Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground

Saturday February 07, 2026

The ancient ruins of the city of Knidos is an easy drive from the Datça area. The original site of kinds is thought to have been Datça and it later moved to its current location. It is an enormous archeological treasure rival Ephesus in terms of size. Walking the paths through the site, I found I was literally walking on shards of ancient red clay pottery. You could stick a shovel into the ground and literally have an instantaneous archeological dig loaded with stuff from the past. Knidos was part of the Dorian Hexapolis, a federation of six cities in south-east Asia Minor. Partially built on the mainland and partly on an adjacent island, it was an important port and trading centre. The island is actually connected to the mainland by a sandy isthmus. There was no-one there when we arrived except for the construction crew building a new parking lot so we simply walked in.

There were a few signs explaining some parts of the site but it really wasn’t adequate for explaining everything and I didn’t have an audio guide. They can be helpful and sometimes extremely annoying depending on the technology.

As you can see, it was a day filled with sunshine and blue sky. The ocean was so many shades of blue and clear as glass. The modern day light house gleamed in its whiteness.

Found these lovely little beauties poking up through the dead growth of winter.

The original peoples, according to the experts, were Carians from the Anatolian area. There were Hellenic influences, as well and eventually the Romans moved in followed by the Byzantine Empire.

There is a temple to Apollo and another to Artemis on the site. Excavations have been extensive and some of the larger finds have found homes outside of Türkiye.

For a late lunch, we returned to Datça. Here is a video of a favourite spot on that road to Knidos:

We literally almost tripped over an outdoor market in the town as we rounded a sharp corner. One of my favourite things and they had strawberries and pears.

There is an evident commitment to modern art in the form of sculpture and the preservation of ancient ruins in the country. There is so much to see in public spaces plus the added eccentric touches of individuals.

We took a stroll through the “old” town of Datça. It’s an area of high end homes and a lot of restaurants, mostly closed in the off-season. Definitely aimed at the tourist.

At the end of a small dead-end alley, I found this little retreat tucked away. It’s for sale!

And that, dear readers, brings me to the end of another day. I do hope you have enjoyed this passage. Until next time.