Phaselis – Çamyuva – Kuzdere
The road begins from the archaeological settlement of Phaselis and first continues in a route parallel to the sea, then carries on towards the Kuzdere settlement through Turkish pine forests and on the banks of the creek.
Information regarding the archaeological settlement of Phaselis are provided on the page for Section 26. The settlement of Çamyuva is suitable for meeting essential needs such as food and accommodation.
IDYROS
Ancient sources do not contain much information on the ancient city of Idyros. Carl Ritter has stated it is said that “the city which is a ship haven of the ancient ages located around Egber which can be accessed by going north from Phaselis and over the northern slope of Cap Avova, is Idyros Polis”. Skylax has written that the city of Idyros is located between Phaselis (Tekirova) and Lurnateia (Sıçan [Rat] Island). Kipert has indicated that the city is in the bay on the southeastern coast of Kemer Mountain.
In 1977, as a result of the excavations carried out at the back of the Ayışığı facilities for excursionists on the coast in Kemer by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the city remains in this area were identified as to belong to the Idyros ancient city. The excavations revealed a Byzantine church and civil architecture structures surrounding it, in addition to tombs from classical and Byzantine periods.
The dimensions of the church are 25 x 11.50 meters. Its structural plan has features that are similar to those of the churches encountered in Anatolia. The church has three naves, two of which has their narthex and exonarthex floors paved with mosaics. The mosaics consist of orange, roof tile red, white and gray stones. The ornamentations, most of which are geometrical patterns, are surrounded with heart-shaped and plant-shaped border stones.
A chapel has been discovered in the south of this church. The chapel, which is a rectangular building, is further than the apse of the church and its dimensions are 7.55 x 5.20 meters. A part of the floor is tiled with mosaics. There is also a baptisterium at the north of the church. This building, which is also rectangular, has dimensions of 7.35 x 6.65 meters. The entirety of its floor are tiled with mosaics.
The small antiques and coins found during the excavation of the church and its complex indicate that the complex was used between the 4th and 7th centuries. There are other structures at the west of the church and the street in front of the church with walls showing the signs of belonging to the same period with the church complex. These are civil architecture structures that do not exhibit conformity to any house plans and they are simply formed of rooms attached to each other.
The excavations performed in 1977 covered a part of the ancient city of Idyros. After surface explorations, it was determined that structure ruins belonging to the Byzantine period extended to the creek basin at the southeast and that they were connected to the area in which a holiday village is located by a bridge of which the piers still stood. There are many architectural remains within the holiday village as well. All of these are from the Byzantine period.
The classical age necropolis which was discovered through records of ancient resources and excavations, indicate that there are structures belonging to classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods in the ancient city of Idros. Moreover, the city walls discovered on the hill that is further behind Kocaburun and on which the forest watchtower stands, belong to the classical age as well. This indicates that the region hosted a vibrant settlement during the classical age.
