Insider tip in Antalya: Why the village of Sarıhacılar is worth seeing

A miniature village in the Turkish province of Antalya is attracting more and more tourists. We're talking about tiny Sarıhacılar, located about 150 kilometers from Antalya city in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains at an altitude of 1,200 meters.

It's mountainous and densely wooded, and just 50 residents, spread across 15 households, still live in this historic spot. The rest of the town has become a ghost town, with abandoned buildings dominating the landscape, giving Sarıhacılar a particularly mystical flair.

The village has a history dating back 800 years and is located on a section of Turkey 's historic caravan routes, which were part of the Silk Road.

This extensive network of trade routes connected Europe with Asia from the second century BC to the 15th century AD. Relics of the historic caravan routes can still be discovered around Sarıhacılar. You can also enjoy extensive hiking here – and encounters with goats are not out of the question.

The village's main attraction is its historic core. The largely concrete-free center is home to the so-called button houses (Turkish: Düğmeli evler), which are architecturally distinguished by their construction without cement or mortar.

The earthquake-proof buildings are made of wooden struts and stones stacked on top of each other, and visually they are somewhat reminiscent of half-timbered houses.

Several dozen button houses can be seen in Sarıhacılar, a few of which have been restored and the rest are in ruins. The small village mosque of Sarıhacılar also deserves special attention.

Interior view of the ancient Ottoman mosque in the village of Sarıhacılar.

Source: Getty Images

Like the rest of the village, the 650-year-old sacred building uses the button-wall technique. A large hipped roof made of red tiles dominates the exterior. The interior of the mosque is clad in wood and, as a whole, offers an impressive and rare experience of rural Ottoman sacred architecture.

Sarıhacılar's popularity is growing, and the town is set to become even more attractive for tourism. A small ethnographic museum exhibiting the region's history and traditional architecture already exists. Plans are underway to transform the village into a kind of open-air museum, as the trade magazine "fvw" reports.

50,000 people from abroad visited the authentic village in the first six months of 2025. These were primarily German tourists, but visitors from Poland and Russia also found their way to the remote Sarıhacılar. In addition, 40,000 interested people from their own country embarked on a journey into the past in the ghost village. And Sarıhacılar welcomes all visitors with open arms.

If you've had your fill of Sarıhacılar, the next attraction, a natural wonder, is just a 40-minute drive away. The Altınbeşik Cave is one of Turkey's most spectacular cave wonders and contains the country's largest underground lake.

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