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Marmaris road in its section crossing the Plain of Gökova, homonymous with and located in the outlying waters of the Gulf of Gökova.
Eucalyptus trees bordering the road were planted in 1936 to dry marshlands and help combat
malaria. The
alluvial plain that extends to the Gulf's end, also named Gökova, is the location of the townships of
Akyaka and
Gökova, with only a few kilometers separating the two. Until 1945, the hamlets across the plain were mostly marshlands ridden with malaria until that time and were collectively known as
Gökabad. Consequently, the gulf and one of the settlements came to be called
Gökova, a term which is often used to designate the area in which Akyaka, and not the neighboring township of Gökova, is actually prominent. The name,
Gökova, (possibly derived from
Cova, the designation by which the area was known in
Ottoman times) is mentioned as "Djova" in some recent English navigation charts and alternatively is used for: the gulf, for the plain at the end of the same gulf, for a township situated in the same plain, and as a casual term covering the emerging resort area centered in the coastal town of Akyaka. ==See also==