Another month in the bag, so time for another monthly news roundup from life in Fethiye.
We’re sure you’ve seen on the news and on various social media accounts about the heatwave that Turkey and other countries around the Med have suffered. And the consequent wildfires.
The devastation and loss of life is just incomprehensible and it brings it home even more when you see places you know like Çeşme, Eskişehir, the Bursa area and Aksu (home to the Perge ruins) in Antalya smothered by thick smoke and an orange glow.
The amazing firefighting teams and locals in those areas – there’s a video doing the rounds showing farmers in Bursa in a long tractor convoy, all pulling water tanks to the firefighters – have finally got the wildfires under control.
And thankfully, at least for the next few days, temperatures are much lower than they have been and rain is forecast for some areas.
Let’s hope that rain arrives and falls in the areas that need it most.
Here in Fethiye, we have been spared and, obviously, we hope that remains the case.
But we are very mindful that the breezes that are keeping us cooler at the moment – and it is lovely local weather right now – are the dangerous winds that are making the jobs of firefighters and volunteers so difficult and life threatening.
Calendar Dates
There’s always something happening on the calendar, whether it’s local events or national holidays and festivals.
This year, the Islamic month of Muharram has fallen in July.
That means it’s time for aşure or Noah’s Pudding and we were very lucky to receive a big, freshly made hot bowl of it from our next door neighbours.
And 1st July is Kabotaj Bayramı. A national festival that commemorates merchant and marine rights in Turkey.
Coastal areas hold various light hearted – but competitive – competitions.
Some great photos, here, from the commemorations in Fethiye.
Boat Service Trial
Muğla Büyükşehir Belediyesi (our main provincial municipality) are trialling a boat service between the mainland in Fethiye centre over to Şövalye Island.
We’re yet to see the boat. But it is up and running and, at the moment, leaves Fethiye – in front of Pelikan Cafe – at 09:00, 14:00 and 19:00.
It returns from the island at 10:00, 15:00 and 20:00.
And don’t shoot the messenger, but we have seen someone online saying the journey is 100 TL each way.
Let’s see how the trial goes…
Chapel Found At Fethiye Castle
Excavations are ongoing at the ruins of the castle in Fethiye that overlooks the town and the whole bay.
A while back, we told you about the head of a statue being found embedded in the castle walls.
Well, in July, the archaeological team, led by Professor Kadir Pektaş, found the ruins of a chapel at the base of the castle walls.
It’s thought the chapel might date from the Middle Byzantine Period (717 – 1071).
The ultimate aim is complete the dig, then clean up and landscape the area so that it can be opened to tourists in the future.
Temiz Fethiye Campaign
Towards the end of July, the local belediye announced the Temiz Fethiye (Clean Fethiye) campaign. And since then, billboards and installations have been placed around town challenging people to do their bit.
A belediye-led public litter pick around the Fethiye peninsula was also organised.
It was also announced that cameras have been placed around the area and penalties will now be dished out to people caught littering – including cigarette butts.
A Facelift For Ayten Alpman Anıtı
Ayten Alpman was a famous Turkish singer who sang the the song that all Turks know; ‘Bir Başkadır Benim Memleketim.’
If you have walked along the harbour between Fethiye and Çalış Beach you will have seen the bar of musical notes that are a memorial to her and the song.
Filled and decorated with sea plants, they were often looking a bit sorry for themselves. So we were really happy when we saw the belediye staff revamping them.
The notes are lit up at night and each one features a different famous scene from around the Fethiye area.
Ölüdeniz, the Amyntas rock tomb, Kayaköy, the famous Çalış Beach sunset and boat trip scenes from around Göcek all feature.
Back to Kaş
It was only last month that we updated our full guide to Kaş on the blog.
Well, July is Barry’s birthday and we always go away for it for a short break.
Last year, we took ourselves off to the Greek island of Symi. This year, he decided he just wanted to chill out somewhere that we know well and not too far away.
Kaş fits that bill perfectly! So we had a great two night stay in the town – we both agreed it was our best visit yet.
We’ve got lots of other Kaş articles to write over the next few weeks!
On The Blog
We’ve had a busy July on the blog…
Wildlife
As the temps rocketed at the beginning of July, they brought out the sound of the Mediterranean summer – the cicadas.
Barry’s now added a sound file to that article – just in case you’re missing the sound of them.
They’re doing their bit as I type!
Summer Kitchen
We also added two brand new recipes to the blog in July – perfect summer food and drink!
What better than a lovely, cooling homemade Turkish lemonade – limonata – on a hot day to quench the thirst?
And we’re all about making salads and meze at the moment – unsurprisingly.
This wonderfully colourful pembe sultan – a beetroot and yoghurt dip is guaranteed to brighten up any table. And it tastes great, too!
If you follow us on Instagram, you may have seen us making our fırında mücver recipe, recently.
Well we can tell you that big scoop of pembe sultan on the side goes really well with it!
And Some Slow Travel
It’s been a long time coming. But in July, we finally wrote a more comprehensive guide to the lovely small town of Kalkan.
Whilst lots of people enjoy their holidays here, we use it as one of our day trips from Fethiye.
In Other News
Little snippets of news that have grabbed our attention throughout the month. It’s been a busy month so let’s go with some bullet points…
- New Flights: For our UK readers, if you’re based in the south of England and have use of Stansted Airport, lucky you! Pegasus have announced that they are now flying direct from Stansted to Kayseri (the gateway to Cappadocia) and Stansted to Gaziantep (a UNESCO city of Gastronomy).
- Cuteness Alert: If you need to brighten your day up, let us take you to Dalyan and Iztuzu Beach where, earlier in July, the first sea turtle hatchlings were filmed making their way to the sea.
- Archaeological News: Over to the Antalya Province for this. The big news is that the ancient site of Termessos on the outskirts of Antalya city centre is being excavated for the first time.
Archaeologists have already found and numbered the original stones of a monumental tomb which they will rebuild.
The bad news is that any findings probably won’t be able to go on display at Antalya Archaeological Museum until at least 2026 because the existing museum building is being demolished to make way for a new, earthquake safe Perge-themed building. - Off And Back On Again: We’ve brought our page about running events in Turkey right up to date. And no sooner had we deleted the Kaş running event, we had to reinstate it. Great news that another company have taken on the event and that will take place in October.
- One For The Foodies: Since Istanbul made itself shown on the radar of the powers that be at the Michelin Guide, the Izmir Province and Muğla (namely the Bodrum Peninsula, at the moment) quickly followed.
Well, in 2026, some restaurants in the Cappadocia region will also be recognised and added to the guide.
Successful venues will be announced in December of this year along with any other additions for Istanbul, Izmir and Muğla. We’d love to see some Fethiye restaurants get recognition!
Into August…
And that’s about it for July. Already in August and already making notes for the monthly roundup in a few weeks.
Let’s see what this sunny – often humid – month has in store for us…