Gölhisar

Gölhisar lies in a basin between the ancient regions of Caria, Lycia, Pisidia and Phrygia. Above the plain stand the remains of Kibyra, a city on routes connecting the inland plateau to the Mediterranean. Its theatre and public buildings recall a prosperous ancient centre. An earlier settlement occupied rocky heights near Lake Gölhisar, whose island fortress gave the later district its name, “lake castle”.

Under Ottoman rule Gölhisar became the centre of a rural district. Records from the 1630s list numerous villages between Gölhisar and Çeltikçi, showing a countryside of dispersed settlements. The lake, surrounding fields and mountain routes formed the setting for communities that lived among the remains of ancient Kibyra and the older fortified sites around the lake.