Konacık - from combat to commerce

Once the city of Lelegs, the heroic inhabitants of Pedasa, today’s Konacık is steadily expanding, with the development of business premises all along the main road there. Konacık is in great demand by investors by virtue of its proximity to Bodrum and its location right on the arterial road connecting Bodrum with the peninsula’s other population centres.

According to the famous historian Herodotus, the ancient city of Pedasa (within the boundaries of present-day Konacık) was one of the most important cities for trade in the region.  Wine made in Pedasa was very popular throughout the area and the vineyards which remain today are worth a look.

The heroic inhabitants of Pedasa are remembered for the resistance they put up towards the Persians and Alexander the Great, and for being the only city on the peninsula that stopped the Persians, by fortifying Kaplan Mountain (Mount Lide in ancient times).  According to Herodotus, they had a bit of outside help in the form of a warning sign - in his ‘Histories’ Volume I he writes: ‘When any misfortune was approaching them or their neighbours, the priestess of Athena grew a long beard. This had happened to them thrice’. 

Konacık was founded in 1050 by three shepherds from Horasan in Gölbaşı. The settlement later moved to Çırkan Village to afford the inhabitants better security and provide easier access to the sea.  Today’s Konacık is mainly a commercial suburb, with most of the activity concentrated on businesses thriving on each side of the main road running through it.