Köyceğiz is a town and district of

Muğla Province Muğla Province ( tr, , ) is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, are ...

in the Aegean region of

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

. The town of Köyceğiz lies at the northern end of a lake of the same name (

Köyceğiz Lake Köyceğiz is a town and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. The town of Köyceğiz lies at the northern end of a lake of the same name ( Köyceğiz Lake) which is joined to the Mediterranean Sea by a natural channel cal ...

) which is joined to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

by a natural channel called Dalyan Delta. Its unique environment is being preserved as a nature and wildlife sanctuary, the

Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area The Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area is a protected natural reserve in the Turkish province of Muğla. In June 1988 it was determined and declared the first protected area of its kind (''Özel Çevre Koruma Bölgesi'') of Tu ...

. A road shaded with trees leads to the township that carries the same name as the river, Dalyan, which is situated on the inland waterway and is administratively a part of the neighboring district of

Ortaca Ortaca () is a town and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. Formerly a township depending Köyceğiz administratively, it was made into a separate district in 1987. Apart from Ortaca district center, there is one depending ...

. Dalyan is highly popular with visitors and its maze of channels can be explored by boat. The restaurants which line the waterways specialize in fresh fish. High on the cliff face, at a bend in the river, above the ancient harbor city of

Caunos Kaunos (Carian: ''Kbid'';. Translator Chris Markham. Lycian: ''Khbide''; Ancient Greek: ; la, Caunus) was a city of ancient Caria and in Anatolia, a few kilometres west of the modern town of Dalyan, Muğla Province, Turkey. The Calbys rive ...

, tombs were carved into the rocks. The Dalyan Delta, with a long, golden sandy beach at its mouth, is a nature conservation area and a refuge for rare

loggerhead turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when full ...

s (''Caretta caretta'') and blue crabs.

References

External links

District municipality's official website

Köyceğiz Travel Guide
Populated places in Muğla Province Turkish Riviera Fishing communities in Turkey Districts of Muğla Province Cittaslow {{Turkey-geo-stub