Beyağaç
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Beyağaç | |
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| Country |  Turkey |
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| Region | Aegean |
| Province | Denizli |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal code | 20x xx |
| Licence plate | 20 |
| Website: www.beyagac.bel.tr | |
Beyağaç is a town and a district of Denizli Province of Turkey, formerly known as Eskere. Its present name Beyağaç literally means "the venerable tree", a reference to ancient black pine forests that surround the town and which are under protection. The district is renowned for its extremely rich flora, with a number of endemic species. Among the districts of Denizli Province, Beyağaç is the closest to Turkish Riviera coastline, along its Marmaris, Köyceğiz and Fethiye axis, which lie at a shorter distance than the town's province seat of Denizli.
A notable sight of interest in Beyağaç is Lake Kartal Glacier Valley, accessed by jeeps leavign from Beyağaç town center and by following a 40 km (25 mi) country road along forests. The altitude of the valley starts from 2261 m at Ulugöl Peak, one of the summits of the Mount Sandıras, the dominating mountainous mass of the district. The valley inclines gradually during its 1.5 km (0.9 mi) length and its width varies between 500-700 meters, bordered by steep cliffs. It is sprinkled with 250 to 700 year old black pine trees and is marked at 1900 m altitude by Lake Kartal, which gives its name to the valley. The valley is of astounding beauty and is a protected natural site since 1990.
There is a persisting rumor according to which a statue in gold of an eagle (the very meaning of the lake's name; "Kartal") would be buried at the bottom of the lake. In 2004, a group of clandestine treasure hunters who had taken the rumors to the letter had not hesitated to brave the freezing cold winter digging canals around the lake in order to drain its waters and to reach the supposed golden eagle stuff their dreams were made of. Although their enterprise came to a premature end by the gendarmerie's discovery of their travails, the lake area was halved at the time due to the drainage [1].
Further to the valley and nearer to Beyağaç (21 km distance) are the areas of other protected sites such as Topuklu plain and Çiçekbaba peak, with some of the trees here being even older.
[edit] References
- Rasim Çetiner. Beyağaç Flora of Beyağaç and its surrounding region (Turkish-Latin). Karadeniz Technical University.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Define uğruna gölü boşalttılar (They drained the lake for the sake of a treasure) (Turkish). The newspaper Sabah.
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