Theatre and stadium
Hellenistic seating repaired under Rome and a long stadium above the plain, and you will usually have both to yourself.
Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0
On a hilltop some 900 m above the village of Üzümlü sits an entire Lycian city that nobody has really touched since its last inhabitants left in the 7th century: a theatre, a stadium, Roman baths, cyclopean walls and vaulted tombs, all scattered through pine forest with no ticket booth and only a handful of signboards. The Lycians called it Xadawãti, and the ancient ending of the name hints at a settlement far older than the Lycians themselves, though what you see today mostly dates from the 5th century BC through the Roman period. The visit is a loop of roughly 3 km through the pines. It starts at the necropolis, whose vaulted tombs are a style otherwise associated with Olympos far to the east and rare in this part of Lycia, then climbs to the theatre, its seating still legible under the roots, on to the long stadium with the plain dropping away on one side, the remains of baths built under Vespasian, the agora, and the four linked cisterns that kept a dry summit alive. The walls are built of enormous blocks, and from their edge the whole Gulf of Fethiye opens up below. Be clear about what this is not: it is not Ephesus, nor even nearby Tlos. Apart from a rescue dig by the Fethiye Museum in the 1990s there has been no sustained excavation; the paths are rough, interpretation panels are few, and by late summer the grass swallows some of the stones. Anyone expecting a tidy site with a café and a museum will be disappointed; anyone who likes wandering empty ruins with nobody else in sight will find two of the best hours in the region. The loop is fine for children who walk steadily, hopeless for pushchairs, and rough underfoot in places. You reach it from Fethiye by car only: 20 to 25 km and under an hour. The road is asphalt to Üzümlü, then a few kilometres of narrow stabilised forest track; an ordinary car copes with care, but do not attempt it after heavy rain. No dolmuş runs to the site itself, so the alternatives are a taxi from Fethiye or an organised tour. Entry is free, and the only facilities are a guard hut and a toilet at the entrance, so carry plenty of water. Spring and autumn are best; in August go early, because the patchy shade is no match for midday. Make it a half day with Üzümlü's Friday market and the village's traditional dastar weavers.
Hellenistic seating repaired under Rome and a long stadium above the plain, and you will usually have both to yourself.
A necropolis of stone-vaulted tombs of a kind rare in western Lycia, plundered long ago but still striking.
From the top of the great walls the sea, the gulf and the villages spread out below, worth the dirt track on their own.
Üzümlü (Yeşilüzümlü) village, Fethiye, Muğla
Tlos. It is excavated, signposted, on asphalt and has enough for a family; Cadianda is wild ruins for people who like walking in silence and do not mind a dirt track. Staying a week in Fethiye? Do both.
Yes in dry weather; the track is stabilised dirt, no 4x4 needed, but it is narrow and stony, so drive slowly. After winter rain it can turn to mud, and then a local taxi from Üzümlü or another day is the wiser choice.
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