There are not many places in the world where the actual sand on a beach is protected but that is the case with Cleopatra’s Beach on uninhabited Sedir Adası (Cedar Island) at the mouth of the Gulf of Gökova.
Fable claims that the sand here was brought from Egypt by Mark Anthony as a gift for his beloved Cleopatra. These days it’s roped off from visitors who can only sit on the very edge of the sand where it meets the sea. No matter because the water has the texture of a warm bath smoothed and softened with oil.
There’s an admission fee for visiting the island which has been given environmentally sensitive paths and sunbeds. You can buy T-shirts commemorating the love story in the small giftshop-cum-cafe at the back of the beach.
Ancient Kedrai
Inland from the beach are the ruins of ancient Kedrai (Cedreae) which was originally settled by Dorians from the Greek mainland. Even as your boat pulls into the island you will glimpse stretches of the multi-towered city wall that once defended its eastern side.
Kedrai’s most striking relic is a small theatre half-hidden amid the olive trees but there are also slighter remains of an agora and a temple to Apollo Pythios/Kedreius that once stood on a terrace at the top of the island.
Remote as the events may seem now, Kedrai found itself caught up in the Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta. Having thrown its support behind Athens, it was sacked by the Spartan leader Lysandros in 406 BC and many of its inhabitants were sold into slavery. While it continued in existence into Carian and Roman times, and the remains of a basilica and church prove that it was still inhabited in the early Byzantine period, Kedrai never really recovered from its disastrous miscalculation.
Transport info
Unless you own a private boat, you can only really get to Sedir Adası on a cruise or excursion boat out of Marmaris or Akyaka. Unfortunately this tends to mean that tour groups all descend on the ruins at the same time.
