Kaya (Levissi)

Although now almost completely abandoned, in the 19th century Levissi (Kaya), 8km/5mi south of Fethiye, was a town of more than 3,000 inhabitants. No more than 200 to 300 years old, it stands on the site of ancient Carmylessus. There was also a settlement here in the Middle Ages (1106), known for its good harbor. In the 19th century, after neighboring Makri (Fethiye) had been devastated, first by the earthquake of 1856 and then by a disastrous fire in 1885, its predominantly Greek inhabitants moved to Levissi where many of them had summer homes. At the beginning of this century most returned to Makri. Of those who remained, some left Levissi in 1922 during the population exchanges and the rest after the 1957 earthquake. The terraces of large, stone-built, turn-of-the-century European-style houses on the hillside have a sorry, abandoned air.