Based on lithostratigraphic comparisons the Menderes Massif has been correlated with the Cycladic Massif, thereby implying that the eastern Mediterranean consists of a narrow pre-Alpine basement belt which is laterally continuous over a long distance and which experienced a similar Alpine orogenic history. Our work indicates that the architecture, the age of basement and the pre-Alpine and Alpine tectonometamorphic history of both massifs differ fundamentally from each other. The Menderes Massif consists of remnants of the Cycladic Massif which overly an exotic unit, the Menderes nappes. Both massifs do not represent lateral continuations which has implications for palaeogeographic reconstructions.