Gulf of Gökova ( tr, Gökova Körfezi) or Gulf of Kerme ( Turkish: Kerme Körfezi,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Κεραμεικός κόλπος,

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: Ceramicus Sinus, English: Ceramic Gulf or Gulf of Cos), is a long (100 km), narrow gulf of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

between

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient ...

and

Datça Datça is a district of Muğla Province in south-west Turkey, and the center town of the district. The center is situated midway through the peninsula which carries the same name as the district and the town ( Datça Peninsula). It was a nahiya of ...

peninsulas in south-west

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. Administratively, the Gulf of Gökova coastline includes portions of the districts of, clockwise,

, Milas, Muğla, Ula,

Marmaris Marmaris () is a port city and tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast, located in Muğla Province, southwest Turkey, along the shoreline of the Turkish Riviera. Although Marmaris is known for its honey, its main source of income is internationa ...

and

. The

island of

Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...

lies along the entry into the Gulf.

, located in its northwest reaches, is the only large city on the gulf today. In ancient times, alongside

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located i ...

(modern-day ''Bodrum''), the city of Ceramus, located midway along the gulf's northern shore and after which the gulf was named, was also an important urban center. Across Ceramus (''Gereme'') (in the modern township of ), at a short distance from the gulf's southern shore and not far from its outlying waters, was another historical site of note, called ''Cedrae'' in ancient times. Cedrae was located in Sedir Island, which was prized by visitors for its beach and of which some remains still exist.

Etymology

The alluvial plain that extends to the Gulf's end, also named Gökova, is the location of the townships of Akyaka and

Gökova Gökova is a Administrative divisions of Turkey, municipality (''belde'') in the district of Ula, Muğla, Ula in Muğla Province, Turkey. It lies at the head of the Gulf of Gökova in a plain also known as Gökova. The ancient Carian city of Id ...

, with only a few kilometers separating the two. Until 1945, the hamlets across the plain were mostly marshlands ridden with malaria until that time and were collectively known as ''Gökabad''. Consequently, the gulf and one of the settlements came to be called ''Gökova'', a term which is often used to designate the area in which Akyaka, and not the neighboring township of Gökova, is actually prominent. The name, ''Gökova'', (possibly derived from ''Cova'', the designation by which the area was known in Ottoman times) is mentioned as "Djova" in some recent English navigation charts and alternatively is used for: the gulf, for the plain at the end of the same gulf, for a township situated in the same plain, and as a casual term covering the emerging resort area centered in the coastal town of Akyaka.

External links

* http://www.gokova.com * http://www.akyaka.com.tr Akyaka Gökova in English and Turkish * https://web.archive.org/web/20190507234807/http://gokovabelediyesi.com/ Gŏkova Town Website with photographs in English, Dutch, French, German and Turkish * https://web.archive.org/web/20090527045125/http://e-turkey.net/v/mugla_gokovakorfezi/ Gulf of Gökova with photographs * https://web.archive.org/web/20110712021918/http://www.gokovacevre.org/ The Gökova Environment Group's website in English * https://web.archive.org/web/20100820020915/http://www.marmaristown.com/sightseeing/gokova.html Marmaris Sightseeing - Gokova {{DEFAULTSORT:Gokova Gulfs of the Mediterranean Gulfs of Turkey Landforms of Muğla Province Turkish Riviera Gokova

Etymology

See also

External links