Nicholas (aka Santa Claus) in 270 A.D., who lived most of his life in the nearby town of Myra (nowadays known as Demre). Patara was a flourishing maritime and commercial city on the southwest coast of Lycia on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Turkey also declared 2020 as the year of Patara to highlight its undersubscribed cultural value. It is located close to another famous ancient city – Patara, the capital of the ancient Lycian civilization. One of the most popular beaches in Antalya’s Kaş district is the 12-kilometer-long Patara beach, which is known as one of the longest beaches in the region. The provinces are like a haven for those planning a holiday with sandy beaches, alluring caves and other natural attractions.Ī well-known German online hotel reservation website marked 13 most beautiful beaches in Turkey and 11 out of those are located in Antalya and Muğla. Turkey’s Antalya and Muğla provinces are known not only for their historical sites but also for their outstanding natural beauties. The inscriptions found on the ruins are considered exceptional evidence of this unique and long-forgotten Indo-European language. The inscriptions engraved in rock or on huge stone pillars on the site are crucial for a better understanding of the history of the Lycian people and their Indo-European language,” UNESCO says on its website. It is also in Xanthos-Letoon that the most important texts in the Lycian language were found. “Xanthos-Letoon strikingly illustrates the continuity and unique combination of the Anatolian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine civilizations. The Harpy Tomb is still located within the ancient city and its ruins. Two tombs, the Nereid Monument and the Tomb of Payava, are now on display at the British Museum in London. Many important artifacts have been found in the city. As the center of ancient Lycia, Xanthos has attracted many students of Anatolian civilization since the early 19th century. The archaeological twin sites Xanthos and Letoon have been on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list since 1988. Letoon also had a nymphaeum dating back to Hadrian, built on a water source that was considered sacred, though now only ruins remain. The inscription was discovered near the temple of Apollo, the Olympian God of sun and light. features a text in Lycian and Greek coupled with an Aramaic summary. Perhaps the most famous one, the trilingual inscription which dates back to 337 B.C. During excavations many inscriptions have been unearthed at the site. Located south of the village Kumluova in Muğla's Fethiye district, Letoon is about 4 kilometers (2 1/2 miles) south of Xanthos along the Xanthos River.Īrchaeological finds at the site, though never a fully-occupied settlement but still, an essential religious center of its time, date back to the late sixth century B.C. It was one of the most important religious centers in the region at the time. Letoon (Letoum), on the other hand, was the cult center of Xanthos, the ancient federal sanctuary of the Lycian province and Lycian League of Cities. During Byzantine and Hellenistic times, a church was built at the northeast corner while an advanced defensive structure protected the western side of the citadel along the river. The old Lycian Acropolis, which was remodeled during the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods, lies in the zone. With its rock-cut tombs, pillar tombs and pillar-mounted sarcophagi, Xanthos is home to some unique examples of ancient burial edifices.Įast of the Xanthos River (known more commonly as Eşen Çayı in Turkey), the river on which the city is situated, lies the Lycians' first monumental zone. Xanthos is a surviving example of Lycian traditions and especially its funerary art. After the Byzantine Empire dissolved in the 15th century with the fall of Constantinople, the region came under Turkish rule. Also known as Xanthus, the former Byzantine bishopric remains a Latin Catholic titular see. Xanthos was first a center of culture and commerce for the Lycians, with Persians, Greeks and Romans later taking turns to conquer the city and occupy adjoining territory.
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