Kayaköy - Livissi

Kayaköy - Livissi

Kayaköy is a village located 8 kilometers south of Fethiye in southwestern Turkey. In ancient times, it was known as Livissi in Greek.

During late antiquity, the population of the region became Christian and following the East-West Schism in 1054 AD, they were referred to as Greek Orthodox Christians. The Greeks who lived alongside their Turkish rulers enjoyed a peaceful coexistence from the end of the turbulent Ottoman conquest in the 14th century until the early 20th century.

Kayaköy - Livissi

Livissi was a prosperous Greek town before the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922. Following the subsequent Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, its Greek Orthodox residents were compelled to leave Livissi. Today, Kayaköy remains a reminder of Livissi's past with its abandoned buildings and ruins, attracting tourists from around the world.

That treaty contained a protocol, the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, which barred permanently the return of any previous Greek Orthodox refugees to their homes in Turkey (including those from Livissi) and required that any remaining Orthodox Christian citizens of Turkey leave their homes for Greece (with an exception for Greeks living in Istanbul).

The Treaty of Lausanne also required that Greece's Muslim citizens permanently leave Greece for Turkey (with an exception for Muslims living in Greek Thrace). Muslim inhabitants exiled from Greece found the land in Livissi (Kayaköy) inhospitable and soon decamped, leaving a hillside village abandoned for a second time.

Today, Kayaköy - Livissi is preserved as a museum village and contains hundreds of rundown houses and churches covering a small mountain slope. These structures were once inhabited by Greek-style residents but are now used as resting points for visitors to Fethiye or Öludeniz. The village is now empty aside from tour groups, roadside vendors selling handmade goods, and a selection of houses that have been restored through ongoing efforts.