Loop trail Yesilüzümlü to Cadianda (Kadyanda). Forests, Panoramas and an Ancient City.

The route starts near the mosque in the pleasant town of Yesilüzümlü. There are narrow streets with cafes where people sit on the terraces from early in the day and drink their tea.

This walk is based on an earlier route published by metin kurt. I thought I could make a further contribution to walking in this area by adding many photos to my route.

After a short walk we come to a road junction, where Cadianda is signposted in two directions. We go for the Kadyanda (Salas Aniti) option. in this direction the route seems easier and ends up on the side of the Cadianda ticket office, from where we follow the indicated museum route in the opposite direction. We first walk a bit through the city, passing a small beautiful mosque before continuing through forest paths. The route is indicated with yellow red stripes, but they are not always that easy to find.

After about 1,5 km from the start, we arrive at a couple of tombs that are still well outside the museum, but nevertheless very interesting. Strangely enough, these tombs are not signposted, so it's easy to just walk past them. The one that we will spot easily is on the left of the trail, but the most interesting tomb is on the right, just a bit below the trail. On one side there is a relief that depict a warrior trampling his horse on his fallen enemy, while riding towards another who has his spear and shield raised to the sky. This tomb possibly dates back to the 4th century BC.

On this part there are sometimes quite a few stones on the route, so it is advisable to wear sturdy shoes and to take walking sticks with you. Not long after we arrive at an asphalt road that goes to Cadianda. So walking is very easy and we can fully enjoy the views we have on this stretch.

As mentioned earlier, our route ends at the ticket office. We go to the right there, uphill. That is against the indicated direction, but easier to walk. The disadvantage is that some billboards will be in the wrong position for us, but the advantage is that if there are (many) other visitors we will not be bothered by them because they will not walk in our way. The museum route is marked with rows of stones on both sides of the path, so it is most of the trail easy to understand were to go (this is obviously also true walking in the opposite direction - Those who prefer to follow the museum route in the indicated direction should go straight for a short distance after the ticket office and then keep right and follow the directions)

Cadianda
The ancient city of Cadianda is located about 24 km distance from Fethiye.
Cadianda's name was read as "Kadawanti" in the Lycian inscriptions.
Because of the suffix "-nd", it can be concluded that the history of the settlement dates back to 3 thousand B.C. However, the oldest remains of the ancient city that have survived on the surface do not go more back than the 5th century BC. Part of the ruins of city walls surrounding Cadianda, tombs and some of the inscriptions are the only remains dated to the earliest period. The city is surrounded by walls which were re-built many times due to the topography and the steep slopes of the land. Mostly south parts of the wall still remain.
Polygonal city walls from the Hellenistic Period formed retaining walls of the ancient theatre and show a high quality workmanship. The Hellenistic theatre was repaired and used again in the Roman Period and can be reached by the side of the Cadianda city walls. Leaning on the southern slopes of the acropolis, despite the collapse, the theater reflects its former glory. The Necropolis area is located in the southern part of the city outside the fortress walls. Other significant structures are the cistern ruins. Four major inter-connecting cisterns which are located under a wide field at the eastern part of the stadium show us the significance of the water shortage problem in the ancient city. Most of the remaining ruins in Cadianda date from the Roman Period. There have been settlements until 7th century A.D., but there are not many remains of the late period.
The Baths, the Agora, the ruins of a temple were dedicated to an unknown God and traces of intense civil construction reveal the identity of the city and ancient settlement of Cadianda.

We will see the ancient wall, the Theatre, the Cistern, the Stadion, the Bath, the Heroon and the Necropolis.

After passing the Necropolis we keep right and leave the museum area (waypoint Keep right, leave the museum), so we will not pass the ticket office a second time.
We first pass a ruin of a temple before we go down a fairly steep slope with quite a few stones. This is the most difficult part of the route. Then we follow a forest path for a while before reaching a dirt road. From there it is very easy to go back to Yeşilüzümlü, where we occasionally have great views.

Some additional information:
The route is designed in a clockwise direction.
Time spent: total = 7 hours 48 minutes of which moving = 3 hours 57 minutes
There are picnic tables after 4 kilometers (entrance Cadianda, at the ticket office)
There is no drinking water along the way, but you can buy some at the ticket office.
The track is moderate from a technical point of view.
Presence of signposts:
The track is indicated with yellow red stripes, but these are not always easy to find, and therefore not sufficient to walk this trail.

WARNING!
Like in several other pine forest areas in Turkey there is a presence of Pine processionary in the forest at Cadianda.
(See picture at waypoint: "Temple. Than descent with lots of stones")
What does that mean?

Pine processionary - Take care!

The pine processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) is a moth of the subfamily Thaumetopoeinae in the family Notodontidae, known for the irritating hairs of its caterpillars, their processions, and the economic damage they cause in coniferous forests. It is one of the most destructive species to pines and cedars in Central Asia, North Africa and southern Europe.
The species is notable for the behaviour of its caterpillars, which overwinter in tent-like nests high in pine trees, and which proceed through the woods in nose-to-tail columns, protected from predators by their severely irritating hairs.
The species is one of the few insects where the larva develops in winter in temperate zones. Global warming is causing the species to affect forests progressively further north. The urticating hairs of the caterpillar larvae cause harmful (and in some cases allergic) reactions, in humans and other mammals.
(source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_processionary )

DO NOT TOUCH THE NESTS, AVOID BRINGING ANIMALS LIKE DOGS.

If you think this is a nice track, please write feedback. If you have had any problems, please comment and explain the solution you found. Remember that it takes less time to write a comment or review than it takes to create and post a track! But only in this way the information remains up-to-date.