Kayaköy, eight kilometres south of Fethiye, is a protected settlement of roofless stone houses, churches, chapels, schools and lanes. The visible village was built principally by Greek Orthodox residents during the late Ottoman period. Türkiye’s official Culture Portal notes older associations with ancient Karmylassos but states that excavated evidence earlier than the fourth century BC has not been found.
The modern ruin landscape is inseparable from the compulsory population exchange agreed by Greece and Türkiye in 1923. Greek Orthodox residents left for Greece, while Muslims from Greece were resettled in Türkiye. Kayaköy’s former inhabitants founded or joined communities including Nea Makri. The empty houses are evidence of displacement, not a supernatural “ghost town.”