Kemer - Turkey

KEMER TURKEY



Kemer is a seaside resort and a district of Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, 40 km west of the city of Antalya.

Kemer is on the Gulf of Antalya, 53 km of sea coast with the skirts of the western Taurus mountains behind. The coast has the typical Mediterranean hot, dry weather and warm sea. Until the early 1980s this was a quiet rural district but today the town of Kemer and coastal villages in the district play a very important part in tourism in Turkey.
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History

Research shows only that Kemer was the Lycian town of Idryos.

Kemer was called Eski Köy (old village) until in 1916 - 1917, a 23 km long stone wall was built to channel the mountain stream water and protect the town from flooding, which until then had been a persistent problem. The name Kemer refers to those walls.

Until the 1960s there was no coast road and the district was accessible only by boat. Then a road was built and from the 1980s onwards this was followed by a great investment in infrastructure, planned by the state and funded by the World Bank, aimed at developing a large tourist trade.
Moonlight beach near Kemer


Tourism in Kemer

One of the major attractions of Kemer is its natural beauty; sea, mountains and pine forest combine in harmony. The shore from Beldibi to Tekirova consists of unspoilt beaches in bays of various sizes, mostly stoney rather than sand. With easy transportation, good communication and other municipal services Kemer has a large proportion of the hotel bed capacity of the Antalya region, and is a comfortable and peaceful holiday coast with internationally accepted reputation, attracting large numbers of visitors from countries such as Germany, The Netherlands and in recent years predominantly families from Russia. Many of the visitors come as part of low-cost all-inclusive package deals but tourism is still the mainstay of the local economy. There are so many vistors that most shops in Kemer are set up to sell things like leather jackets to overseas visitors and trade in the euro as well as the Turkish lira.

The town of Kemer is vibrant with clubs, bars and restaurants, blue flag beaches and a 320 capacity yacht marina. Popular coastal villages include Beldibi, Kiriş, Çayova, Aslanbucak, Kuzdere, Beycik, Çamyuva, Göynük, and Çıralı.

Annual events in the area include art exhibitions in Phaselis, boat races, rally driving, and Kemer Carnival. Stars of Turkish pop music, such as Tarkan, give summer concerts on this coast.

Places of interest

Sites of natural beauty

* Adrasan Bay - 2 kilometres of beach
* The Çıralı village and pristine 4 km beach. Popular for nature walks and sections of the Lycian Way
* Üç Adalar (Three Islands) - popular with divers
* The canyon of Göynük
* İkiz Kayalar (Twin rocks)
* The village of Ulupınar, with its mountain spring water.
* There are a number of interesting caves including Beldibi, and the Molla hole in the east face of Tahtalı mountain.

And of course the Taurus mountains offer many places for walking or a tour by jeep.

Historical sites

* Chimaera - the natural burning rock of Greek mythology.
* The ancient cities of Phaselis and Olympos
* The town of Kemer itself has some remains of antique Idryos, a Byzantine church and a Seljuk Turkish hunting lodge.

Twin towns

* Kemer is a twin town of Schwabach since 1998.