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[ See the following on Datca Peninsula:
http://www.geocities.com/oonderer_2000/nature/i4b.html
http://members.tripod.com/datca/fotograf.htm ]

x0x Turquoise and seaweed green seas: DATCA

By Utku Tonguc Topal

The sea around Datca is just as the poet Can Yucel has described:
'Greener than seaweed when you remain still / Blue when you swim.'
Datca lies on the Resadiye Peninsular, which in geographical terms
marks the confluence of the Aegean and Mediterranean. But it is better
described as a heaven on earth, a place where the sea shimmers in
ripples of seaweed green and turquoise blue, and fish dart in a
glitter of silver. Local people say that Aphrodite swam in these
waters, and who can deny they may be right. Where else would she have
chosen? At the western tip of the peninsular is the ancient city of
Knidos, where traces of almost all the periods of western Anatolian
history are to be seen. The city was first founded in the 8th century
BC on the site known as Old Knidos by the Dorians, who migrated
eastwards via Rhodes and Syme, arriving at Datca in the 12th century
BC. The names of the founders were said to be Triopias of Sparta and
Hippotas. Six large Dorian colonies where the cult of Apollo was
practised formed an alliance known as the Hexapolis, but later
Halicarnassus withdrew,
leaving the cities of Knidos, Cos, Lindos, Kamiros and Lalysos.

Excavations are still continuing at Old Knidos, situated at Burgaz,
near the present town of Datca. When they built their new city of
Knidos on Tekir Point, the inhabitants of the old city set out to
achieve perfection in every detail. The new site was chosen as ideal
for a port which would enable them to increase their share of sea
trade in the region. First of all the infrastructure was completed
between 365 and 355 BC, temples being built and statues purchased for
them. The island at the tip of the peninsular was joined to the
headland by a bridge, so creating two harbours to south and north, the
larger harbour to the south being used by trading ships and the
smaller one to the north by warships. The channel that once connected
them is today silted up. There are two theatres at Knidos, both on the
mainland. That overlooking the south harbour dates from the Roman
period, while higher up is the earlier Dorian theatre. Since the city
possessed no sources of fresh water,
cisterns to store rain water were constructed beneath the buildings
and a pipeline carried additional water from a spring 12 kilometres
away. Paros marble was used in enormous quantities to build the new
city. Although this was a time of pantheism, not all the gods and
goddesses were held in equal reverence everywhere. The people of
Knidos disliked Aries, god of war, much preferring Apollo, god of the
sun, and Aphrodite Euploia, who was regarded as their particular
protector because she had sprung from sea foam, and they themselves
were a seafaring people who had come over the sea. When they settled
and acquired an affinity for the soil, they also began to worship
Demeter, the goddess of fertility. They did not produce the finest
wine of the age for nothing; the people of Knidos knew how to enjoy
life! They commissioned not one but two statues of Dionysus for their
city, and a second statue of Aphrodite depicted naked in Paros marble
was made by the celebrated sculptor Praxiteles. So that their new
Aphrodite Euploia could be appropriately displayed, they built her a
new temple.

The statue became so famous that merchants and sailors from the four
corners of the world called into port at Knidos merely to see it. In
the early years Knidos was ruled by tyrants, then from the 6th century
onwards by an oligarchy, and from 330 BC by a democracy. Aristotle
told his pupils 'True democracy is in Knidos.' The Asklepieion here
was renowned as a therapeutic centre throughout the region, and famous
sons of Knidos included Sostratos, architect of the Lighthouse at
Alexandria, and the mathematician, geographer and astronomer Eudoxos,
who at the age of 22 met Plato. During the 7th century BC the
population of the peninsular rose to between 70,000 and 80,000, as
trade flourished and the fertile land produced abundant crops,
particularly grapes. The population consisted of merchants, sailors,
potters, farmers and slaves. The potters produced amphoras for packing
the commodities of trade and souvenirs for the many visitors to this
famous city. The people avoided war so successfully that the city was
neither razed nor burnt for nearly 1400 years.

In medieval times, however, the city was plundered, its statues
smashed and the treasure in its tombs robbed. The city that had been
so full of life was abandoned, and a new town established inland near
Old Datca. Later the Seljuks and Ottomans arrived and settled down
with the original inhabitants. Reaching Knidos by land along the
rugged peninsular is difficult at present, since roadworks are
underway, but going by boat from Datca or Bodrum is both easier than
taking the winding mountain road and a more appropriate way of
approaching this ancient port city which depended for its existence on
the sea. From Datca on the coast there are also day trips by boat to
the bays of Kargi, Kizilbuk, Palamutbuku, Hayitbuku and Domuzbuku. And
while in Datca do not miss visiting the inland town of Old Datca,
whose narrow cobbled streets and picturesque old houses take you back
into the past. The Datca peninsular is also famous for its almonds and
windmills. The poet Can Yucel spent the last part of his life here and
his mausoleum can be seen in Datca.

Before his death he wrote, 'Bury me in Datca, my lamb. Pass Ankara and
Istanbul by.'

* Utku Tonguc Topal is a photographer and freelance writer.