started looting the tombs and extracting the most diverse treasures hidden along with the buried people. In fact only the most noble and famous people of the city were buried in these tombs. That is why there were plenty of treasures in them. Furthermore Saint Nicholas, who was the bishop of Myra in the 4th century, was also buried in these tombs. After the 11th century merchants came here found and looted the tomb and took about half of his bones to Italy. Thus half of Saint Nicholas's bones and his sarcophagus are preserved here, while half is in Italy. Despite all the looting, about 70 tombs and the treasures hidden inside them have survived to this day.

We went to the amphitheater. In this amphitheater by the way, not only theater and music performances but also gladiator fights were held.

In the amphitheater besides the open areas, almost at the very top there are rooms. While walking I was trying to guess what they were used for. Stone blocks weighing several tons were woven with perfect harmony using mortar. This technology has provided durability over the centuries.

Still we managed to find the passage leading to the inner rooms of the amphitheater. Perhaps these were rooms for VIP spectators or for something else.

The church where Saint Nicholas is buried is located here. He gained fame by becoming the bishop of Myra in the 4th century. Also as we can see in the statue, he showed a great deal of kindness towards children. It was precisely Saint Nicholas who became the prototype for the modern Santa Claus figure. The ticket booths where you can buy tickets for the grounds of the Saint Nicholas church are here. The ticket price is 17 Euros. It seemed quite high to me.

We saw the ancient city of Myra and the Saint Nicholas Church. Then we set off towards Kaş. I arrived at my room in Kaş quite late, at 7 pm in the evening and it was already dark. The rating of this hotel was very high on both Google maps and Booking. The room. Small but very comfortable. Everything is clean, beautiful. There was a window, a small balcony. Very cute, though it looked at the wall of another building. Later I went into the town of Kaş and while walking randomly through the evening town, I came out onto a street with many restaurants and cafes on one side and the sea, the harbor and numerous boats on the other. I love this place very, very much, because the atmosphere is very peaceful.

In general Kaş is a small resort town located on the Mediterranean coast in Turkey. It is known for its picturesque views, peaceful atmosphere and the absence of mass tourism. The town combines old architecture, Greek heritage and traditional Mediterranean color within itself. The main activites here are diving, boat tours and an unhurried relaxation at a cafe or the beach. Walking through the narrow streets of the old town in Kaş is very pleasant. Many people come for the tranquility, beautiful nature and to meet the local cuisine. By the way there are a lot of cats in Kaş and unlike the ones in Antalya, the ones here are very, very friendly. Also there are very beautiful, atmospheric coffee shops here where super coffees are brewed.

If you decide to swim in Kaş I think your choice should be İnceboğaz beach. This is a municipal beach. It is small and apparently there are always quite a lot of people, but the water is very clean. And from here looking from the outside, it looks like a complete corner of paradise. The color of the water is a very beautiful turquoise.

There is also a beach across the road by the way. The only difference is that there is no shade here, no sunbeds, no trees. The area is wider, you don't have to sit very close to each other. The water is also very warm, I checked. And the views, the views are simply wonderful.

We decided to walk from Kaş itself to the Çukurbağ peninsula. And we were watching very beautiful views all around. The most diverse small beaches, olive trees growing literally in olive groves. And in general the views are great. And right nearby, a Greek island is also visible. This is already the Schengen zone, but it is so close that it feels as if it could be reached by paddling a canoe.

We came to the Çukurbağ Peninsula to visit the famous Kapalı hotel. An abandoned water park is located here. Already the hotel itself, meaning Closed is in an abandoned state. And the area judging by the photos and videos, should have been beautiful, I thought. This hotel and water park was built in the early 2000s. And it existed for only about 11 years. Along with this they write that quite a lot of guests came here, there were many tourists. Judging by the videos on the internet, wild parties were held here. However they write that in 2011, due to the 2009 crisis and the fluctuation of the tourist flow in general, also the management did not approach the administration of this complex very wisely. One way or another this complex was closed in 2011 and after that, it slowly began to fall into ruin. The furniture, all the main valuables were of course taken away by the owners, but the complex's grounds, including the slides and that famous pool all remained. And enthusiasts of abandoned places continue to come here. This place is actually currently the most famous ghost resort on the entire Turkish coast. You can actually visit this place without any problems, but keep in mind that the grounds are becoming more and more neglected and it is located on a very expensive piece of land. There is information that it will most likely be purchased recently and a project will be built in its place. Therefore it is a very interesting project. If you want to visit, of course hurry up.

Just 15 years ago, happy visitors of this hotel were sliding down these slides. Now you can only wander around here, look at the hotel and see the sea. Visitors and bloggers coming here usually fly with a drone. We decided to return from the peninsula to Kaş by dolmuş. The fare from the peninsula to the harbor is 100 Lira. Moreover they run infrequently.I had read that it was once an hour. But just as we approached the stop for the return journey, a minibus pulled up immediately. Therefore our luck turned out incredibly well, because we were a bit tired from walking under the sun and it was good to go by vehicle on the way back. The town of Kaş is located on mountains and hills. So be prepared that while walking in the town, you will have to climb the most diverse stairs and slopes very, very much. And sometimes this really consumes quite a lot of strength. But fortunately there are many taxis and dolmuş minibuses here. It is of course much easier with them.

I definitely like the streets of Kaş much more by daylight. There are far fewer people and it is possible to examine all the details.

And the cats are also more visible. The cats were always with us. To be honest I don't understand tourists who come to Kaş for half a day or a few hours at all. Because there are so many beautiful streets here that it is worth walking through them without rushing, examining various details that are very abundant here. I think one should stay for at least a few days or three days. Just like we came. Kaş is so beautiful that you literally want to take a photo in front of every house.

At the beach there is a very large number of tour companies that can organize a trip on a boat for you. You can sail along the coast, go diving or snorkeling, in short everywhere. In general here on the southwestern coast of Turkey in the Mediterranean, there were many towns whose population consisted of Greeks in large part as recently as the early 20th century. So where did these Greeks themselves go? It turns out they were compulsorily exchanged. That is at some point, the authorities came to people's houses and said, Pack your things, you are moving to Greece soon. Everything you acquired here, all your culture, all your heritage remains here. Of course, we are sure this situation must have been very sad for many people. But we can observe that beautiful architecture and that heritage in general that the Greeks left behind in these towns.

As always on trips, I love to eat local food. And that day we ordered meatballs, lamb shish and shepherd's salad.

In fact in all the videos I watched about Kaş, bloggers claimed that there are no cheap cafes and restaurants in Kaş. We decided to check this out too and found a wonderful, marvelous cafe with local cuisine. Its name is Kaşıkçı. It has a high rating on the maps and even though prices are rising slowly because of the inflation in the country, the prices of the dishes make one very, very happy. Quite democratic and reasonable. And the food here was very delicious.

That was all I had to tell about Kaş for today, my friends. See you again soon