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Guzelcamli is a pretty seaside resort situated within the boundaries of the
province of
Aydin,
25 km South of Kusadasi along the Aegean coastline, and borders onto
Dilek
Peninsula –
Menderes
Delta
National Park. Guzelcamli has a population of approximately 6.000, which increases considerably during the tourist season.
Guzelcamli provides opportunity for swimming, surfing, sailing, water skiing, paragliding, diving, fishing and boat trips with a coastline of approximately
30 km of the beaches and the bays.
Dilek
National Park and the
Samsun mountains are surrounding the resort which is breathtakingly beautiful.
Their rich vegetation, wildlife, caves, valleys and canyons offer visitors a wide range of activities such as rock climbing, hiking, bird watching, caving, botany trips, cycling and horse riding and fishing. Guzelcamli is one of the few places in the world with such a high oxygen level. Guzelcamli has a capacity of 2.500 beds for the visitors, who they can experience the Turkish culture and the picturesque of the surroundings.
By the population exchange in 1924, 80 families of Turkish immigrants came from the
village of
Eleftheres (Leftere) near by the
Greek
Town of Kavala and settled in Guzelcamli area. In 1992, the
village of
Guzelcamli attained the status of a town.
In ancient times, following the occupation of Anatolia by the Persian Empire when, the purpose of resistance, a political union was formed between the 12 Ionian cities, the area of Guzelcamli came to the fore as the location of Altar of Poseidon Helikonios, where meetings and religious ceremonies were organized. The Altar situated on the
Samsun
Mountains (Mykale) in the form of a small theatre, was brought to light through the excavations carried out by Gerhard Kleiner, an expert in the field of Greek history. The area, therefore, is known to have served as a symbolic capital for the confederation of Ionian cities.
Alongside the places of natural beauty and historical merit within the area of the National Park, the 11th century Kursunlu Monastery with its breathtaking view, situated
600 meters above sea level and
11 km from Guzelcamli, is well worth a visit.
Within the Dilek National Park of Guzelcamli the beaches known as the bays of Icmeler, Aydinlik, Kalamaki and Karasu are open to visitors alongside the many beautiful bays that are only accessible by boat.
The flora of Dilek National Park of Guzelcamli has a rich variety of plants belonging to 95 families and 804 kinds of plants belonging to various species, sub-species and varieties. 6 species of these plants are endemic, peculiar to the area. In the addition to that, the peninsula includes 18 species which are endemic for
Turkey. And as a fauna
Dilek
Peninsula hosts great number of animals such as 250 species of birds.
Cave
of
Zeus
, created by natural rock formations, lies within the Guzelcamli and National Park area. Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, is said to have added to her beauty by swimming in the cave water which are lukewarm in winter and cool in summer.
The
national park of
Peninsula Buyuk Menderes Delta covers an area of
27.675 hectares.
Dilek
Peninsula is the last point where
Samsun
Mountains, having a length of
20 km and a width of approximately
6 km reach the
Aegean Sea. The morphologic structure of his area embraces a number of hills valleys, a canyon and bays.
The average altitude of the peninsula is
650 m. and the highest point is the Dilek Hill (Mykale), from which the national park derives its name, with an altitude of
1.237 m.
The visitors, in the designated areas can carry out sport activities on the blue flagged beaches, r take a trekking tour together with various activities such as mountain biking, photo safari, view watching, amateur fishing, cultural trekking, bird watching, horse safari and botanic tours.
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