Köyceğiz Gölü
A large lake near the coast, joined to the sea by the reedy Dalyan channel and warmed by sulphur springs.
The Turkish name
Köyceğiz Gölü
At a glance
- Province
- Muğla, Köyceğiz
- Area
- About 52 km²
- Outlet
- Dalyan channel to the Mediterranean
- Hot springs
- Sultaniye, about 40°C
Read more
This page was written from these sources.
- Lake Köyceğiz ↗Wikipedia · Checked 2026-09-23
- Sultaniye, Köyceğiz ↗Wikipedia · Checked 2026-09-23
The story
Köyceğiz Gölü formed when silt carried by the Dalaman Çayı closed off an old bay. With an area of about 52 km² it is one of Türkiye's larger lakes, and it takes its name from the town of Köyceğiz on its northern shore. Its outlet is the Dalyan channel, a winding reedy waterway that passes Dalyan and the ruins of Kaunos before reaching the sea at İztuzu.
Warm sulphurous springs rise along a fault on its southern side. At Sultaniye, on the southwest shore below Ölemez Dağı, water at about 40°C feeds a domed bath and mud baths that visitors use for skin and joint complaints.
The lake and its shores are part of the Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area. Marshy forests of the oriental sweetgum grow along its banks, and two small gobies found only in the lake were described in 2011.
