DATÇA
One side of it is the Aegean and the other side
is the Mediterranean; one side gives peace and other excitement; Datça is a
place that’s both difficult to get to and hard to forget .It’s for this reason
exactly that it’s beautiful.
Datça whose old name was stadia, has a history
that dates back to circa 2000 BC. The Carians were the first local people of
the town. Due to commercial reasons, the Dorians and Romans moved the city of
Knidos, which was in the center of today’s Datça, to the tip and peninsula and
built a number of temples. The city’s population reached around 70 thousand
during the late Roman and Early Byzantine eras. Earthquakes and pirate invasion
impacted here as well and the city was abandoned altogether.
In the 13th century, the peninsula was first a
part of the Menteş Beylik and finally became known as Datça when it was
included in Ottoman Borders in the 15th century. Despite being called
‘Reşadiye’ during the reign of one of the last Ottoman Sultans Reşat, the
Republic changed its name back to ‘Datça’.
A BEAUTY THAT’S DIFFICULT TO GET TO
DATÇA ALMOND
The Datça almond is the most delicious in
Turkey. High in nutritional value and used in many areas including
pharmaceuticals, this almond is regarded as the world’s best. Datça locals put
almonds in between dried figs, bake them and call them ‘bademli incir’ (fig
with almonds).
MIRACLE OF NATURE: LAKE ILICA
Datça town center promises sunsets void of
noise. The beach where people swim here is taken over by the tables of small
and large seafood restaurants at night. A Street that appeals mostly to foreign
tourists appears before you a little further ahead. There’s fishing port at the
end of the road where tour boats organize daily trips to the bays in the peninsula.
The stops are what we would have recommended anyway because they’re all natural
wonders; İnce Burun, Dilek Cave, Domuz Çukuru, Hayıt Bükü, Kargı, Hurmalı Bük, Dişlice
Islands and Dimitri Bay…
There’s another natural wonder again near the
center. It’s called Ilıca Lake. This lake where the sea and land unite, alongside
Taşlık Beach and Belediye Park, is regarded as therapeutic for its spring
waters. You can swim with sea turtles in the lake’s warm water and then swim in
the sea and then wash the salt off in the lake that flows into the
Mediterranean.
FOOD HEAVEN
Datça is a true paradise in terms of food,
especially seafood. There are close to 10 small and large seafood restaurants
along the water the with tables on the seashore. They serve delicious Aegean
herbs and flavors unique to Datça. Meanwhile, you’ll get the chance to enjoy unique flavors in
pleasant atmospheres throughout the day in Old Datça. Homemade lemonade is popular
refreshment served in every establishment in Old Datça.
OLD DATÇA
Old Datça stands out for different qualities. The
suburb that was made up of ruins only until recently was brought to life 10
years ago. English people, Germans and French people who’ve left their homes
for a better life now live here. And there are also Turks who ask themselves
‘what am I doing?’
There are art workshops that sell handmade
cloths, silk shawls, bridal dowry goods and ‘peştemals’ (Loincloths) unique to
the region in Old Datça.
RICH İN EVERY WAY
You can do some branch of sport in Datça. You can do
scuba at aqua bay and you can do windsurf and kite-board at blue sea.
MERYEM
MERVE DEMİRKAYA
PHYSİCAL EDUCATİON AND
SPORT TEACHER
