This is our point of departure

Cnidus, ancient Greek city on the Carian Chersonese, on the southwest coast of Anatolia. The city was an important commercial centre, the home of a famous medical school, and the site of the observatory of the astronomer Eudoxus. Cnidus was one of six cities in the Dorian Hexapolis and hosted the Dorian games every four years. The Cnidians claimed they were of Spartan origin. First founded on the southern coast of the Reşadiye peninsula, it was moved in c. 330 bc to Deveboynu Burnu (Cape Kriyo), where a small island was artificially joined to the mainland. One of the two harbours thus created served ships of war, the other merchant shipping. C.T. Newton, excavating the site in 1857–59, found a marble statue of the seated Demeter there.At this site Love found the marble base and fragments of the famous statue of Aphrodite sculpted by Praxiteles in the 4th century bc.

Once the peninsula’s main village, Eski Datça (Old Datça), lapsed into obscurity in the late 20th century. Now it has been partially restored by second homers from Istanbul, Ankara and further afield. It’s a beautiful patchwork of stone-paved lanes, kitchen gardens, pot plants, bougainvillea-drenched walls, and little cafes and shops. Drop into the old stone house of the late poet Can Yücel. In his poem, Testament, he wrote: “Bury me, my dear, in Datça. Near that view by the sea.”