The Ancient Lycian sites of Patara, Letoon and Xanthos

On 27 September we set out again in coaches from Kas with the aim of visiting 3 archaeological sites. Our first stop was the ancient city of Patara which sits close to the ruins of Xanthos just inland from the eastern end of a 15 km long white sandy beach, apparently the longest sand beach in Turkey (and perhaps also the longest beach in Turkey). Patara is renowned as the birthplace of Apollo and was fabled to be his winter residence. As a result, Patara had an oracle as famous as the one in Delphi and was one of the oldest and most important cities in Lycia. The city is also famous for being the birthplace of Saint Nicholas (aka Santa Claus) around AD270. 

Patara continued to be an extremely prosperous port right up until the Middle Ages when its harbour (1600 meters long and 400 meters wide) finally silted up, became a marsh, and ceased to be a major trading port. Over time the city was covered with sand dunes and it is still in the process of being excavated. 

The site is very large and the excavation work has uncovered some impressive buildings. The entrance runs past a 1st century BC monumental arch which looks like a smaller version of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Most impressive is the bouleuterion. It is the largest one we have seen and has been beautifully restored to include the entrance hallway and side rooms. The new stonework, glowing in the sunshine, gives an inkling as to how spectacular the city would have looked when all of the other large buildings were still standing. The bouleuterion was the parliament building of these ancient cities and, with Patara being one of the leading cities of the Lycian Federation (if not the leading city), all the representatives of the Lycian Federation met here, so you could argue that this is the birthplace of democracy.

The city also housed a large, and well preserved/restored theatre seating 6000,

The main street/agora 

... a grand main street/agora

Lots of different bathhouses

... and several baths complexes, all of which our guide described as almost as important as the bouleuterion in terms of getting the politics of the day done.

With 3 sites to visit during the day we were a little short on time and so we fairly cantered around to see as much of it as we could. Other members of our party had visited Patara several years ago and highlighted how many new areas had been exposed by the work of the archaeologists. We didn't manage to fit in climbing the hill behind the theatre, which apparently gives a superb panoramic view over the  site and the surrounding area. With that hill to climb, and the possibility of seeing newly exposed parts of the site, we have definitely put down Patara as a location to revisit.

As we were so close to the fantastic sandy beach, the whole group agreed that we would make time for a short swim. That proved to be very refreshing (and great fun with a small surf to play in) and set us nicely up for moving on to our next archaeological site, Xanthos.

Xanthos    

Evidence indicates that Xanthos existed as far back as 1200BC built on the strategic site on the high ground down to the shores of the river below. It is a fairly compact site which apparently was virtually intact when it was discovered in 1838 by a British explorer, Sir Charles Fellows. He returned 4 years later in HMS Beacon and proceeded to remove many of the monuments for display in the British Museum in London.

Xanthos    

The Harpy Tomb    

Today 2 remaining monuments, the Harpy Tomb (some of the reliefs from which were removed by Sir Charles) and an obelisk, have become the trademarks of the site.

The inscribed obelisk    

The obelisk dating from 425-400BC, which stands at the corner of the Roman agora, is particularly interesting because it has the longest known inscription in Lycian. Fortunately for archaeologists, it also has some of the lines carved in Greek which has enabled the partial deciphering of the ancient Lycian language.

The sights at Xanthos also include a huge amphitheatre, a well preserved
road and a Byzantine basilica    

The Xanthos warriors were legendary brave and fierce fighting men. They are infamous for preferring mass suicide rather than surrender, even to a vastly superior fighting force. Whereas the other Lycian cities accepted rule by invaders, the people of Xanthos twice chose suicide rather than submission. In 540BC, when the Persian general Harpagos forced them back by the superior numbers with his invading army, the Xanthos warriors barricaded themselves inside the city and made a funeral pyre with all their wives, slaves and treasures. In an extraordinary act of group suicide they then set fire to the pyre before marching out to meet the enemy and were all killed except for 8 who were away from the city at the time.

The city was later rebuilt by expat Xanthians only to be captured by Alexander the Great in 334BC. In 42BC, 2 years after the murder of Julius Caesar, Brutus besieged Xanthos but the inhabitants again chose mass suicide so Brutus took control of an empty city with just 150 prisoners taken alive. When Mark Antony defeated Brutus he rebuilt Xanthos and it became the capital of Roman Lycia.

The sanctuary of Letoon    

Our final tourist stop for the day was the sanctuary of Letoon. Letoon was founded by Leto, the mother of Artemis and Apollo, and the twin children of Zeus. It was the sacred cult centre of Lycia and the settlement can be traced back to the 7th century BC.

According to legend, when Leto became pregnant by Zeus, she fled to escape the wrath of the jealous Hera. Looking for a safe place to give birth to her divine twin children she arrived in Lycia. Local shepherds drove her away when she tried to drink from a spring but some wolves guided her to the Xanthos River. In gratitude she renamed the region Lycia after the Greek word for wolf. She also, apparently, took revenge of the unhelpful shepherds by turning them into stone.

Letoon is a small site beside the Xanthos River. It has a well preserved Hellenistic theatre,

a nymphaeum (now submerged due to the high local water table)...

The 3 temples dedicated to Leto, Artemis and Apollo    

...and the 3 temples of Leto, Artemis and Apollo. Here too have been found many inscriptions in Arabic, Greek and Lycian which have helped to decipher the Lycian language.

Once back in the marina at Kaş for once it turned out to be a quiet night. Like most of the other members of the rally we ate on board and 'recharged our batteries' ready for the next dinner night party 10 miles east at a small bay in Kekova Roads.

Kaş Marina, Turkey