The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry is holding an auction on October 23 to lease out the Greek ghost town of Kayakoy, located just a few kilometers south of Fethiye. An air of mystery and gloom hovers around the once-beautiful town that was once known as Levissi, home to a thriving community of some 10,000 people, mainly Greek Orthodox Christians.

The cost of the project is expected to reach 30 million Turkish liras, and two companies have already tendered bids for the auction. Local officials are pleased with the move to restore life to the 5,000-year-old village that was once home to the Greeks. The Greeks of Livissi were ethnically cleansed and then forcibly expelled in 1922, forced to leave behind the land of their heritage.

At the time, campaigns were designed to scare Greeks from Livissi and other thriving Greek towns in the area with offensives by brigands and other neighboring Turks. “Women were raped and their clothes and shoes taken from them. Full documentation o the genocide of Greeks of Livissi and Macri (now known as Fethiye) is documented on the site Greek Genocide (CLICK HERE for the link):

Women were raped and their clothes and shoes taken from them. One example of the murders in the region is that of Antony Orfanos and Basil J. Karagiorgis who were seized in the village of Mentos, at a distance of three hours of Livissi, by a band of peasants who, after stripping them bbare, cut them into pieces and left them to be eaten by the carnivorous fowl and deer.

Their homes have remained vacant since then as is the case with many Greek-owned properties around Turkey. The decaying homes were further damaged by a huge earthquake in 1957.

The houses and churches in the area are now used as a cultural center and many festivals and international events are held each summer.

Plans to lease the area have been on the agenda for several years, however an auction last year proved fruitless. Critics of the plan are concerned that investors could ruin the authenticity of the town that stands as a living museum and point to the lack of infrastructure to allow for development. A facebook page was started called “Save Kayakoy” where sympathetic Turks and Greeks with roots to the area are urging for any restoration to be carried out in collaboration with Greece so that these are suitable to the area’s character and history.

Photos of the beautiful town and scroll down for a virtual tour: 

CLICK HERE for the virtual tour.