Description of the attraction
To the southeast of Fethiye (at a distance of 65 km) on the top of a hill are the ruins of Xanphos, an ancient city. From the top of the hill, on which the ruins are located, an unusually beautiful view of the Yeshen River valley opens.
The city of Xanphos is mentioned in the ancient Greek myth, which tells about Bellerophon and the flying horse Pegasus. King Iobatus lived in Xanphos, as well as Glaucus, the grandson of Bellerophon. In Homer's Iliad, Glaucus appears as a Lycian who fought for the Trojans.
After carrying out archaeological excavations on the territory of the city, finds were discovered dating back to the 8th century BC. However, Xanphos was first mentioned in the chronicles of the conquest of Lycia, when a Persian general attacked Harpagus (540 BC). After the army of Harpagus surrounded the city, the defenders of the city realized that they were in a hopeless position. They decided to set fire to the city along with their houses, property, wives, children and slaves, while they continued to fight. Only 8 families managed to survive, since they were outside the city at that time. These families returned to rebuild the burnt city.
In 333 BC. the city was taken over by Alexander the Great. After Alexander's death, Antigonus ruled the city, and after him Antiochus III. Under Antiochus III, Xanphos was the capital of the Lycian Union. A little later, Xanphos, like all of Lycia, controlled Rhodes.
In 42 BC. in Rome, civil war raged, and the city fell under siege. It was surrounded by the troops of Brutus, and the history of the city repeated itself again, the inhabitants set it on fire. But the city was destined to rebuild again, and Xanphos was even better than it was. Emperor Vespasian, during his reign, ordered the erection of the magnificent city gates that bore his name. With the onset of the Byzantine period, a diocese reigned in Xanphos. In the 7th century, the Arabs began to attack the city more and more often, so the inhabitants left the city.
In 1842, Charles Fellowes, a British traveler, searched the ruins for surviving sculptures and statues that were sent to the British Museum in London.
The entrance to the city is decorated with the monumental Arch of Vespasian, and next to the Arch are the Hellenistic gates. On these gates, a record was found stating that Antiochus III dedicated the city of Xanphos to the patron gods of Lycia - Artemis, Leto and Apollo. A little further (to the right of the road) was the Nereid Monument. Dating back to the 4th century BC. Today it is kept in the British Museum.
The city acropolis, surrounded on three sides by fortress walls (5th century BC), is located on the banks of the Eschen River. The appearance of the fourth wall took place already in the Byzantine period. In the northern part of the acropolis, there is a Roman theater that was built on the site of an ancient Greek theater. Not far from the theater are the Lycian tombs. The height of the tomb of the Harpies is 8, 87 meters. Next to it there is a tomb (4th century), which contains a copy of the relief image of two fighting men, the original of this image is kept in the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul.
A little north of the Roman theater, the Roman agora begins, on which the Xanthian obelisk is located, dating from 480-470 BC. The obelisk bears the longest inscription among those records that have come down to our time. The 250-line inscription is in Lycian. The recording in the Lycian language has not been fully deciphered, but from the recording made in Greek it can be understood that the obelisk was built in honor of the ancient fighter, who emerged victorious in many fights and thus glorified his family.
If you follow the path that goes east from the car park, you can come to the Byzantine basilica surrounded by a hedge. To the north of the basilica, on a hill, there is a Byzantine monastery, as well as a Roman acropolis with tombs and sarcophagi.
