Exploring Olympos, next to Chimera

From the main road, I follow the signpost down to Olympos through the splendid Lycian landscape of pine trees amidst park-like grassland full of spring flowers. Olympos has been well-investigated by the archaeologists from Antalya, but in the heavy overgrowth of spring, it looks as if everything is still to be discovered. Luckily, plenty of signs guide me through the remains hidden in the thick bushes, brushes, and swamped reeds behind the dirt road leading to the pebble beach.

I start along the north side of the river with crystal clear water (that has not changed course since antiquity), noticing the remains of a bridge that once crossed it and seems to date from Roman times. Behind the dirt road, only vague footpaths run among the tombs. They are mainly vaulted family graves bearing Greek inscriptions about the deceased on the marble lintels above the entrance gate. It is fun in a way, for it seems like detective work to locate them hidden in the clusters of low trees, half buried in eons of soil and marshy deposits.

Back on the dirt road, I am directed towards a Temple through lush greenery. In a clearing, the five-meter-high temple doorway suddenly faces me. It has a beautifully decorated lintel with consoles of big acanthus leaves at each corner and unfinished pearl motives around the sides of the door jambs. This portal belongs to a Roman Temple built in Ionic style, apparently between 161-180 AD, according to an inscription stating that it once held a statue in honor of Marcus Aurelius. I peep around the corner, but except for the entrance, there are hardly any walls to speak of, and the floor is a rubble of broken blocks that may be sorted out one day. Somebody took the measurements of this temple, however, and came up with 10.5 by 12.5 meters.

I jump over a few narrow streams, but I stop in my tracks at the sight of an aqueduct (a walled canal system according to the Turkish translation) running parallel with one of the rivulets. My path runs through the bottom of the canal, one meter wide by one meter high, I guess. How exciting! It runs straight, makes a sudden turn, joins up with a side canal, and runs on further into the thickets. I keep marveling at this centuries-old work of art that still carries traces of paint, and I reflect on how easy it would be to lead the spring water back through the bedding of this aqueduct.

I stop at the remains of an imposing Mausoleum on my left, built for three tombs and called the Lyciarch Grave, dating from the second half of the 3rd century AD. Originally it was roofed with a vault that has collapsed. The rough outer walls now shelter only two sarcophagi as the central and most beautiful one has been taken to the Museum in Antalya. Measuring 2.4 x 1.15 m and one meter high, the crystallized white marble is decorated with columns and band motives in relief. The well-preserved lid shows a couple, a man, and a woman, lying down. I must have seen it in Antalya earlier this year, but I probably didn't pay too much attention. One of the billboards gives a translation of the inscription that was found on the tomb: "I, Lyciarch Marcus Aurelius Archepolis from Olympos, also known as Hoplon, son of Rhesimachos also called Diotimos (constructed) this grave for my dear father Rhesimachos, also called Diotimos and my dear brother Marcus Aurelius Menodoros, also called Rhesimachos, and for myself and for the persons that I determined in my will. There will be no permission for any other person to be buried in it. Otherwise, the burying person will pay 2,000 silver coins to the Sacred Treasury of the Empire". Five generations in all have been buried here together.

On the right-hand side of the U-shaped podium stands the so-called Hoplon Sarcophagus (one of the foremost families of Olympos) made of white marble with gray veins imported from Marmara Island that has approximately the same measurements as the previous one. The longer side is decorated with three stylish garlands, and the inscription on the podium reads: "Hoplon from Olympos built this grave for his relatives, father and mother, himself, nephew Gagatis and his wife Melitine." Any other person will be fined and thrown out. No kidding! The sarcophagus on the left is of the chest type and not as well preserved. I'm amazed to learn that it is made of crystallized white marble when staring at this grayish-dark tomb whose long side has been pieced together again. Its measurements are again comparable to the two other tombs in this Mausoleum.

My canal road takes me further into the bushes, and after a sharp left turn, the soil is rather swampy and muddy. I move cautiously between the reeds and yellow irises, following the sign "Mosaics." And here they are, pieces of a two-storied building that may have been a Basilica or the Bishop's Residence built at the end of the 5th century AD. The rough walls show decorative brickwork, and I find plenty of mosaics representing birds and other animals on the floor of the asymmetrical rooms.

Returning along the channel to the main road, I glimpse slender arched windows resting on a polygonal wall of what once were the Harbor Walls on the other side of the river. It is hard to imagine that both banks of this now shallow stream are half hidden in the reeds, and sweet laurel was a sheltered mooring place for the ships sailing the Aegean! But it definitely is a unique photo opportunity.

I now reach the place where the Acropolis rises high above the city, but I find it far too risky to climb, even if the view over the beach must be worth it! In the shady thickets at the bottom of this hill, I come across a lonely sarcophagus dedicated to Antimachos. It is a typical Lycian saddle-back model from the end of the 2nd century AD. Nothing special or out of the ordinary, but finding it so unexpectedly in the middle of nowhere is exciting! The pseudo-door on the short end represents the entrance to Hades, the underworld, while the family tree motive on the corner plaster stands for eternity – a tradition that started 3000 years BC, so it says.

Right next to the beach and protected by an unkept rough wooden fence, I see two splendid examples of vaulted sarcophagi – thoroughly cleaned and restored. The one facing me carries a relief of a galley – a rarity, I am told. The Greek inscription in the frame above states that the tomb belonged to Captain Eudemos, who sailed to Marmara and the Black Sea and had a good reputation. He had honorary citizenship to Chalcedon (today, part of Istanbul). The boat resembles a sponge fishing boat with a relief of Aphrodite on the keel, who is supposed to protect the sailors. There is another inscription next to the framed one saying:

"The ship has entered and anchored in the last port, for not to go out any more

For there is no more benefit from the wind nor from the daylight

After leaving the morning twilight captain Eudemos

Buried there his short-lived ship like a broken wave.

The second sarcophagus is less photogenic but carries a lengthy Greek text without explanation or translation. Such a pity, for it may have revealed interesting details or the reason why it was put in this protected place.

The beach view exceeds my expectations as the entire setting with the river and the rock formations are so different from what I have seen in Lycia before. On my left, to the North, I see modern houses and hotels leading to Kemer. Higher up the opposite southern hill lies the ancient Olympos city, quite an idyllic place with an arched rock enhancing the view. I take a break to enjoy the scenery before I trace my steps back on the dirt road.

I remember seeing a signpost pointing across the river towards the Theater, and I walked back to that point. The river bank is steep and slippery, but I find the path running over boulders carefully laid for a daring visitor like me. On the opposite bank, I dive into the thickets again, hoping to find the Theater - and I do! This Theater from the first half of the 2nd century AD is definitely Roman and resembles the one in Phaselis but is in much poorer condition, probably due to the earthquake of 141 AD and more so after the quake of 240 AD. Unfortunately, during the Middle Ages, much of the material was removed for other constructions. I enter through a promising vaulted paradox but find very scattered tiers of seats. Amazingly, the archaeologists could identify twenty rows of seats after all, but it helped that the Theater was carved in the bedrock.

I walk on in the general direction of the Harbor when suddenly I see a good-sized limestone sarcophagus above me. The billboard reveals this is the Tomb of Alcestis or Aurelius Artemias and family from the 2nd century AD. The reliefs are worn down, but I recognize a figure of Nike on each of the four corners. The garlands and figures of Eros that stand for the four seasons are better preserved. On the long side, I find Artemis and her husband saying their goodbyes when leaving this world. The short sides are in better condition. One side shows a standing man and a veiled woman, and the other a veiled woman with a mace-bearing figure of Heracles, hence the deduction that the female figure may represent Omphale, but more likely Alcestis.

Reading up on its history, I learned that Olympos was founded in Hellenistic times, and by 100 BC, it was a major city with three votes in the Lycian League. During the 1st century BC, it was home to the many pirates that threatened the interests of the Roman Empire, culminating in the conquest by Cilician pirates. Their leader was Zeniketes, who introduced the cult of Mithras exclusively for men demanding the ritual sacrifice of bulls for the soul to gain redemption and immortality. In 78 BC, the Roman proconsul P. Servilius Vata chased and captured Zeniketes, razing the city to the ground. After the final defeat of the pirates in a significant sea battle by Pompey, the city became Roman, and the land was sold to new settlers. Roman soldiers continued the cult of Mithras, which spread across the entire Empire. In many garrison cities, Mitraea ceremonies developed in which the bull-killing god was worshiped.

In 130 AD, Hadrian visited Olympos and the Granary on the river's south bank probably dates from this time. In the aftermath of the earthquake of 141, it was again Opramoas of Rhodiapolis who donated 12,000 denarii "for festivities in honor of Hephaistos and the Emperor." The peak of development was reached during the 2nd and 3rd century AD, for after that, the lower city was sacked by pirates, and the population entirely abandoned Olympos in the 6th century. A true story of conquests and conquerors!

[Click here to view all the pictures of Olympos]