Uçmakdere is an old Greek village in the Şarköy district of Tekirdağ that has kept both its settlement pattern and its way of living. Being close to İstanbul brings it a great many visitors.
It sits between the green of the Ganos mountains and the blue of the Marmara, and what it offers is the produce of the village and village life itself. The hill above it is used as a launch site — the Marmara islands lie opposite, and a steep track climbs from the main road to the top.
Getting there
- Access
- Ucmakdere is about 30 km from Tekirdag. Coming from Istanbul on the old D100 road, drive through Silivri and Kinali to Tekirdag, turn left for Kumbag at the last set of lights on the way out of town, then follow the signs for Naip, Mermer and Yenikoy, keeping left at both forks; the asphalt ends at Yenikoy and a gravel track runs the rest of the way, with the Marmara islands ahead of you. The take-off ramp is on the hill to the right, up a short steep dirt road. Staying on the gravel track instead takes you downhill for some 3 km to a dirt road dropping away on the left, which reaches the landing ground at Ayvasil on the shore. From Izmir or Canakkale, follow the E84 to Sarkoy and continue through Murefte.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Tekirdağ as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 4.9 °C in January to 23.9 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August, September and October; rainfall is heaviest in December (79 mm) and lightest in August (15 mm). Long-term means for 1940-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
