Lycia, Antalya

A road branching off the Korkuteli highway takes us to the ruins of Tlos in the village of Kaleasar. Noteworthy here are the remains of a theater and baths, an acropolis, and a medieval citadel in which Lycian rock tombs are to be found. Heading in the direction of Antalya, we have a chance to see the ruins of Xanthos, Patara, and Letoon. The pretty little town of Kas is located on the site of ancient Antiphellos. There are numerous Lycian cities in the vicinity and house-shaped rock tombs and Lycian sarcophagi with their typical pointed covers abound. It is rather difficult however to reach some of the ancient Lycian sites located between Kas and Finike and, because they have not been excavated yet, there is not really very much to see so we will mention just a few of them. At the ancient city of Trysa, located just before you reach Gurses, there are sarcophagi and the remains of a heroon (a shrine dedicated to a deified or semi-deified dead person) and a temple. After this comes Sura, where there are the remains of an Apollo temple and a Byzantine church. Kapakli is the site of ancient Istalada and there is a small castle and a rock tomb with reliefs there. Kyaenai, near Yavu, is located on the steep cliffs by the highway. Its acropolis is surrounded by walls on three sides. Within the walls are the remains of numerous structures whose functions are unknown. Inside a heroon is a sarcophagus decorated with reliefs from the 4th century B.C. The theater, which dates to the 2nd century, is in rather good condition. The eastern side of the acropolis was the city’s necropolis. On the southern side there stands a single Ionian-order column and a rock tomb with a temple-like facade.

Apollonia, located in Kilincli on the road to Kekova, is surrounded by a small wall. Here one may see a Byzantine basilica, a small theater, the remains of a bath, a heroon, and a six unusual sarcophagi from the 4th century B.C. In the middle of the acropolis of Isinda, located at Belenli, there are three house-shaped tombs that bear inscriptions in the Lycian language. Phellos, located on the Fellen plateau, can be reached from Cukurbag, but there is little besides the city’s wall to see here. At Nysa, located in Meryemlik near Sutlegen, the tombs are in the form of individual heroons. Also to be found here are a theater that could seat seven or eight hundred and the traces of a stoa and agora. Turning off the Finike - Kas road at kilometer 30 takes us to Kekova. Ucagiz can also be reached overland. The sites of Simena and Aperlai and the island of Kekova itself however can only be reached by sea.

Myra is one of the more important sites in this region. Its port was Ahdriake,located at present-day Cayagil. Today one may see there the remains of a grain silo that was built in 129.

After visiting Limyra, near Finike , we may proceed in the direction of Elmali. At the village of Arif are the rather well-preserved ruins of Arykanda. If we follow the coast road on the other hand, we can. make a stop at the ruins of Olympos at Cirali between Kemer and Adrasan. Phaselis, located in Tekirova at kilometer 35 on the Antalya-Finike highway, marks the boundary of ancient Lycia and the beginning of the region known as Pamphylia.