Old Kaş

Water-logged Front Yard

Tracing Your Talisman in Kaş

Kaş is one of those towns that is made for relaxing. In itself there are no spectacular sights but it is surrounded by plenty of outdoor delights. We couldn't have picked a better vacation from the vacation. 

Old Kaş

 


Spicy View

It was another sunny and warm day as we walked towards the old part of Kaş.  We visited a spice shop and saw men playing backgammon.  The restaurant-filled main square has verdant green mountains as a backdrop and a crystal-clear turquoise harbour as its front yard above.  Some hikers, who just finished their trek on the Lycian Way, were relaxing on a bench and enjoying the harbour view. 
 

Greco-Turkish Separation

Tracing Your Roots

Many of the buildings are white-washed stucco that have a Greek village look.  This is no fluke since most of the population was of Greek ethnicity up until the "separation" in 1923.  

 

Following the Fall of Constantinople (Byzantine Empire) to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, most of Greece came under Ottoman rule.  After a war of independence, Greece became an independent nation in 1832.  During World War I, the western Allies and especially Britain, had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire because they had supported the wrong side, the Germans. The Greeks had seized large parts off the coast.

 

The Turkish National Movement, led by Mustafa Kemel Ataturk, arose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.  The Greco-Turkish War continued until the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne recognized the independence of the Republic of Turkey and its sovereignty over Asia Minor, Istanbul and Eastern Thrace.  Ataturk became the first president.  The Greek and Turkish governments agreed to a population exchange.   At that point most of the Greek residents left for Greece. 
 

Ottoman Kaş



Ottoman Kaş

Old Kaş is really a very small area to the east of the main square.  One pedestrian-only street, in particular, is lined with Ottoman-style buildings with wooden balconies and windows overhanging the cobblestone road.   

Way before being a Greek city, this was an old Lycian town and there are some Lycian Tombs right on the streets of the old city, especially the King's Tomb (4th century BC) at the top of this street. I think it is named Doğru Yol Sokak.  



Is one Evil Eye talisman not enough?

 Evil Eye Talisman (Nazar) 

Suddenly we see a white-walled house with a dark blue door with evil eye symbols in the doorway. Then we see they also put them in the street.  The evil eye trinkets are so popular with tourists you will see them for sale everywhere.  My sister, who visited Turkey a year ago, even asked me to bring back some more for her.  So where does this symbol come from? 

 

No Digging for Blue Eyes!

This is even a more ancient custom than Saturnalia-Christmas.  It appears in the Old Testament and originated in the early days of Jewish, Arabic and Persian cultures when people believed that someone could cast a malevolent look and cause you, or especially your children, bodily harm.  From these areas, nazar spread to Turkey, Europe, and India.  So when you buy one of these you are getting a talisman to ward off the evil eye, to protect you from jealous or envious people.
 

 

Old Kaş

So why is the eye green or, in Turkey, mainly blue?  Light coloured eyes are rare in the Middle East. And blue-eyed Northerners are more likely to transgress local customs against staring or praising the beauty of children. 

 

Ataturk's Square

A few people we met gave us a talisman, which was more special than buying one.  I hung one of them on the rear view mirror of our car.  It seemed like an appropriate place needing protection.  To "give one an evil eye" is a common expression in English with the same origin. 

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Kaş Perfect Hideaway

Kaş - a Vacation from the Vacation

Kaş (pronounced cash) is a delightful, small town that we used as a base as well as chance to stay put for a few days, a vacation from the vacation.  There are many outdoors activities, Lycian Way Trail, boat tours and sightseeing to do within a short trip from Kaş.  



Turquoise Coast near Kaş

Shimmering Sea, Kalkan

From Patara the road heads inland and rejoins the coast at the resort of Kalkan and continues providing nice views the rest of the way to Kaş.  As usual the main highways are excellent in Turkey: the only problem is the lack of pullovers when you want to take photos. 
 



Captivating Kaputaş Beach

Definitely stop at the famous Kaputaş Beach.  Kaputaş (pronounced Ca-pu-tash) is another beautiful gem of the Turquoise Coast. However it is a narrow, cozy beach in a cove so it ranks behind Patara and Iztuzu Beach.

There were only two people here – ourselves – enjoying the gorgeous colours on a warm, sunny day. Supposedly, it is not that busy even during the season. The road is on a ledge above on the mountain side so there is very limited parking and a long set of stairs down to the beach. You can take a dolmuş or a taxi from Kaş.  

 



Kaş Cascading to the Sea

Kaş

 

About 20 km (20 minutes) after Kaputaş Beach, we exit the main highway and get our first views of Kaş flowing down the coastal mountains to the harbour. 

 

 

 

 

Kaş Calling to You

 

 There is a nice little hillside park on the road heading down to the harbour where we stopped for a view. 

 

 

 



Ahmet, Hideaway Hotel

Hideaway Hotel, Kaş

 

Currently ranked the fourth best hotel in Kaş, we loved the Hideaway Hotel.  As we stated on our Trip Planning page, we prefer to stay at smaller family-run hotels and pensions. Unfortunately, we never met Marie and the children as they were away in Belgium. However, we had a great time talking with the owner, Ahmet, about many different topics.  At the end of the day we would meet Ahmet in the "living room" on the top floor next to the terrace.  

 



Kaş Cascade from Hideaway Hotel

The terrace provides a view to go with your breakfast and the delicious cappuccino.  It is a great place to meet people, such as the young couple from Istanbul who came here just for a weekend to do some scuba diving.  In fact, Kaş is one of the top spots for scuba diving in Turkey. 

We had a very good room with views towards the sea through windows on two sides of the room.  The Hideaway Hotel is one of the best places we stayed at in Turkey so we highly recommend it for your perfect hideaway.

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Patara and Saturnalia

What does Patara have to do with Saturn? 

Nothing... and everything!  The little village of Patara had a major impact on many of today's democracies.  But Patara has had another major impact. What is Patara's link to a festival in honour of the Roman god Saturn, after whom we have named a day of the week (Saturday), a planet and a car.

Patara's Most Famous Citizen

Patara had one famous citizen that everyone knows. Born on 15 March 270 CE, several legends abound about his charity ‒ but who knows which are true. Perhaps the most well-known was his anonymously helping a man who did not have a dowry to marry his three daughters. In those days if you did not have a dowry, they would not have married but would have become prostitutes. 

 

Knowing the father would not accept charity, he left a bag of gold in the man's house for each daughter as they came of age.  To avoid being found out he dropped the second and third packages down the chimney.  One variant said the bag fell into shoes ‒ or was it stockings being hung to dry?

 

He became bishop of the city of Myra (called Demre today). He helped convene the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, which formulated the New Testament, and later was made a saint.  Patara was the birthplace of Saint Nicolas. Our present day name comes from Sinterklaas, Dutch for Saint Nicolas.  He is known to us as Santa Claus.  So Santa Claus has a Turkish origin ‒ wow!  

Saturnalia

Harvest Festival

In fact, Christmas is not Christian in origin.  The Roman festival of Saturnalia celebrated the harvest and the end of ever shorter days, the winter solstice.  Saturn was the god of agriculture and wealth.  The Temple of Saturn in Rome was the treasury of the Roman Empire ‒ food was wealth in ancient times. 

 

Saturn (or Cronus in Ancient Greek) was the god of agriculture.  One of his main symbols is the sickle of Father Time, which is not only an agricultural tool but a remnant of Cronus, which means time.  That is because delineating the seasons (time) is very important to agriculture. 

Saturnalia consisted of gift-giving, partying, drinking, and singing in the streets.  Romans even served supper to their slaves and gave them gifts. Homes were decorated with wreaths and greenery.  It was a Festival of Lights except that candles were used.  People spent weeks preparing and buying for Saturnalia.  Sound familiar?  Conspicuous consumption is not a modern invention. 

This festival was so popular it grew from one day to one week, taking in the winter solstice on December 24th (after the calendar was adjusted) and ending with Sol Invictus on December 25th.   As this was the beginning of longer days it is apropos to think of this as the re-birth of the sun god, Apollo, whose influence we have already seen in the Didyma and the God Apollo post.

 

Nativity Scene, Santa Maria d'Aracoeli, Rome

In the year 375 CE, Pope Julius I declared the birth of Jesus as December 25th.  Was this done to align it with the birthday of Apollo? Perhaps, but it is more likely to align it with the most powerful alternative religion, Mithraism.  

Saturnalia was just too popular to stop. It was easier to convince pagans to convert to Christianity by recasting Saturnalia as Christmas. This policy of cultural assimilation is reinforced by how many pagan temples became churches.  The Vatican itself was built on the ruins of a Mithraic Temple.  Why not build churches somewhere else?

Thotsakan, the Green Giant, Wat Arun

If you are still skeptical, just look at how often this happens around the world.  Look at how the Buddhists incorporated spirits and superstitions in Thailand and Burma.  So demons like Thotsakan in the photo of Wat Arun (Bangkok) became defenders of Budhha.  He is the King of the Demons from the epic Hindu story, the Ramayana.  Buddhism included major aspects of Hinduism into their religion.  This was a strategy for converting people to their faith.  It is very common to all human culture.
 



Pantheon, Temple of All the Gods

In order to convert the pagans, the early Christians in the Roman Empire took over many pagan customs, festivals and temples.  They reinterpreted these customs so they became a vital part of Christianity Thus the people could continue the festival of Saturnalia that they loved so much, which became Christmas.    

 

The pagan mother goddess became Mary.  The most famous and still in use building of Ancient Rome, the Pantheon, or Temple of All the Gods, became the church of St. Mary, Mother of God.  An ancient festival of the dead became Halloween.  All Popes use the title Pontifex Maximus, the title of the chief priest of the Ancient Roman religion. 

The Pantheon was also the first use of concrete in the world!!!