The area now designated the Antalya province is the general center of classical Lycia. Milas was included by some writers in the district, but the more important cities seem to have been Patara (Gelemls) in the Xanthus Valley, Telmessus (Fethiye), and Myra (Demre). Perhaps it is Lycians who are mentioned in an Egyptian account of the Hittite battle at Kadesh. They may also be the Luqqa of fourteenth and thirteenth century Hittite documents.
Lycia was a geopolitical region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey, and Burdur Province inland. Known to history since the records of ancient Egypt and the Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age, it was populated by speakers of the Luwian language group. Written records began to be inscribed in stone in the Lycian language (a later form of Luwian) after Lycia’s involuntary incorporation into the Achaemenid Empire in the Iron Age. At that time (546 BC) the Luwian speakers were decimated, and Lycia received an influx of Iranian speakers.
Lycia fought for the Persians in the Persian Wars, but on the defeat of the Achaemenid Empire by the Greeks, it became intermittently a free agent. After a brief membership in the Athenian Empire, it seceded and became independent (its treaty with Athens had omitted the usual non-secession clause), was under the Persians again, revolted again, was conquered by Mausolus of Caria, returned to the Persians, and went under Macedonian hegemony at the defeat of the Persians by Alexander the Great. Due to the influx of Greek speakers and the sparsity of the remaining Lycian speakers, Lycia was totally Hellenized under the Macedonians. The Lycian language disappeared from inscriptions and coinage.
On defeating Antiochus III in 188 the Romans gave Lycia to Rhodes for 20 years, taking it back in 168 BC. In these latter stages of the Roman republic Lycia came to enjoy freedom as part of the Roman protectorate. The Romans validated home rule officially under the Lycian League in 168 BC. This native government was an early federation with democratic principles; these later came to the attention of the framers of the United States Constitution, influencing their thoughts.
Despite home rule under democratic principles Lycia was not a sovereign state and had not been since its defeat by the Carians. In 43 AD the Roman emperor, Claudius, dissolved the league. Lycia was incorporated into the Roman Empire with a provincial status. It became an eparchy of the Eastern, or Byzantine Empire, continuing to speak Greek even after being joined by communities of Turkish language speakers in the early 2nd millennium. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century, Lycia was under the Ottoman Empire, and was inherited by the Turkish Republic on the fall of that empire. The Greeks were withdrawn when the border between Greece and Turkey was negotiated in 1923.
Lycia today is a substantial component of the Turquoise Coast. It is of interest not only for recreation and sport, but as a location of antiquities going back as early as the Bronze Age. The ruins of ancient Lycia are seemingly everywhere. For reasons unknown, perhaps isolation, recycling of the building stone was minimal compared to other regions.
Lycia,
We went on a boat trip to see the rock tombs, visit the mud baths, see the loggerhead turtles.The trip is great the guide entertained us all the way and made us all laugh. Once at the tombs the boat stops in the reeds so you can take photos quite closely. It was a beautiful day and the boat trip…
Loved the boat trip past the tombs. Make sure you get a good tour guide, ours gave loads of info on the history of the tombs and river which was great. A lot of other boats passed us playing loads music with tour guides selling alcohol… ruined the calming atmosphere of our boat trip and looked like an awful experience….
Loved this and the history behind them. We had an excellant tour guide and the time spent looking at these tombs certainly made me feel like i'd seen a little more of Turkey. Well worthe the extra trip on our last day…
Can be seen from various restaurants or on boat trips down the river. Worth a look, great history behind them!
Did not get chance to get close but we saw the tombs from a boat trip we did from from Marmaris.
You get amazing views going up and down river. There are a number of hotels and restaurants on oneside of river that have amazing views of the cliffs.
On way back the guide on our tour described the tombs…
From Dalyan bus station, just walk toward the river and you can see the tombs on the cliffside on the opposite side of the river.
There are a lot of cafes and restaurants along the river. You can enjoy watching the tombs while drinking and eating.
We saw these as part of the dalyan trip, They simply have to be seen to be believed, incredible bit of history, dating back as far as 200BC unreal
Such an amazing trip starting with the boat trip to the tombs then down to the beach. Well worth the money!!
If you take the Dalyan Classic Tour by boat these tombs are included, so you will get the chance to see them carved into the "rock face". The Turkish paupers tombs are considered box shaped as opposed to the more wealthy carved pillared entrance tomb. You may also get the chance at the end of the tour to visit the…
I'm not normally interested in history but these things are so cool