Caunos

It is located on the peninsula to the south of the valley of Dalyan/Kalbis Creek connecting the Lake of Koycegiz to the sea. The name of the city in the Etruscan/Luwian language is "Kadumna", meaning "the . People of the Mother Goddess." The Luwian branches of the Etruscans who came into Anatolia circa 3000 B.C. saw both the fresh water and sea transportation convenience of the area and established a city on the acropolis over the peninsula in the south. These took up sides with the Trojan Hector during the Trojan War and increased in number with the influx of those returning from the war. In the 6th century B.C. they joined in the Carian Confederacy and in the 5th century, fell under the control of the Persians,The city whose population increased with those immigrating from Crete as of the 3rd century B.C. was handed over to the Carian Ada during the Macedonian era. It later fell under the hegemony of the Egyptians followed by the Seleucids, Rhodians, Pergamenes and, towards late 1st century A.D., the Romans. Caunos made very good use of its location during the antique period and shipped to other areas goods, primarily salt, and fish, figs and slaves. When the Creek Dalyan was silted up with alluvial deposits in time, the bay turned into a marshland and as a result of the malaria which broke out the majority of the population of the city perished. Subsequent to this people abandoned the area. Today, the ancient remains are accessible by motorboat services from the settlement of Dalyan (fishery). The tomb monuments, carved into rocks, on the eastern slope of the acropolis city are the first amongst the remains that strike the eye. The acropolis hill, at an elevation of 160 m, is surrounded by the large Cyclopean stones, 40 m long. The Suluklu Lake located between the Qomlekgi Hill in the west and the acropolis was, in antiquity, before being silted up with alluvia, the natural harbour of the city and chained off at the front. Between the stoas surrounding the agora in the harbour all round, the pedestals are seen upon which the statues of Gods and Emperors were placed. Further visible here is a monumental fountain erected in honour of the Emperor Vespasian and, by the edge the fountain, are inscriptions dealing with the customs regulations. To the immediate back of the agora are seen the remains of a temple, a church consisting of three sections and a single apse, and a bath complex. Raised adjacent to the complex is a library. Lying in the northeast are the remains of a theatre, built of two sections and 34 caveas, as resting into the slope of the acropolis. Of the two-storeyed stage building the first floor is extant today, and the entranceway of the theatre is closed with stone blocks and it is assumed that this was the treatment place of the malaria patients. The Iztuzu beach, where Caunos is sited, is a wonder of the nature formed of hundreds of natural islets at the point where the Creek Dalyan flows into the sea. Since the coast is the spawning site of the caretta turtles, it is taken under protection. Located to the south of the Lake Koycegiz is Cleopatra Mud Bath, believed to have curing powers, and Sultaniye Thermal Springs. The Sangerme Beach is an enchanting strand of fine sand at the meeting point of the forest and the blue coloured natural inlets on the Dalaman Peninsula, hosting the most excellent touristic facilities in the world.