Yesil Uzumlu or translated to "Green Grape" is an idyllic village that sits 500mtrs above sea level , fairly close to the port and harbour town of Fethiye and with a backdrop of the Taurus Mountains. The village has grown on a fertile plateau on the Fethiye to Denizli road, with mainly arable land and dwellings on the North Western side of the road while the Southern side is where the main population of the village live.
Fethiye marked in red in the far South West of Turkey (Click on the images to expand the detail)
Yesil uzumlu (ringed on the map) lies 500mtrs above Fethiye
Yesiluzumlu surrounded my forested mountains
Village life is still simple with a mixed Turkish and Western feel to both contrasting building styles of old rustic farm type and Ottoman style buildings and new western style holiday home properties. There is an ex-pat population now with many properties also being bought and built by Turkish people moving to the south from big cites such as Ankara and Istanbul.
The village has a typical village square dominated by the rather upto date mosque but small narrow streets filter off in every direction.
Locals still weave in the village using traditional methods often from their living quarters, and woman are often seen carrying either logs or produce and dare I say while the men sit in the shade of the squares Cafes drinking tea and playing "Tash".
the imposing center piece which is the Geyran Mountain towers above the village
the perfect backdrop to Yesiluzumlu
the snow capped Taurus mountains in the distance
the Taurus mountain tops can be snow covered for upto six months of the year, keeping a deep layer of snow well past the beginning of spring
during Winter and early spring the nights get very cold
In the village centre and many side roads thankfully are dominated by the Old houses and buildings leaving the new builds on the outskirts of the village.
The nearest to an English pub you will find in the village is the Grape Garden restaurant.... dare I say my local.
The village square and main mosque
Statue of Ataturk with dominant Geyran mountain behind
Village life and just about the only things that stop the traffic
Friday is market day, just a few local sellers stalls in the winter
Just outside the village wheat and poppies share the arable land as far as the eye can see
5 comments:
Hi Dave, thank you of visiting my blog. Beautiful photos of Turkey. You were in many different countries.
I have never been to Turkey and it is obviously my loss. It looks quite wonderful and I note that it is immaculately clean too. I bet the birding there is phenomenal! You are very fortunate to be able to escape to this enchanted corner of the world, Dave.
This is in total contrast to the only part of Turkey that I have visited, Dave, which was the Istanbul area. I once hired a special train to take a group from Budapest to Istanbul. My memories, other than the tourist attractions, were mainly of how busy the area was and the horrific road traffic situation.
Thank you for a very interesting, and beautifully illustrated post.
Best wishes - - - Richard
The poppies are pretty. I love the birds and critters on your sidebar. They get permanent placement. As they should!
Interesting post. I really like the old buildings made of stone.
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