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          The town of Üzümlü is located at 18 kms. from Fethiye and was known as Cadianda in the Antique Ages on the way from Caunos (in the west) to Araxa (in the east).
          We do not have detailed information about the historical development of the town in the absence of extensive research and excavations in the region. On the basis of philological data, the –nd in the name is indicative that the city may be dated to 3 thousand B.C. However, the existing ruins from the antique city are not later than the 5th century B.C.
          Most of the ruins observed at Cadianda belong to buildings from the Roman Period. Although there were settlements in town up to the 7th century A.D., there is not much evidence of ruins from later periods.
          The oldest ruins at Cadianda are part of the city walls, the rock tombs, and Lycian inscriptions. In addition, a Hellenistic theatre, which was repaired and used in the Roman Period, a bath, a running track, the agora, ruins of a temple in honour of an unidentified god and lots of civilian buildings are evidenced to indicate that there was a well developed city here in the Antique Ages.
   
    The town of Üzümlü is famous also for the grapes grown here and the  wine produced from them, as well as the “dastar” weaving, aspiring to compete with the hothouses and tourism potential of other regions within Fethiye.
    The “dastar” weaving, carried out principally at Üzümlü and also at Incirköy, Ortaköy and Paşalı, is a tradition as old as the settlement of Turkish clans in the area. In the olden times, textiles manufactured from the silk of the silkworms raised in neighbouring towns were compatible with the silk products in the Bursa region. In fact, the unique dastars woven with the silk obtained from the yellow cocoons were highly sought after by the high society. Unfortunately, the yellow cocoons became nonexistent in time and the raising of silkworms was also abandoned.

           Until recently the dastars were made to meet local requirements and were presented as gifts to the daughters of neighbours eligible for marriage. In line with technological developments during later years resulting in abundance of textile products, this art ceased to be competitive and dastars were kept in storage or displayed at authentic premises and museums to contribute to the variety of cultural exhibitions.

           However, in recent years, the trend has been to avoid technological products and a retreat to natural sources. Consequently, in view of the fact that the natural cotton thread is abundantly and easily obtainable and can be used for various purposes, and that tourists coming to our region are keen to purchase items representing the authentic cultural samples of the area, it is expected that dastar will resume its prominence in the near future as a much sought-after product.

          Dastar is a characteristic style of textile, woven at unflagellated looms, using bleached cotton thread with designs in the same colour. Two types of threads are used as wefts and warps. The longitudinal ones are called warps and the horizontal ones are called wefts. The weaving style repeating the same links both longitudinally and horizontally is called the textile weaving. In the Üzümlü dastar the weaving technique used is with the shaft of the loom. This is the oldest and the simplest technique in creating the links.


          In this technique, the threads of the warps are raised and lowered at the same level. If the number of threads in the warp is equal to that in the weft, the textile takes on an grainy appearance.  If the number of threads in the warp is more than that in the weft, there are slight rips horizontally, otherwise the rips appear longitudinally.

            The tiny holes due to crosswise weaving lend another characteristic to the textile. Because the two threads are tightly linked in crosswise weaving; the textile becomes more endurable.

            The motives on the dastars are given various names such as topak yanış (pellet embroidery), sulu yanış (water-like embroidery), sülük yanış (leech embroidery), çengel yanış (hooked embroidery), kilim yanış (carpet embroidery), deve boynu (neck of the camel). These motives are repeated throughout the textine both longitudinally and horizontally, creating the design. The smaller motives may be spread over the surface to form another design which is called benekli (spotted)  composition. In the medallion design, the corners of the squares are softened by triangular motives and a figure in the shape of a baklawa slice or a schematic animal form is woven into the center.

            The dastars were originally used as head scarves. Nowadays they are used for various purposes.

            The scope of their use will be widened as they become known better. Similarly, the composition and the motives in the designs will be enhanced as they become more popular.

Liquid Amber (Storax) Tree   

The paleontological evidences indicate that the taxons of Liquid Amber trees, naturally growing only in Anatolia, the USA and China in our day, were  spread over a vast area in Northern America and Eurasia during the Cretaceous, Tertiary, Pleistocene and Eocene periods. The liquid amber tree is an endemic species dating back to the Tertiary period.  Although there is not a single species in the European continent today, it has been established that a great variety of this tree grew here during the Tertiary period. Pursuant to the glacial perod,  its presence was limited to the present regions of growth. The Liquid Amber pollens were first discovered in mineral deposits at Cauccasia and Turkmenistan (to the east of the Caspian Sea) dating to the Paloecene period.
    Pollens resembling those of L. Orientalis were found in deposits from sub-Oligocene era in Western Kazakhstan. Pollens were traced in Western Europe from the mid- and late Miocene as well as the Pliocene eras,  and the American Liquid Amber tree was established as the most widespread species both in Europe and Asia. (Fethiye Life)