List of 27 Museums And Archeological Monuments in Antalya

A (probably) fairly complete list of all the museums, towers and archeological monuments that can be found in Antalya. 

Surrounded by walls with 6 km lengths and situated on 10 hectares of a peninsula, Castle of Alanya hosted Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman civilizations.

Unknown about its history of establishment and by whom to found, geographer Scylax from 4th century BC mentioned Alanya as Coracesium at first. Strabon defined Coracesium as the first apparent city if came from west to Cilicia and specified its location on a very steep rock.

Coracesium by convenience of its natural defense and its sheltered port even with a small military became a harbor and center of the piracy in 2nd century BC, ideal for pirates and rebels. Hellenistic wall with large block stone and mortar, found in the part of the Middle Castle (Orta Kale) from Arap Evliyası to Ehmedek, remained from period of Diototos Tryhon, who was the ruler of the city in 2nd century BC.

In 65 BC, pirate dominance ended with Coracesium war, which resulted the victory of Roman Pompeius. The city in Roman time grew by expansion of walls and addition of new buildings. In this period, coins were created in the name of emperors. Samples of coins can be seen in Alanya Museum.

Alanya Castle in Byzantine time with the name of Kalonoros (the beautiful mountain) became a location point for sailors and the busiest port of the Mediterranean. Church in the castle (İçkale), Arap Evliyası, ruins of monastery at Cilvarda point and remains of round – towered wall continued from Middle Fortress (Orta Hisar) to the castle (İçkale) belong to Byzantine period.

In 1221, Kalonoros was assigned to Alaeddin Keyqubad I, Anatolian Seljuk Sultan, by Kyr Vart, a former owner of the castle and its name was changed as Alaiye. Alaeddin Keyqubad I began big construction activities, solidified old walls, built new walls and gave the golden age to Alanya. Today’s existing walls, large cisterns, shipyard, Red Tower, Cannon House, Akşebe tomb and palace complex in the castle (İçkale) are some of the works built by Alaeddin. Ehmedek, Akşebe Small Mosque, Andızlı Mosque, Seljuk and Lower Castle (Asagi Kale) Baths were constructed during Seljuk’s time.

By gaining Alanya, Anatolian Seljuk sultanate had a strong castle in coast of the Mediterranean as well as a strong foundation in both the sea and the land. Alaiye reached a specific status in developing internal, external and transit trade.

Alaiye in the first half of the 14th century remained among important cities of Anatolia and the Mediterranean by an essential naval base as a leading commercial city of Anatolian Seljuk and as a center of trade and shipbuilding by a strong relations with Egypt and Syria. Mostly Egyptian merchants who came for famous cedars used in the construction of the ships as well as Genoese, Venetian and Florentine merchants bought spices, canvas and sugar. Pegolotti in his “practura della mercatura” book introduced a table for weights and measurements used in Alanya with Italian in comparison. Egyptian and Syrian merchants were traveling to the Black Sea ports via Alanya.

St. Nicholas was born in Patara and served as archbishop of this church in Myra during the 4th century.  

St. Nicholas Church is a museum and an ancient Byzantine Greek Church located in modern-day town of Demre, Antalya Province, Turkey. Its usage is dated from its 6th century construction until its final abandonment in 1923, when the remaining Greek natives of Demre were required to leave by the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. It is notable for being the burial place of St. Nicholas of Myra, a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of the ancient city of Myra, an important religious figure for Eastern Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics and the historical inspiration for Santa Claus. The Church is on UNESCO's tentative list to become a World Heritage Site.

At the end of the First World War, during the time when Antalya was under the Italian military occupation, Italian archeologists started to remove the archeological treasures that had been found in the the center or the surroundings to the Italian Embassy, which they claimed to do in the name of civilization. To prevent these initiatives, Süleyman Fikri Bey, the Sultani teacher, applied to the Antalya post and jurisdiction of the provinial Governor in 1919 and had himself appointed as voluntary officer of antiquities and first tried to establish the Antalya Museum by collecting what remained in the center.
The museum at first operated in the Alâeddin Mosque in 1922, then in Yivli Mosque beginning from 1937, and then moved to its present building in 1972. It was closed to visitors for a wide range of modifications and restorations in 1982. It was reorganized according to a modern approach for a museum and opened to the public in April 1985, after the restorations and display arrangements made by the General Directorate of Ancient Objects and Museums.

The museum contains 13 display halls, a children's section and open galleries. The objects only belonging to the region are generally presented chronologically and according to their subjects.

The famous rock-tombs of Myra are in two main groups, one above the theater and the other in a place called the river necropolis on the east side.  Although most of the tombs are plain today, Charles Fellows tells that upon his discovery of the city in 1840 he found the tombs colourfully painted red, yellow and blue.  The entire cliff face must have once been a bright riot of colour.
To the west of the theatre the steep cliff is pockmarked with a huge number of closely packed rock-cut tombs in an asymmetric pattern, house type rock-cut tombs.  A few are temple tombs and one can see steps carved out out the rock that lead to them. Most of the tombs are from the 4th century BC, and many contain funeral scenes in relief, some scenes portraying the daily life of the deceased. 
The tombs on the eastern face of the hill resemble those next to the theater.  Approached by an uncomfortable rock-path is the monument known as The Painted Tomb, one of the most striking throughout Lycia.  It is the ususal house-type tomb with the outstanding feature of a group of eleven life-size figures in relief.

There are Roman and Byzantine works in the Ancient City of Olympos that you can visit.

The temple gate, the theatre, the southern and northern necropolis, the necropolis church, the entrance complex, the alcestis sarcophagus, the monumental graves of the harbour, the harbour basilica, the southern slope settlement, the bathhouse with mosaic pavements and the agora that have reached today from ancient times, are the important structures worth to see. The city walls and towers in the bay are from the Middle Age.

Temple Gate: The most interesting structure is the gate of the temple that is located on the south of Akcay River.

Olympos Theatre: The theatre, located in the southern city was built on the northern slope of the hill, has a capacity of around 5000 seat.

Necropolis Church: Necropolis Church is located in the northwest of the ancient city divided into two by the river.

Acropolis Hill: The view from the 50 m high acropolis is also very beautiful.

Patara was the major naval and trading port of Lycia, located at the mouth of the Xanthos River, until it silted up and turned into a malaria-plagued marsh.  It is not far from the sites of Letoon and Xanthos and a day trip from Kalkan, Kaş or Fethiye could easily combine the sites.  Beautiful 12 km-long Patara Beach, voted one of the top beaches in the world by Times Online - Best of 2005, is an easy 10-15 minute stroll away from the major ruins at Patara.  The Patara area is a national park, a key biodiversity area and is rich in birdlife.

In 333 B.C., the city of Patara was captured by Alexander the Great. During the Wars of Alexander’s successors (322-275 BC), the city was occupied by Antigonus and then by Demetrius. Finally it fell to the Ptolemies of Egypt. Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt named the city Arsinoe (Arsinoë) after Arsinoe II of Egypt, who was his wife and sister. However the name of the city was continued to be Patara. In 196 B.C., Antiochus III took Patara. The city with the rest of Lycia was granted its freedom as a Roman ally in 167 B.C. In 88 B.C., Mithridates IV, king of Pontus, besieged Patara, and the city was captured by Brutus and Cassius during their campaign against Mark Antony and Augustus. In 43 A.D., Patara was annexed to the province of Pamphylia by the Roman Empire. The city was one of the six leading cities of ancient Lycia, along with Xanthos, Olympos, Pinara, Tlos and Myra. The council meetings were held in the parliament building in Patara. The city became the capital of Lycia and Pamphilia provinces. In Roman times, Patara was the major naval and trading port of Lycia. Grains were stored and shipped from the Port of Patara. In the Byzantine period, Patara became an important city for Christians. It is known that Patara was the birthplace of St. Nicholas (ca. 280-343), who lived in the town of Myra (Demre). (For further information about St. Nicolas, please visit the site of Myra.) During the wars between the Turks and the Byzantines, the city declined and was mostly abandoned. After the 16th century, the port of Patara began to be filled with blowing sand. Ships were not able to approach the dock and thus Patara lost its importance as a port.

Around 1500 B.C. the Hittites settled down in a place we know as Perge. However some people believe that Perge was founded by Mopsus and Calchas in the 13th century B.C.

Invaded by Alexander the Great, much of Perge`s architectural splendor is a living proof of the Hellenistic period. It was soon followed by a prosperous Roman Imperial period for the first three centuries A.D. With the arrival and spread of Christianity, Perge played an important and active role in its expansion. 
A slow disintegration of the Roman rule soon followed and the Byzantines occupied Perge. With the end of the Seljuk rule, which followed soon after, Perge was completely ruined and was soon abandoned.

History:

In the twelfth century BC, there was a large wave of Greek migration from northern Anatolia (in modern day Turkey) to the Mediterranean coast. Many settled in the area immediately east of the area of modern-day Antalya, which came to be known as Pamphylia, meaning "land of the tribes". Four great cities eventually rose to promincence in Pamphylia: Perga, Sillyon, Aspendos and Side.

Perga itself was founded in around 1000 BC and is nearly 20km inland. It was sited inland as a defensive measure in order to avoid the pirate bands that terrorized this stretch of the Mediterranean.

In 546 BC, the Achaemenid Persians defeated the local powers and gained control of the region. Two hundred years later, in 333 BC, the armies of Alexander the Great arrived in Perga during his war of conquest against the Persians. The citizens of Perga sent out guides to lead his army into the city.

Alexander's was followed by the diadoch empire of the Seleucids, under whom Perga's most celebrated ancient inhabitant, the mathematician Apollonius (c.262 BC – c.190 BC), lived and worked. Apollonius was a pupil of Archimedes and wrote a series of eight books describing a family of curves known as conic sections, comprising the circle, ellipse, parabola and hyperbola.

Roman rule began in 188 BC, and most of the surviving ruins today date from this period. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Perga remained inhabited until Seljuk times, before being gradually abandoned.

Perge did not really appear in history until the 4C BC. Because the city was not fortified at the time of Alexander the Great, Perge willingly opened its doors to him. In the Hellenistic period Perge enjoyed rights of minting and considerable freedom under the Pergamene kings. The dominant motif used in art and on coins was Artemis of Perge. Artemis was associated with the Virgin Mary in the Christian period and worshipping her continued. Perge flourished and expanded in the Roman Imperial period during the first three centuries AD.

Phaselis Ancient City, founded in 693 BC, was an important port city in history. This port city has a rich history and is crucial for its ruins, historical amphitheatre, aqueduct, agora and baths.

The remains of the ancient city of Phaselis start at the seashore. The ancient port city is covered with pine and cedar trees and even on the hottest days of summer can be visited in comfort. There is a well preserved theatre which is used for evening performances during the Phaselis Art Days.

Combining history and the sea, Phaselis is an ancient settlement where ancient ruins enrich your holiday experience. You may breathe the historical tissue in Phaselis, which is a must see place.

HISTORY OF PHASELIS

Phaselis joined the Lycian Union and became one of its important cities. With the weakening of the union it fell under the control of pirates as all other port cities. The reign of the pirates in the area ended with the Roman Empire coming to dominate the region. In the Byzantine period it became a bishopric. It retained its importance until the 3rd century AD and declined after that.

Located in Side town of Manavgat District 8 km from Manavgat. Ancient agora bath from A.D. 5-6th centuries, dating from Roman Age, was restored in 1960/61 and converted into a museum.

The majority of exhibits in the museum are the ruins discovered by Prof. Dr. Arif Müfid Mansel in excavations during 1947-1967, in the ancient town of Side. There are inscriptions, weapon embossing from Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods, sculptures which are Roman Period copies of Greek originals, torsos, temples, tomb steles, portraits, ostotecs and column pedestals on exhibition in the museum.
 

Side (pronounced see-day) was a city on the southern coast of Cilicia (modern-day Turkey) first settled in the 7th century BCE by immigrants from Cyme, an Aeolian municipality to the north near the kingdom of Lydia. Its name means 'pomegranate' in Greek. The first settlers may have been a mixture of Luwians and Hatti and spoke a language (now known as Sidetic) which has not yet been deciphered. Side was Hellenized after the conquest of Cilicia by Alexander the Great (l. 356-323 BCE) and significantly developed by Rome after it became involved in the region c. 103 BCE.

The city was the most infamous slave port in the Mediterranean between the early 2nd century BCE and c. 66 BCE and more or less under the control of the Cilician pirates until they were conquered by Pompey the Great (l. c. 106-48 BCE). Even after the pirates were defeated and relocated, Side continued as a conduit for slaves sold to Greece and Rome and became wealthy almost entirely due to the slave trade.

Raids by mountain bands on the city in the 4th century CE contributed to its decline as well as the rise of Christianity, which resulted in the decline of its pagan shrines, temples, and baths. The city was sacked and burned in the 7th century CE by an Arab fleet in the course of the Muslim conquest of Cilicia and was finally abandoned in the 10th century CE when its citizens relocated to the nearby city of Attalia (modern-day Antalya). Afterwards, Side became a kind of ghost town, and the lack of development preserved Roman structures like the theater, baths, temples, and nymphaeum which are part of the historic district popular with tourists in the present day.

The ancient city of Aspendos, approximately 50 kilometers east of Antalya, is one of the big-hitter historic attractions for tourists visiting Turkey's Turquoise Coast region. The site's theater-one of the Roman Empire's greatest remaining pieces of architecture-is the monument everyone is here to see.

If you can, try to come during the summer months when this amazing building hosts the annual Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival. It's a wonderful chance to experience the theater used for its original purpose and hear its stunning acoustics.

History

In antiquity, Aspendos was probably the most important city in Pamphylia. This glorious city reached its epoch during the Roman period, when trade and commerce flourished here. According to tradition, the city was founded by the famous Greek diviner Mopsos around 1000 BC, and archaeologists have found evidence of a settlement here from the Hittite era (800 BC) onwards.

Similar to the nearby towns of Perge and Side, the city's eventual decline was due to the silting up of its harbor and the centralization policies of the Byzantine Empire. By the time of Seljuk domination over this part of Turkey, Aspendos' once great theater was only being used as a caravanserai.

After Atatürk's death in 1938 his villa in Antalya was transformed into the Institute for Girls. In 1984 the building was given to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in order to transform it into a museum. Unfortunately, this decision coincided with the planned reconstruction of roads in the city and the building was demolished to make way for an widened Işıklar street. The villa was later rebuilt farther from the road and in 1986 opened to the public as a museum.

The villa is a two-storey house, with a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen and several other rooms located on the ground floor. There are seven rooms, including one with a balcony, on the second floor. Today, on the ground floor there is and exhibition of newspaper clippings and photographs devoted to Atatürk's visits in Antalya.

On the first floor the presidential bedroom and two offices are recreated. In addition, there is a large collection of postage stamps, coins and stamps bearing the likeness of the president. The core of the exhibition consists of personal items (including clothing and shoes), which belonged to Atatürk. They were transported to Antalya from Anıtkabir - the mausoleum of Atatürk in Ankara.

Getting there: 

Atatürk's House Museum is situated on Işıklar Caddesi, in the center of Antalya. It can be reached by tram - Nostalji Tramvay line runs right next to the museum, and the nearest stop is called Belediye.

On foot you can visit the museum while strolling through Karaalioğlu park or visiting Kaleiçi district. The distance from Hadrian's Gate to Atatürk's House Museum is only 500 meters.

111 km from Antalya. Elmalı and its surroundings in the southwest, with its unique strategic and geographical location, have witnessed the development of many civilizations without interruption from the Neolithic period to the present day. The settlements, graves, architectural findings and finds that were discovered as a result of archaeological researches and excavations in the region indicate the presence of very high and different cultures in the region. Turkey, which has a prominent place among archeological and historical museums illuminating the area's history is on display at the Museum of Elmali very important archaeological monuments. The Elmalı Museum was established in the Old Government House, on Gündoğan Mahallesi, İbrahim Elmalılı Caddesi.

Antalya Ethnography Museum, consisting of two mansions dated to the 19th century, Muratpaşa district, Kaleiçi Urban and III. It is located within the Degree Archaeological Site. The buildings are located at different elevations in a sloping area. In the buildings where two different concepts, namely Lower and Upper Mansions, are created, we see the architectural features of the Ottoman Period. In the mansion # 1, the Turkish-Islamic Works are generally displayed, and in the mansion # 2, the items and architectural pieces used in the same period with the room arrangements that reflect the home life of Antalya during the Ottoman period are exhibited. On the first floor of the mansion # 1, which is mostly in the lower level and consists of works containing Turkish - Islamic Art, Seljuk tile covering pieces from the Aspendos Theater and the Ottoman Period tiles; 16.-20. Centuries-old Iznik-Kütahya and Çanakkale-produced ceramics, gas lamps made of glass, tulips, roses, sherbets are exhibited.

A visit to the Archaeological Museum in Alanya may be a very pleasant surprise. Who would expect such an interesting and well prepared museum in the center of Turkey's chief vacation resort? There are many neglected and dusty museums in Turkey, to mention the venue in Kayseri and Ürgüp in Cappadocia as examples only. However the Archaeological Museum in Alanya is worth the highest praise as its exhibitions actually encourage the holidaymakers to undertake a more in-depth exploration of Alanya area and to learn more about its history. If you have an hour or two during your holidays in Alanya make sure you spent this time visiting this museum and you will certainly not regret a single minute.

History of the museum

Archaeological Museum in Alanya has been operating since 1967, when it was decided to show the finds gathered in the region of the city to the tourists. In addition, to make the facility even more attractive, some exhibits were brought from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. The goal of the venue is to familiarize the visitors with the rich past of Asia Minor. The artifacts displayed come from various locations around the county, including the state of Urartu, Phrygia and Lydia.

In 2012 the museum was completely renovated and is now a thoroughly modern facility. It is clearly visible that the management of this place has an excellent approach to the presentation of such difficult and potentially boring subjects as archeology and history to the general audience.

The building of the Mevlevihane in Kaleiçi, one of the most touristic areas of Antalya, belongs to the Seljuk Period. Although it has no inscription, it is thought that it was built in 1255 by Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad and it was used as a Mevlevihane from the 16th century. In the Museum, which is a building complex consisting of Mevlevihane, Hamam, Zincirkıran Mehmet Bey and Nigar Hatun shrines, information boards, animations, clothes and various belongings of Mevlevi are exhibited.

Arycanda (Arykanda) is a unique Lycian city, built upon five large terraces ascending a mountain slope, and was known for having the most pleasure and entertainment-loving (and debt-ridden) citizens.  The city overlooks a magnificent valley and its view makes it one of the most spectacular sites in Lycia.

Located near the small village of Aykiriçay, on the Elmali-Finike road.

Arycanda is known to be one of the oldest Lycian sites - its name ends with -anda, indicitive of its Anatolian origin dating back as far as the second millennium BC.  Some of the oldest coins of Lycia (5th c. BC were also found here during a recent digging; the site is under continuous excavation.

Gods and goddesses known to have been worshipped here are: Apollo, Ares, Artemis (in the forms of Kombike, Lagbene, Tharsenike and Eleuthera), Athena, Kakasbos (an Anatolian horseman-deity), Hera, Helios, Mithras, Tyche, Asklepios, Hygeia, Hercules, Hermes, Aphrodite, Somondeus (a mountain god), and Nemesis .

Arycanda survived through Byzantine times, until the 9th century when the settlement moved to a new site south of the modern road.

Excavations and restoration work in recent years have succeeded in unearthing a beautiful city, well-organized with the look of an architectural model.

Luckily for us, whether due to landslides, earthquakes or the difficulty for robbers in getting material down to the sea (there were sites nearer to the sea for that), Arycanda has not lost much of its large-scale materials except for the columns of the agora.  Also, with no large settlement nearby in later years, many things have been spared the lime-kilns, at least none have been found on site yet.  Since much of the site has been protected by landslips, the limestone of Arycanda's buildings looks quite fresh.

A visit to the ruins of the Apollo Temple makes for a fascinating experience for lovers of romance and history. It is believed to be the place where Anthony met Cleopatra; he presented the Apollo Temple as a token of his love and devotion to her.

One of the two temples built in the Roman period known as the Peace the Temple of Apollo in Side. The name of the temple; light, beauty and art etched in our memory as a god, Side has Corinthian columns on alır.tapınak of Apollo, one of the chief god of the city. Part of the Temple of Apollo in the middle of the Byzantine basilica fully dismantled for use in the construction of the basilica. Some of the big pillars appropriately configured in this temple to the Roman order and peripteros plan was put into place has been restored. M.S. with a history dating back 150 years to the Temple of Apollo, is a legacy of historic ruins really worth seeing.

The ruins of the ancient city of Syedra are located near the most popular Turkish holiday resort of Alanya. They are an excellent proof of a fact that a lot of interesting ruins remain to be discovered in Turkey, even so close to the place where millions of tourists spend their holidays every year.

Researchers have managed to date back the history of Syedra to the 7th century BC. There was a continuity of the settlement in the area until the 13th century AD. Syedra experienced the period of its greatest prosperity in the 2nd century AD, when the city walls were erected, defining an extensive area on the top of the hill. It is estimated that at that time Syedra's population reached 4500 inhabitants. Later, the city declined and the fortifications were rebuilt in order to better protect its smaller area.

Syedra first appeared in historical records in the first century BC. The most memorable moment of the city's history was in 194 AD when a letter of commendation from Roman Emperor Septimius Severus arrived to the city. The Emperor praised the courage of Syedra inhabitants who bravely fought off numerous pirate attacks. In order to commemorate this event the contents of this letter were engraved in stone. This inscription is currently displayed, along with some other artifacts from Syedra, in the Archaeological Museum in Alanya.

Located almost 3 kilometres away from Demre is the ancient city of Andriake. Once Ancient Myra’s port this ancient city was built close to the Androkos River. Its importance was vital to the whole Roman world because it was the sight of Hadrian’s Granary. This great granary, built between 119-139 AD, it’s structure is similar to Patara’s. Rome relied on its suppliers to replenish the empire. The ruins of the ancient city are sprawled both and south of the access road with the remains of the granary south of today’s river. On the main central gate of the granary, one can see the busts of Hadrian and his empress Sabina. There is also another decorative relief on the front wall with two deities etched one with a snake and a gryphon while the other lying on a couch. Recently an ancient synagogue was discovered, possibly dating back about 1800 years. It might have been the first synagogue in Ancient Lycia.

Most of the land is marshland so during rainy weather it might be more difficult to walk. Andriake can be reached from Demre and is a picturesque and quiet place to spend time pondering its history. Should you want to investigate more historic spots of Ancient Lycia make your way to Myra Ancient City, Finike and St. Nicholas Church.

Starting from the visitor reception center, you can easily visit the ruins of the walking way and the last point on the way to the end of the II. century granarium (granary) structure. This structure has been organized as a museum where the works belonging to Lycian cities and the Lycian civilization are promoted due to its robust and surviving nature.

Karain Cave (tr. Karain Mağarası) is one of those places of great historical importance requires from the travelers a lot of perseverance to get to. Moreover, extensive knowledge about prehistory and vivid imagination are necessary in order to fully appreciate the experience. This cave, located near Antalya, was inhabited by the ancestors of the modern man continuously for at least 25,000 years and is the largest of Turkish caves where the traces of prehistoric human activities have been found.

Historical overview: 

The oldest traces of human occupation that have been discovered in Karain Cave go back to the early Paleolithic i.e. 200,000 years ago. The fragment of Homo neanderthalensis skull found in the cave has been dated to this period. Researchers were able to confirm the continuity of human presence in the cave for a period of more than 25,000 years, from the Mesolithic, through the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic, to the Bronze Age. In the Iron Age, and more precisely, in the time of Greek colonization of Asia Minor, the cave was probably used as a religious shrine, as evidenced by the decorations carved into the rock in front of the cave entrance.

Inside the cave flint blades, scrapers and arrowheads from the Paleolithic and the Neolithic periods have been discovered. Some of them were made in the Paleolithic-invented Levallois technique, a distinctive type of stone knapping, involving the striking of flakes from a prepared core to create a shape intended by the manufacturer. In the subsequent layers some figurines made of stone and bone sculptures have been found. The findings from the Neolithic period demonstrate the connections with the nearby Hacılar culture. The attention of researchers was especially drawn to the carving of a human face, stylistically similar to the products of the Natufian culture which flourished in Palestine area in the Mesolithic period. This discovery may indicate the commercial relationship between the population of southern Asia Minor and Palestine.

Many human bones, belonging both th Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens, have been found in Karain Cave. Additionally, a lot of animal bones have been identified, including the skeleton fragments of the cave bear, the elephant, the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus. The bones of the last of these species, together with the shells of invertebrates, seem to confirm the theory that the plain extending in front of the cave used to be inundated by a lake. The rich findings from Karain Cave have provided extremely valuable information on the flora, fauna and climate that prevailed in the area in the prehistoric period.

The ancient site of Limyra lies 6 km inland from the sea. Limyra (Λιμύρα) was a small city in Lycia, on the Limyrus River. It was a prosperous settlement, and one of the oldest cities in the region of Lycia.

This city played a significant role in history during the 4th century BCE when the Lycian ruler Pericles supported a rebellion of satraps in Asia Minor against the ruling Persians. Persian rule eventually was reestablished with the involvement of Mausolus, the Carian satrap at Halicarnassus. After Alexander the Great ended Persian rule in 333 BCE, much of Lycia including Limyra was ruled by his successor Ptolemy in Egypt, followed by the Syrian Seleucids, then by Rhodes and finally by Rome after 167 BCE.

Roman rule brought centuries of prosperity. Limyra has the unusual distinction of commemorating each of these historical periods with a specific monument to the 4th century BCE ruler Pericles, the 2nd century BCE period of Ptolemaic rule and finally a cenotaph to a 1st century member of the Roman imperial family.

Xanthos was the capital city of the Lycian Federation and its greatest city for most of Lycian history.  It was made famous to the Western world in the 19th century by its British discoverer Charles Fellows.  It is very old - finds date back to the 8th century BC, but it is possible that the site may have existed during the Bronze Age or during the first centuries of the Iron Age.

Xanthos and Letoon are often seen as a "double-site", since the two were closely linked and Letoon was administered by Xanthos. Letoon was the sacred cult center of Lycia, located less than 10 km to the south of Xanthos.  Xanthos-Letoon is one of the most remarkable archaeological sites in Turkey. For this reason, it has been registered in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. Currently there is a French team excavating Xanthos and Letoon.

Location

Xanthos is not far from Patara and a trip to Letoon or Xanthos from Kalkan, Kaş or Fethiye could easily be combined with a trip to the beach and/or ruins there.  It is located near the village of Kınık on a hillside in a beautiful natural site overlooking the Eşen river.  From this elevation one receives a supreme view of the Xanthos Valley surrounded by the spectacular Taurus Mountains.  It is easy to find by car, just off the main highway and well-marked.  Xanthos' landscape is quite beautiful, especially in spring. 

Simena is a popular Lycian site, situated upon one of the most attractive spots of the Turkish coast.  The name "Kekova" is Turkish for "plain of thyme" and describes the region encompassing the island of Kekova, the villages of Kaleköy and Üçağiz and the three ancient towns of Simena, Teimussa and Tersane (meaning "shipyard", as its bay was the site of an ancient shipyard, with mostly Byzantine ruins).  Both Simena and Teimussa  have a large necropolis.  Teimussa is now the village of Üçağiz, where boats set off for tours of the area.

The Kekova region was declared a Specially Protected Area in 1990 to protect the natural, cultural and geographic richness of Kekova Island and surrounding coast. The Kekova Specially Protected Area is 260 km² and is managed by the Ministry of Environment, Authority for the Protection of Special Areas.

Kekova-Simena is an enjoyable place to visit for its great beauty and charm.  For this reason, it is popular with yachties (known to them as "Kekova Roads") on their Blue Cruises along Lycia's Turquoise Coast.  In fact, cruising yachts often anchor here for several weeks at a time.  It is a peaceful place of history, gorgeous turquoise water, sun, islands, unspoilt nature, blue skies and wonderful(!!) swimming.

Termessos is one of Turkey's best preserved ancient cities and most outstanding archaeological sites, located in Antalya province of the Mediterranean region.

The ancient city of Termessos was built in between two peaks on Gulluk Mountain of Antalya. This ancient city is also called the Eagle's Nest because of its most remarkable location, 1050 metres above sea level and spread over a wide area.
The remains of Termessos Ancient City are to a great degree scattered amongst the thick marquis and forest area. Remains include the strong defence walls, temples, necropolis, agora, gymnasium, bouleuterion, the theatre with a spectacular view and five vast water cisterns carved into the rock.
Termessos Ancient Theatre: The ancient theatre of Termessos is one of the world's most magnificent historic sites.

In ancient inscriptions, the people of Termessos referred to themselves as the Solyms, an old Pamphylian tribe. The language they spoke was unique, being a type dialect of Psidia.
Termessos only really left its mark in history when Alexander the Great surrounded it in 334 BC, defying the invader. It is reported that Alexander did not touch these brave people, he left them in their own fortresses and then continued his campaign into central Anatolia. The city enjoyed a period of prosperity during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. There is not much information available on its subsequent life in the Christian era.