BRIEF HISTORY OF AKYAKA Idyma in the First Age: The ancient city of Idyma was built on the skirts of Küçük Asartepe to the north of the village of Kozlukuyu (the modern day Gökova) located in Mugla. The city’s acropolis lies on the slopes of Sakar Pass in the north. Like many other ancient cities in the whole region, the city was a typical mountain settlement; yet, its geographic position, close to the modern Çaydere Brook (Idymos Brook, running near Idyma) and the sea, enabled it to control its surrounding area. The city’s name, Idyma, most probably originates from the Carian language, contrary to what most believe, as in the case of Didyma and Sidyma, and it was ′Greekified′ from a word used by the city’s original settlers. In this context, the name Hittite-Luvi connotes Ituma or Idyma, and some historians believe that these words, used by the Hittite King in his Millavanda letter, refer to the same settlement. The ancient Idyma, located in the north of the modern day Gökova village, is a relatively small Carian settlement. It is not far from the sea, yet so well positioned that it could not be seen from the sea by pirates. The rulers of the city also built small settlements in Armutalan and Hisartepe to the south to hold control of the valley through which the Idymos Brook runs. There is very little remaining of the city’s amphitheatre located on the steep climb of Küçük Asar. The rock tombs carved in the rock walls on the slopes of Küçük Asar probably date back to the 4th century B.C. According to historical data, the city was abandoned during the Roman Period. Most of the city’s population probably lived on the two nearby plateaus and particularly on the Tümsektepe area, while some others settled on the hill where the remains of a Middle Age Castle is located, and in the area where the Regional Forestry Office is now situated. At the Tümsektepe area, traces of an ancient Roman settlement, an olive processing plant and a holy sepulture, probably of an important or deified person, were discovered. The Middle Age Castle was built over an even more ancient small settlement, the remains of whose city walls can still be seen to the west, south and east of the Castle. The rock tombs at the İnişdibi locality, dating back to the 4th century B.C., and the burial chamber discovered in Akyaka, used many times between the 3rd century B.C. and 3rd century A.D. could be linked to that small settlement. Remains of many architectural elements, probably of the Roman Period, were discovered in the vicinity of the Regional Forestry Office. Idyma during the Byzantine Period: There is so little written historical material on the Middle Age Idyma, except for a short epitaph, yet to be deciphered. However, the Basilica near the Regional Forestry Office, the church beneath the Eren Dede Tomb, the cell for anchorites at Papazderesi, and finally the well-protected Middle Age Castle strongly hints that the Byzantines also lived in this area in the Middle Age. In ancient Greek navigation charts (Portuland) that were distributed to give sailing information to the people of western Anatolia and seamen, the area at the inner end of the Gökova Gulf (the ancient Ceramos) was called “Cosma”. The hypothesis of some scientists is convincing when it suggests that the name Cosma originates from the name of Saint Cosmas, a Christian saint and a healer and should be linked to the basilica standing, with only three of its axes remaining, near the Regional Forestry Office. Although the small altar discovered in Kozlukuyu hints that the cult of Asclepius, the God of Medicine, and his daughter Hygieai grew to be popular in Idyma and that the saints of early Christian periods generally used mythological gods and cults to spread Christianity, it is early days yet to associate the altar with the above-said basilica. The architectural remains discovered around the basilica are now exhibited in the garden of the Municipal Building of Akyaka. Some Byzantine architectural remains were discovered near the Eren Dede Tomb. The ancient pieces of wall stones scattered around here seem to be the surviving traces of a Byzantine church. One should have strong legs to climb the steep path from Akyaka up to Papazderesi, from where the modern town is still supplied with its water. Along the path to Papazderesi lie the remains of earthenware pipes, proving that water had been supplied from this place to the ancient settlers. The chapel at Papazderesi stands on a flat surface next to a massive rock that strangely rises from the hill with a slight outward angle to form a semi-tent shape and thus partly protects it from extreme weather conditions. This also prevents the chapel from being easily noticed from higher spots. Frequently visited and inhabited by local nomads, the chapel turned into a ruin and its original plan was damaged through structural additions and changes. It is smaller than the size of a regular chapel and, for this reason, it might be considered a cell for anchorites. The name Papazderesi, literally translating as “Chaplain’s Brook”, also supports this idea. Located on the road linking Akyaka to Gökova Village, the Middle Age Castle seems to have been built over an ancient settlement and this is somewhat confirmed by the surviving traces of the ancient walls to the west and east of the Castle which has been preserved in good condition. There is a secret passage stretching from the Castle down to the sea. After the Turkish invasion of the region in the second half of 13th century, the Turks did not use the Castle. In one his works of the 16th century, Piri Reis, an Ottoman geographer and cartographer, refers to the Idymos Brook (the modern Çaydere Brook) as the Gökova Water, and provides a detailed map of the coastline of the Gökova Gulf, naming Ceramos (the Gulf) as the Gulf of Kerme. On the same map, he noted the northern part of the Idymos Brook as “ruined”. However, although that note does not clearly say whether it was the Idyma city or the Castle that was in ruins, it is more likely that it was the Castle. Further, Evliya Çelebi, a Turkish traveller lived in the 17th century, also wrote he had seen a ruined castle in Gökova; and it was probably the Middle Age Castle we have been describing here. Idyma during the Ottoman Period: Idyma was referred to as a small village and given different names, including “Gökabad”, “Gökova”, “Akabad” and “Akova”, in the various historical Ottoman cadastral registers of the time. One of these registers contains a record of the village, naming it as “Gökova – a.k.a. Çakır”. During the first census taken during the reign of Bayezid the Second, the village was described as a 25-house timar village controlled by Yahşi Bey, a son of Balta. According to the records entered on pages 201 and 202 of the same register, the people in the village cultivated mainly bees as well as wheat, barley, corn, fava bean, cotton, flax, grapes and various vegetables. Tax used to be collected from grapes raised. The village also had a three-outlet watermill, running only three months a year. This implies that there was no stream running regularly in the village and that the watermill was powered by rain water during winters only. However, the village had some wet lands that supplied the village, even in summer, through three ducts, allowing the villagers to cultivate rice. The village also had a high forest, serving the villagers in return for payment of a tax. Evliya Çelebi wrote that Gökabad was a village subordinate to the District of Ula, had a small commercial port and an ancient, ruined castle, located at the end of the Gulf. He referred to the seaport as serving the inland city of Mugla, Ula, Yerkesik, Bozüyük, Menteşe, Milas and Egypt. He recommended that the Castle be restored as it would be used to protect the seaport. He also wrote that Sultan Suleiman, the Magnificent, passed through Gökabad with his army before setting sail to invade Rhodes. Çelebi described the Sakar Pass as too steep to climb and preferred to walk through the valley to get to Ula. Historical records say that the plateau was swampy, and taking a boat from the Gökova seaport to Gelibolu (the modern day Çamlı) was the only way to get to Marmaris. The first census taken in 1831 during the Ottoman Period was intended to take an inventory of the state’s armed forces and recorded Gökabad as having a population of 472. The Aydın Province Yearbook of 1891 provided detailed census data on the townships and villages controlled by the Menteşe Sanjak. According to the Yearbook, there were 175 houses and a total population of 765 in Gökabad.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 08:09:25 +0000
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