Monday, May 5, 2008

Arykanda 2 - Visiting the site

The Civic Agora that I reach first is, in fact, an Agora without shops around it dating from the 4th century AD. It is a wide and flat space, enclosed on three sides by what was once a wooden portico situated a few feet higher than the square itself. It may have been paved with mosaics, but that is not certain. The old tree in the center of the Agora has a solid grip on the remains of a temple supposedly dedicated to Tyche.

From the wooden portico, a triple portal gave access to the Odeon that, at a certain time, doubled up as Bouleuterion. It dates from the 2nd century AD and still stands up to its roof. It must have been a very luxurious building when the walls, orchestra, and seats were covered with colored marble.

The Terrace Bath, a little further to the west, proudly shows traces of colored plaster on its walls, but I find it hard to figure out the Nymphaeum among all this rubble unless it is part of what I take for a cistern. Walking over bits of paved streets and ancient staircases, my mind is playing tricks on me, and it feels as if I am moving in a time before mine. It all looks so real!

I continue my climb to reach the Market Agora. Here a 137 m long Stoa runs along the northern edge, giving access to twelve shops that made perfect use of the difference in elevations. The pavement is rather simple, made of flat white leftover rubble it seems, efficiently put together. Three steps higher, at the end of the Stoa, I access the real Bouleuterion, cut into the rock. It must have entered into disuse after a destructive earthquake. The seats look very worn down, so I suppose this construction was exposed to weather and winds for centuries. To the west are the remains of the Sebastaion, a sacred house that was later transformed into a private residence with an atrium. I can’t believe there is so much left and so much to see. It is like visiting a real city!

On a higher terrace behind the Market Agora stands the crepidoma of the Temple of Helios that looks as if it were built in the middle of a road, but this simply is the propylon leading to the Temple from either side. Unfortunately, it is not known what this Hellenistic Temple looked like, for the stones have been reused for the construction of a Roman grave. It is, however, atypical because the longer sides are amazingly the ones facing east/west. Archaeologists have found two altars here, one carrying the Greek inscription ΗΛΙΟΥ and the other, late Roman-early Byzantine, depicting Helios with a halo. Statues of Asclepius and Hygeia confirm that the temple was shared with other gods. It still looks charming and impressive with its shiny white blocks framed in the young green grasses around it.

One level below this Market Agora, I find an enormous Cistern with a barrel vault and waterproof walls that apparently was used up till the 5th-6th century AD. It is said to have a capacity of 800 tons, but I have no idea how this contributes to its size?

My path now takes me higher uphill, eastwards along dull rock tombs, nothing more than holes in the hillside. But then suddenly, after a turn between the pine trees, I catch my first glimpse of the Theatre. I stop in my tracks, for this is magnificent, white, and bright as if newly built. As I stare at this picture-perfect Theater, ideally nestled against the hill, I feel literally transported back in time! No wonder I entirely forgot my trail up to the Acropolis on the other side of the hill.

This Greek Theater was built some time between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD and counts twenty rows of seats starting right at the orchestra. At the edge of every row are holes that held the beams supporting the sunshade. Amazing! I try the stairs up and down, looking at the unique Lycian landscape and the obvious remains of the skene. I sit there for a while, enjoying the quietness of the place, and it is as if the spirits of the past come alive in a gentle murmur – only disturbed by the songs of the many birds. I picture Greeks and Romans sitting on these very benches, talking to their neighbors about the events of the day or in simple anticipation of the play they are going to see. Time just does not exist in a place like this - very special indeed!

Right above this Theater lays the Stadium, built in the 1st century BC, in the shape of a running track. It is smaller than the normal standards, measuring 106 by 17 meters with only a few step-like seats on the north side still in place. The wall behind them somehow reminds me of a Doric temple façade with eight niches and belongs to an earlier construction. The Stadium underwent serious repairs after the earthquakes of 141 and 240 AD and, like the Theater, is in excellent condition. The view towards the sea is too hazy, unfortunately, but inland it feels like an eagle’s eye perspective.

Squeezed between the Stadium and the Theater are the remains of a Byzantine House, complete with mosaic floors and thick walls and apses that remind me of a Basilica. It is clear that each time period has left its own imprint on this city.

Tracing my way back to where I parked my car, I unexpectedly find myself in the Temple of Trajan or Sebastaion with niched walls (the back wall seems ready to topple over!). Blocks from this Temple have been reused in Byzantine times for the construction of the adjacent Basilica, dated to the late 5th or early 6th century AD, based on the floor mosaics. The Basilica did not live long and was probably devastated by the earthquake of 560.

By now, it is nearly one o’clock, and I surely can use a break after all this climbing. I’m so glad I took a walking stick with me, for the hillside is steep, and the scree makes any foothold highly insecure! There are two more cars parked next to mine now, and the guard in charge is checking the visitors, waiting for me to pay my entrance fee. He speaks English, and of course, he wants to know where I’m from, where I’m staying, and what I have seen so far. What time did you arrive at the site? Ten o’clock? Yes, I thought I saw you drive up (you’ll never pass by a Turkish house without being noticed!). His daughter is at the university in Cyprus, studying the English language, and she is his pride – rightfully so! He points at the folder I am carrying under my arm, my homework with all the information about the sites I plan to see. Can he have a look? His reaction is almost instantaneous: this is the map from the book! Of course, it is. I know what he means: the plan of Arykanda, of which I made a copy from the book on Lycia (by Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu) to carry with me instead of the heavy booklet. He has the book in his store, he says, hoping for a customer. Too bad for him, for I already have it!

I grab my lunch and a fresh bottle of water from the car and settle in the shade of an old tree overlooking the Arykanda Valley. On a clear day, the Aegean should be visible from here. The ever-present stray dog is getting lazy and settles in his corner, keeping one eye on me and my food, I suppose.

I’m glad to get a rest, and slowly my energy is flowing back. Time to visit the eastern side of Arykanda. Excavations on this site started in the 1970s, and the archaeologists accomplished miracles. Since the ruins have been hidden for the past two thousand years or so, the stones all look as fresh and pristine as on the day the buildings were erected. That is what makes this site so unique and very much alive, too – not a dead city as we so often encounter!

Close to my parking space is the Byzantine remains with mosaics under plastic roofs that I noticed upon arrival. They seem to belong to the Bishop's Palace with a large hall, probably used as a reception area, a separate household space, kitchens with amphorae for oil and grain and niches in the walls for oil lamps, and even a bathroom and toilets.

On the lowest terrace lays what is supposed to be the largest bath complex in Lycia, still virtually intact in its sequence of arches, converted into a Bath-Gymnasium probably after the earthquake of 141 and repaired again between the 3rd and 6th century AD. However, the activities of this complex were gradually taken over by the nearby Small Bath. I am especially impressed by the bay window of the Large Bath, and I think this must have been the Solarium, but nothing much has been done here to clear the trees and undergrowth, and I cannot really get in there either. Well, we have to leave something for future excavations, too, right?

Further to the east, there are many necropolises only partially dug out, if not simply left as they were found. But the beauties are alongside the avenue above the Bath Complex. Stately and sumptuous Temple Tombs are aligned here, vaulted or not, sheltering Lycian or simple rectangular sarcophagi, often carrying Greek inscriptions. They are all richly decorated, and I feel exceptionally rewarded when facing the ornately carved doorway of a Roman Tomb that was described with much enthusiasm by Charles Fellows in the mid-1800s. The winged figures on either side of a bust over the lintel are badly eroded but clearly visible. The chamber itself is 20 feet square, and the five-foot-wide benches are still leaning against the three walls. The back wall is, as he described, made in polygonal masonry, but I could not find any trace of the painted plaster on the ceiling he mentioned.

Well, so much for Arykanda. Such a gem, and I’m terribly happy that I could take my time to visit it without being bothered by the hordes of tourists. I feel very fortunate indeed!

Arykanda

My plan today is Arykanda, renown as being the Delphi of Turkey and it turns out that this title is not exaggerated. I read that Arykanda overlooks a magnificent valley and that the view makes it one of the most spectacular sites in close competition with Ephesus and Pergamon. It goes without saying that it is one of my top priorities.

The smell of spiced herbs mingles with the sweet penetrating perfume of orange blossoms when I am leaving my hotel in the early morning. Traffic in Finike is busy with the Saturday market and the road works as I drive between houses and shops till the sign “Uçumlar, Güle, güle” waves me out. This turns out to be a last greeting from civilization as settlements suddenly become sparse. The road winds between steep green mountains richly covered with thick pine trees. I am all eyes for this is Alexander-country (at least for me!), a majestic and commanding landscape with high peaks crowned with snow. It is a little hazy, not exactly ideal for taking pictures but my memory will record all the details. The road is twisting and climbing ever higher. Here and there, I catch a glimpse of houses and rows of trees, squeezed between plastic greenhouses that grow smaller at each turn. What a land! The road is well maintained. This is not as obvious as it sounds for, although this is a centuries-old connection between Finike and Elmali, it has been improved only in the recent decennia – lucky me!

After the village of Arif, I see the brown signpost to Arykanda. Yet it is pointing to a high cliff in front of which the locals are setting up their orange stalls. What is this? According to the Sunflower guide “From Antalya to Demre”, I have to make a right turn to reach the Agora of the ancient site about one kilometer from here. I inspect the rocky wall in front of me but find no entrance road. I take another look at my detailed map and finally realize that the road is to my right, half behind me looking over my shoulder – a kind of hairpin turn. It is nothing more than a dirt path indeed and I pray that I’ll not meet a car or tractor coming from the opposite direction, but all goes well and I find the space to park. I am the only car and the only visitor and like the day before there is nobody to buy my ticket from. Well, my presence will be known soon enough, knowing the Turks …


I’m deeply impressed by what I see. Such a big city! It is so wonderfully well preserved and excavated - a real gem with many streets and staircases still intact, two Agoras, remains of temples and private Roman houses with mosaics, Basilicas, and cisterns. I feel like a kid in a toy store, I want to see it all at once! Where shall I start? I decide to climb uphill to the two Agoras and adjacent buildings, as at this time of day it is still cool. To my surprise, there is a billboard with a map of Arykanda and another one with a list of the buildings pointing me in the right direction. These buildings are numbered and referenced on the map and they match the copy of the map I took with me from Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu’s book on Lycia – well, no wonder for he is the archaeologist responsible for these excavations!

The Lycian city of Ary-ka-wanda, “the place near the high rocks”, is known to be one of the oldest sites, where even coins from the 5th century BC have been found. My friend Alexander the Great has stopped here on his way from Milas to Phaselis, but if there is any hard proof to this story, I don’t know for I haven’t found one. After his death, the city was ruled by the Seleucids and afterwards by the Ptolemaic dynasty. It is said that the tension between Limyra and Arykanda, for whatever reason, prevented the influence of Ptolemy spreading further inland through the valley of Arykandos. In the 2nd century BC, Arykanda joined the Lycian League and starting from 43 AD the city belonged to the Roman province of Lycia and Pamphylia. It even survived Byzantine times, until the 9th century when the settlement moved to a new site south of the modern road. Luckily for us, the marble and limestone remains have been spared the lime-kilns as no large town was built in the neighborhood. Besides, much of the site has been covered by landslides, meaning that Arykanda's buildings were well hidden. This is why the excavated remains look so clean and almost new. Built upon five large terraces on a mountain slope, the city is quite unique. It was known for having the most pleasure and entertainment-loving (and debt-ridden) citizens. So when in 197 BC they supported Antiochus III in his fight against Ptolemy, it was not so much a political move, but mainly to get their creditors off their backs. Nothing’s new under the sun!

Time to start exploring the site! I’m curious what the plastic roofs next to the parking are sheltering and I see that there are mosaic floors underneath that seem to belong to a Basilica. Yet I leave this side of the city for later and set off to higher grounds.

[read further in Arykanda 2 - Visiting the Site]
[Click here to view all the pictures of Arykanda]

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Limyra, from Finike

My first trip is to Limyra located very close by, in fact right behind my hotel (I later spot it with my binoculars from the balcony) although I have to drive in a wide loop to get there. First down the coast to Finike where the market is wrapping up. I have to pay attention, driving through the crowd of well-built young men carrying empty crates and the belated housewives loaded with plastic bags full of bread and vegetables. Maneuvering further between the potholes and sooner than expected, I see the Roman-Byzantine city wall on my right-hand side that I recognize as pertaining to Limyra. There is space to park my car but nobody to welcome me. The kiosk at the entrance is deserted and the iron gate is locked. Knowing that the visit to the Theater on the other side of the road is free of charge, I decided to start over there.

Basically, this is a Hellenistic Theater that was rebuilt after the earthquake in 141 AD, thanks to the contributions of Opramoas of Rhodiapolis at a time when the city at its wealthiest and could seat 8,000 people (other sources double that size). It was enlarged during the reign of Emperor Augustus and again in later Roman times, and in the 2nd century AD, a skene was added. Although the Theater is squeezed between the road, the hillside, and the surrounding greenhouses, it is still in rather good condition with niches in the side walls that once held statues while the diazoma and the vaulted galleries offer lovely pictures of the blossoming mimosa trees on the slopes behind it. 

High up this hill, according to my books, I should find the remains of the Acropolis with a church and the Heroon of Pericles. This Heroon which was also his tomb, displayed a group of caryatids on the porch which was inspired by the Erechtheion in Athens or the Monument of the Nereids in Xanthos.  One of the caryatids and several parts of the frieze from the cella representing Pericles in his chariot surrounded by mounted and foot soldiers are exhibited at the Museum in Antalya. The burial chamber was located in the foundations of the Heroon. 

I have second thoughts about climbing up there for the hill is very steep (my book states 40-45 degrees!) and the hot air emanating from the many greenhouses makes me feel nauseated. Besides, there will not be much to see for even down here the landscape is very hazy. I decide to stick to the lower grounds.

Walking back to the car I see that the ticket booth is now manned. The local voiceless messenger has worked well, as usual. I’m welcomed with a big smile and after paying my entrance fee, the attendant unlocks the gate for me. Great, I have Limyra all to myself!

Limyra, the Lycian Zemuri, is mentioned by Strabo, Ptolemy, and several Latin authors and seems to date back to the 6th century BC. Under the Lycian dynast Pericles, whose name is found on coins from the 4th century BC, Limyra enjoyed a golden age. This Pericles ruled over eastern Lycia from about 380 to 360 BC while western Lycia was still under the direct government of Persia. 

In Hellenistic times, Limyra belonged to Egypt, until it was briefly conquered by the Syrians. Immediately afterward Pergamon prevailed and finally in the 1st century AD Rome took over. The main god was Zeus, in whose name athletic contests were organized. The Limyros Valley was also home to the Spring Oracle of Limyra: trout predicted the future. If they hurled themselves at the bait, the omens were good; if they circled it skeptically … In Byzantine times, it was a bishop’s seat but the city waned under constant Arab raids in the 8th century and the silting up of the Limyros River. Later it came under the rule of the Ottomans, and the inhabitants settled in Phoinikos, today’s Finike, once Limyra’s port.

I take my map out, trying to find my bearings for according to my preparative reading the entrance to the site should be further down the road. It soon is clear that I am on what is called the western island (the Limyros River cuts the site in two halves) and that the mass of stones in front of me is the Ptolemaion. The crepidoma and its podium are cut in two by a thick Byzantine Wall and surrounded on all sides by clear spring water. Archaeologists suspect that the Ptolemaion carried a Tholos with lion statues at the corners, supported by Ionic columns that may have been alternating with statues like the Nereid’s Monument in Xanthos. It is uncertain if this Temple was dedicated to Arsinoe or Berenike, but we do know that the metopes show scenes of centauromachy in a more elaborate style than those found on the Altar of Zeus in Pergamon – and that shows how wealthy the city was in its heydays! It must have been quite something and it keeps amazing me how we are able to draw so much information from a heap of rubble!


To the right, still impressive in its nakedness, stands the Monumental Tomb built for Gaius Caesar who died here on February 21, 4 AD, after returning from a campaign in Syria. The original monument was no less than eighteen meters high and decorated with reliefs depicting the great deeds Gaius performed in the East. The cenotaph (his remains were shipped back to Rome) was covered with a pyramidal roof. When I was in Antalya last year, I saw a picture of this monument in the Museum together with a reconstruction and at that time it reminded me of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Strange how things fall into place, isn’t it? Today this monument also stands with its feet in the water since the level has risen since antiquity.

Closer to the City Wall I passed earlier are other remains of a monument but without any explanation and I couldn’t find out what it was about. Somebody can tell me?

I walk back to the Ptolemaion, through the poor remains of the Triumphal Arch now part of the Byzantine City Wall, reaching the southern side where a colonnaded avenue paved with rectangular blocks is still visible underwater. This is the Limyros River (today’s Göksu) whose source lies just at the other side of this wall. With columns on both sides, this avenue must have looked very elegant, leading to the eastern side of Limyra. Close to the center of that eastern part, I find the ruins of a Roman Bath as well as those of an early Byzantine Church and the Byzantine Bishop’s Palace. Closer to the river, an effort has been made to reconstruct a huge volute with blocks showing a feather motive; maybe an attempt to imitate the roof of a tomb, I wonder?

It seems as if not much of the terrain has been really excavated yet but the remains are interesting, to say the least. On this early spring day, I simply enjoy the idyllic views where the Limyros River joins the Arykandos, today’s Aykιrιçay, where turtles and frogs swim and play in a paradise of their own. It is so wonderfully quiet and serene here, with nobody to disturb my peace.

Directly east and a little above the Theater is perhaps the only Lycian sarcophagus in ancient Limyra. I wonder if this is the very same one Charles Fellows got excited about. Back at the entrance booth, I ask the guardian, showing him Fellows’ drawing, and surely enough that is it, the monumental Tomb of Xntabura (maybe the brother or a relative of Pericles), a Lycian aristocrat who is depicted on the relief between two priests. I undertake several attempts to climb uphill but I hit sheer rocks, private fences, and beehives. Maybe from behind the Theater? Here I meet a Turkish family inspecting their hothouses with tomatoes and beans, and the elderly man is positive, there is no path to the tomb. Too bad. Had the weather not been that hot and stuffy I might have given it another try, but not now.

Interestingly also are the many rock tombs around Limyra scattered over five different areas. They are mostly real rock graves dating from before the 4th century BC and it seems no other necropolis in any Lycian city is so strung out. There are supposedly more than four hundred tombs and I stick to the ones that are more readily accessible alongside the road to Kumluca, starting approximately two kilometers from the Theatre. Well, I can’t access them so easily after all for the hillside is as steep as everywhere in Lycia, but I manage to have a closer look in and around a dozen of them. Quite worthwhile after all.

I check the time. If I leave right now, I still may catch a late lunch at my hotel. The very thought of food and a cooler place to rest is a tempting one. I manage and my meal tastes great, I was hungry after all!

After today’s emotions, I feel tired and lazy and decide to return to my room to grab a nap. Well, not exactly what I had in mind for slamming doors, yelling kids and screaming tractor motors wake me up time after time. Maybe I can catch the afternoon tea service with cookies and cakes? No such luck, they are just clearing the table when I get there. Well, I’ll settle for a rakı instead! Şerefe!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Lycia, worth to be known

Lycia is located in southern Turkey, roughly the big bulge between Marmaris in the west and Antalya in the east. It is mostly a mountainous knob that is connected to the rest of Turkey by two valleys only, the Xanthos Valley in the west and the Finike Valley in the east. Even today, roads are scarce and follow the same valleys. The main east-west traffic follows the coastal road between Fethiye and Antalya, which is constantly improved but still a lengthy affair – although it offers spectacular views!


To me this is a true shrine of snowy mountain tops, deep gorges, and a wealth of archaeological sites with an unsurpassed rich history, going way back in time.

The Lycians were referred to as the Luwian people in early eastern and Egyptian inscriptions, i.e. the Luqqu or Luqqa from the 2nd millennium BC. Lycia’s main source of income came from its forests but also from trade with the ships that navigated along its coastline. Neighboring kings from Caria and Lydia tried but failed to conquer Lycia until the Persians under the Achaemenids managed to impose themselves. Persian rule was fierce and ruthless and Xanthos resisted heavily, preferring even mass suicide rather than submission to the enemy.

The occupation took a different turn when Mausolos, the King and satrap of Caria took over, forming a kind of buffer between the Persians and the Lycians. In the 4th century BC, a certain Pericles tried to unite all Lycian cities under one central rule, without success. It was Alexander the Great who put a final end to the Persian occupation; at the same time, he also stopped the use of the Lycian language in favor of Greek. After Alexander’s premature death and the fight of his successors over the territories he conquered, Lycia came under the rule of the Egyptian Ptolemaic in 310 BC, and in 301 BC it was ruled by Lysimachos, King of Syria. But this kingdom would not live long enough either and finally, by the beginning of the 2nd century BC Lycia came under the control of Rhodes with the influence of Rome.

Yet Rhodes did not give the Lycians fair treatment and after many complaints, Rome found it reasonable to grant them their freedom. At this point, the Lycian cities all agreed it was time to unite, and the Lycian League, as dreamed of by Pericles, became a reality. The six main cities: Xanthos, Pınara, Tlos, Patara, Myra, and Olympos were the administrative, judicial, military, financial, and religious centers and each received 3 votes in the meetings of the League. Most of the other cities had 1 vote each while some very small cities shared 1 vote (for instance Istlada, Apollonia, and Aperlai). Some cities and small federal states were allowed to mint their own coins, provided they bore the inscription ΛΥΚΙΩΝ ΚΟΙΝΩΝ. This must have been an enormous boost to the Lycians’ pride leading to their prosperity(see: The World's first parliament building - Patara)

During the 1st century BC, Lycia with the rest of Anatolia became a Roman province, but this domination had its good side too for Rome had the power and the means to protect them against pirates, for instance. When their plundering of commercial ships and coastal cities went beyond limits, Manlius Vulso decided to go after them both by land and sea – and he was successful! The trade routes were open once again and the economy developed.

But then, in the wake of the murder of Julius Caesar, Brutus arrived in Lycia. Finding no support for his cause, he slaughtered the inhabitants of Xanthos (a repeat of what the Persians had done a few centuries before). A year later Marc Antony took over and luckily he decided to rebuild the cities, especially Xanthos. With the reign of Augustus peace returned, at last, reaching its heydays under Trajan and Hadrian.

Unfortunately, in the year 141 AD, Anatolia, including Lycia, was hit by a severe earthquake, destroying many cities. Thanks to the contributions of rich citizens like Opramoas of Rhodiapolis, every single city between Phaselis in the east and Telmessus in the west was rebuilt, and Lycia continued developing. But then it was hit again by a major earthquake on the 5th of August 240 AD, and the cities were equally destroyed – yet no money seemed to have been available for their reconstruction, and the entire region slowly fell into decline. By the 5th century, the Byzantine Empire was crumbling down, and soon afterward, the Arabs invaded the territory.


Each and every site is worth discovering and visiting. One of the most thrilling experiences you can plan is to go out there by boat and explore this mysterious and unforgiving land from the sea. Personally, I have sailed this coast on board the Almira with Peter Sommer Travels, and I can assure you that this experience will stay with you forever. Time truly comes to a standstill, and I easily pictured how the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, the merchants, and the pirates, navigated along this coastline. It is no surprise either to hear that the oldest shipwreck (1350 BC) has been found near Uluburun, approximately in the middle of the bulge. The entire cargo has been rescued and is now on display at the Museum of Bodrum – a true revelation!

But not only the coastal cities and sites are worth a visit, Lycia has lots of hidden treasures off the beaten tracks of tourists and/or further inland. Although I have mentioned a few cities above it is utterly impossible to draw an exhaustive list. Maybe I’ll add just a few names like Rhodiapolis, Limyra, Arykanda, Chimera, Phellos, or Letoon